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I always say much depends on the "mood" of the employee who is working on that particular day...that's been my experience, even with the same airline.My recent experience at JFK was that you probably will not be allowed to carry your poles on although I did see one Pilgrim who had his poles (TSA can be inconsistent). That same Pilgrim got them taken away in Madrid and had to check them to A Coruña. Good luck, Buen Camino.
This is an old story (published in 2016, but based on a 2015 ABC story here) and I thought there might have been some improvement. However, it appears that the red-team testing program doesn't publish its results. Even the GAO reports on the effectiveness of the TSA testing program have classified elements. This makes it difficult for ordinary people to find out what, if any, improvements have been made in the five years since. The latest GAO report on this testing might be characterized as bleak, inasmuch as actions to address vulnerabilities identified by these test activities are not progressed promptly. So we know issues are still being found, we are not being told what they are, but any changes needed had not been completed. Great!TSA has a terrible record of finding dangerous items. The most recent test whose results were made published are cause for alarm. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/travel/news/g3582/tsa-facts/ (this is not fake news).
You cannot lay blame on the TSA for either of these!!The TSA may not have a good record of finding dangerous items, but they are "excellent" at taking the time to check the unimportant things.
I've had a clear plastic knife from a fast food restaurant taken out of my backpack by agents and confiscated at the Madrid airport. In another incident my backpack was pulled aside at Gatwick airport in England and half my stuff removed so they could check out a pair of children's play scissors that I had forgotten were in there...they did, however, return the scissors back to me and I continued on my way.
Both items, btw, had rounded edges and no sharp points.
Ok, I'm rather ignorant...sorry. I guess they are just the hired security check personnel. I will edit my above post.You cannot lay blame on the TSA for either of these!!
I doubt that you could blame the TSA for that either!!Ok, I'm rather ignorant...sorry. I guess they are just the hired security check personnel. I will edit my above post.
I edited again and took TSA off completely...hope you are happy now, Dougy...it's all good!I doubt that you could blame the TSA for that either!!
So either way it’s a risk. If you get the poles through TSA and then cannot bring the poles through in Madrid at T4, you have a problem. Unless you have a lot of time for your connection, you will have to give up the poles. If you check your poles, you may lose your poles (I did, and that is why I have switched to the carry-on strategy).
That's nice. I'm sure the TSA will appreciate not being blamed for the woes we suffer with airport security issues outside of the USA.I edited again and took TSA off completely...hope you are happy now, Dougy...it's all good!PAX
Sigh. I knew we were doomed after 9/11 when they started all this screening and tiny eyebrow tweezers were prohibited, but long knitting needles were not.Airports may not have a good record of finding dangerous items, but the security personnel at the check in are excellent at taking the time to check the unimportant things.
I've had a clear plastic knife from a fast food restaurant taken out of my backpack by agents and confiscated at the Madrid airport. In another incident my backpack was pulled aside at Gatwick airport in England and half my stuff removed so they could check out a pair of children's play scissors that I had forgotten were in there...they did, however, return the scissors back to me and I continued on my way.
Both items, btw, had rounded edges and no sharp points.
I fly in and out of terminal 4. So can anyone tell me if I will need to go through any security checkpoint/ screening for the connecting flight to Santiago?
The TSA What Can I Bring webpage is a good first start. I found the SA CAA website, but it was taking too long to find a list of what that would or wouldn't allow passengers to carry on in cabin baggage.It is impossible to know what items will be allowed through security at airports these days.
Are there any organizations that give or take donated poles & sticks at the end of one's camino? My checked bag fee is absurd (the 'gotcha' to a phenomenal airfare price) so I'm thinking to purchase on arrival and donate before I return. Is that a thing?
I just went from Miami to Madrid last week and the poles came with me all the way though, Virgin Atlantic and Iberian flights but they had to be checked when I came back through Santiago to Madrid they had to be checked again Madrid to Miami, but I had already gone though security and couldn’t get back through to check them in so I had to leave the poles.I am flying from Miami to Santiago in Sept with a connection in Madrid. Iberia flights. I am hoping I can take my hiking poles onboard with me. They fold small and no sharp tips. So IF the Miami TSA lets them through, I want to be sure I will be ok when I connect in Madrid. I fly in and out of terminal 4. So can anyone tell me if I will need to go through any security checkpoint/ screening for the connecting flight to Santiago? I know I won’t be able to take the poles on the plane when I return from Santiago and I am ok with this. And if TSA in Miami won’t let them through I have a backup plan and can check them. But it would be very nice to keep them with me on the outbound flights. Thanks for any info you can provide.
Are there any organizations that give or take donated poles & sticks at the end of one's camino? My checked bag fee is absurd (the 'gotcha' to a phenomenal airfare price) so I'm thinking to purchase on arrival and donate before I return. Is that a thing?
That’s not accurate, sorry. If you arrive in the satellite T4, you do have to go through security again to make your connection. It is not the main T4 security, just a small area only for those who arrived in the satellite and are making connections to the regular T4. Iberia and its partners are the only airlines using T4. All others use the old airport, T1-T3.No, you won't. Unlike in the US where if you have a connecting flight coming from outside of the US, you won't have to go through security again. First, you'll go through border control, but then you'll just be redirected to your connecting flight in terminal 4. Iberia's hub is in terminal 4, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
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