Checked baggage searched & all aerosols cans confiscated at HKT - WHY?

[cosi]

Checking in for our Virgin Australia Flight from coughet to Perth, I was shocked and dismayed when I was informed that all our checked luggage had to be search.

We were a party of 5, so there was 6 bags to be searched.

Tables had been erected opposite the check in counters, and all the bags had to be opened and searched.

All aerosols were removed as these were considered flammable, even in the hold of the aircraft.

When I complained to the VA ground staff, she said "Australia Government Regulations requires all checked bags for flights to Australia had to be search. and they are regularly audited by the Australasian Government."

I was then informed, any luggage that was not searched, would be left behind.

Pointless arguing anymore and explaining, IMO, they were wrong.

This is my first time I have every experience checked luggage to be searched.

Anybody else had a similar experience?

Also, which Government body should I contact to complain?

Thanks

 

[elbarto]

Apparently there's a deodorant and hairspray shortage in HKT and this is how they solve it.

 

[JohnK]

I have never had my luggage searched in front of me in Thailand at check-in and had aerosols confiscated from checked luggage.

Something is not quite right here.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Aerosols can be on the banned list - 'personal use' items are ok however but there are restrictions (for QF at least) on the size of the container, even in the hold.

I have had a small aerosol confiscated from hand luggage at CAN airport (despite travelling with it through every other major airport in the world including PEK and PVG).

For aerosols in luggage - only had it checked once, oddly enough in PVG where they had x-rayed the bag and seen something they wanted to check. They called me in the lounge and asked if it would be ok to open my bag for a search. Approval was given, but they paged me later to say they had let it pass and was good to fly.

 

[oz_mark]

I have never had my luggage searched in front of me in Thailand at check-in and had aerosols confiscated from checked luggage.

Something is not quite right here.

I have had checked luggage searched in Australia (Perth), while catching a flight to Thailand.

I wonder if it happens due to some sort of threat being made or something.

 

[JohnK]

I have had checked luggage searched in Australia (Perth), while catching a flight to Thailand.

I wonder if it happens due to some sort of threat being made or something.

That is a possibility but does sound strange.

 

[straitman]

The vast majority of items conform to the IATA DG regulations and so are not an issue. This sounds like they were looking for something specific

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Pointless arguing anymore and explaining, IMO, they were wrong.


Also, which Government body should I contact to complain?

Thanks

In your opinion they are wrong? Well they can pretty much do what they want and I don't see any point complaining to anyone.

 

[samh004]

As others have suggested, I think perhaps a threat had been made and they were on the lookout for something specific, and perhaps they even found it, but nothing has been said of it

 

[casanovawa]

In your opinion they are wrong? Well they can pretty much do what they want and I don't see any point complaining to anyone.

Well that is pretty much the point of complaining, because these pr!cks shouldn't be able to do anything they want, especially when it involves forcing people to leave what they have purchased because you arrive at an airport and given that sort of ultimatum... In most other service situations its easier to comply with an instruction without loss to yourself but international travel you are much more at the mercy of stupid instructions and so they should be more careful in what they start demanding...

Why don't you send the bill to Virgin and tell them to pay AND to retrain their people in HKT to not be so hysterical???

These stupid one-off airport rules annoy me, and i usually tell myself that at least once on a trip i will run into some over officious clown or stupid rule and it will cost me something... Still doesn't mean i have to enjoy it and always suck it up if its an Australian carrier anyway...

I was flying out of Cuzco to Lima once and i had been carrying around a spray deoderant with me in my hand luggage on that and previous trips that had something on it that stated it was 100 grams or something, so been passed by plenty of screeners as conforming to the 100mL/100gram thing... What i had forgotten to pack in my checked luggage was a big bottle of shower gel... Anyway i get to the screening point certain i would lose the shower gel and what do they do, tell me, its something to do with the presidential elections going on in Peru at that time and all spray cans are forbidden in the cabin, so they take that and let me walk through with the much bigger bottle of gel... Just no way to tell what stupidity you will be subjected to...

In Livingstone i had an opened bottle of alcohol in my checked baggage confiscated as said it couldn't go in, even though i had take something like 15 flights so far on that trip with it open in my luggage and no problems... Lucky not a huge amount left in it as near the tail end of my trip, but still too much to get sozzled at the airport and annnoying...

