Article: When Priority Isn’t Really Priority

[ChrisGibbs]

Is it time for a TSA Pre Approved style security line at major AU airports? From memory it’s around $USD70 for 5 years.

 

[Daver6]

Is it time for a TSA Pre Approved style security line at major AU airports? From memory it’s around $USD70 for 5 years.

Not really sure what the advantage would be here? We already can keep our shoes on. The new bag scanners you can keep your laptop in and the new body scanners mean you can leave your belt on.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not really sure what the advantage would be here? We already can keep our shoes on. The new bag scanners you can keep your laptop in and the new body scanners mean you can leave your belt on.

But can you leave your hat on?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Basically ‘priority’ works these days as long as it means you aren’t among the last three or four to board and subsequently have to gate check your bags!

 

[ChrisGibbs]

Not really sure what the advantage would be here? We already can keep our shoes on. The new bag scanners you can keep your laptop in and the new body scanners mean you can leave your belt on.

Consistency would be on benefit. As it stands today Sydney has a different set of rules regarding what's off your body or in your bag compared to Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne. For example Sydney allows Laptops and IPAD to remain in your bag with other cities requiring them in a seperate container. Some cities requires jackets and belts off?

 

[jpp42]

Consistency would be on benefit. As it stands today Sydney has a different set of rules regarding what's off your body or in your bag compared to Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne. For example Sydney allows Laptops and IPAD to remain in your bag with other cities requiring them in a seperate container. Some cities requires jackets and belts off?

It would be a nice to have, but as mentioned above it has to do with the upgrade/investment schedule of the various scanning machines. Melbourne domestic allows you to leave laptops in your bag (I haven't actually seen this at Sydney yet?), because they have upgraded their X-ray machines with newer versions that support that. If there is no overriding security requirement, it would just add unnecessary costs to upgrade every single checkpoint at once, so I get why some places have older equipment and thus stricter procedures.

Things are no different overseas - in fact in the US it can depend on a lot of factors which kind of screening you go through, even at the same airport. Some checkpoints are fitted with different equipment, and they also change up their security stance from time to time - example at HNL recently they were operating a K9 screening which then meant that the body scanners were turned off, even though present at this checkpoint. And at DFW a few years ago, I went through the same checkpoint twice - apparently they were trialling the new machines where you didn't need to take anything out of your bag, and the next time through the trial period was over, and we had to take laptops out - even though it was the exact same machines.

 

[Daver6]

Consistency would be on benefit. As it stands today Sydney has a different set of rules regarding what's off your body or in your bag compared to Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne. For example Sydney allows