Its bad enough in most Asian airports you can't buy duty free liquids over 100mLs, but to start getting uptight about deoderants in checked luggage is just ridiculous...

 

[cosi]

but to start getting uptight about deoderants in checked luggage is just ridiculous...

Sorry I disagree, because if we had been warned, that check luggage will be searched, then I would have made sure nothing would have been in the luggage that was likely to be confiscated, including my wife's and daughter's expensive cans of hair spray.

Today I coincidentally spoke to a manager of Thai Airlines who was airport manager at Perth and has now been transferred back to Bangkok Airport.

She could not explain the reason for the actions at coughet and confirmed no Thai flights from Thailand to Australia are subject to checked baggage being searched. She said it would be a nightmare at Bangkok airport if this was the case.

 

[asg29e]

Sorry I disagree, because if we had been warned, that check luggage will be searched, then I would have made sure nothing would have been in the luggage that was likely to be confiscated, including my wife's and daughter's expensive cans of hair spray.

Today I coincidentally spoke to a manager of Thai Airlines who was airport manager at Perth and has now been transferred back to Bangkok Airport.

She could not explain the reason for the actions at coughet and confirmed no Thai flights from Thailand to Australia are subject to checked baggage being searched. She said it would be a nightmare at Bangkok airport if this was the case.

Cosi, I think casanovawa was saying that it is ridiculous for the airlines to get uptight, not you...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sorry I disagree, because if we had been warned, that check luggage will be searched, then I would have made sure nothing would have been in the luggage that was likely to be confiscated, including my wife's and daughter's expensive cans of hair spray.

Today I coincidentally spoke to a manager of Thai Airlines who was airport manager at Perth and has now been transferred back to Bangkok Airport.

She could not explain the reason for the actions at coughet and confirmed no Thai flights from Thailand to Australia are subject to checked baggage being searched. She said it would be a nightmare at Bangkok airport if this was the case.

either you left it behind at the hotel (making sure you had nothing) or it got confiscated at the airport. better to take the chance that it wasn't confiscated.

 

[JohnK]

So they found what they wanted but still confiscated innocent things such as deodorant.

In your opinion they are wrong? Well they can pretty much do what they want and I don't see any point complaining to anyone.

Don't ever bother complaining. Don't ever question. Just do as you are told.

We are all happy with our useless existance. They are always right. And they can take anything they want. They can do anything they want.

Never. Give these morons nothing. I will exercise my right to complain until the day I die....

 

[Mwenenzi]

Checking in for our Virgin Australia Flight from coughet to Perth, I was shocked and dismayed when I was informed that all our checked luggage had to be search.

We were a party of 5, so there was 6 bags to be searched.

Tables had been erected opposite the check in counters, and all the bags had to be opened and searched.
<snip>

Who conducted the search ? Airline staff or immigration/security/police ?
Was your party the only group searched on this flight ?

With tables set up obviously prearranged & planned (unless the tables are always there)

 

[mannej]

Sorry, you have it all wrong. The Thai government get kick backs from the local IGA stores in Perth, so tourists returning have to pay the excessive prices for toiletries upon their return into PER...

And John, there are some places where you just do as they say unless you want to spend time locked up...

 

[jmphoto]

...In Livingstone i had an opened bottle of alcohol in my checked baggage confiscated as said it couldn't go in, even though i had take something like 15 flights so far on that trip with it open in my luggage and no problems... Lucky not a huge amount left in it as near the tail end of my trip, but still too much to get sozzled at the airport and annnoying...

Good god. If I have a bottle of alcohol last 15 flights then I must be in rehab!!!

 

[casanovawa]

Sometimes i drink fast, other times i drink slow...

Doesn't mean i wasn't drinking other stuff, this was more for top ups in the room...

 

[horseman]

My toolbox always gets xrayed while checking in at akl, (it goes down the fragile lane) they always confiscate my can of inox

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Don't ever bother complaining. Don't ever question. Just do as you are told.

We are all happy with our useless existance. They are always right. And they can take anything they want. They can do anything they want.

Never. Give these morons nothing. I will exercise my right to complain until the day I die....

for someone as experienced with Thailand as you claim to be your comments are rather naive.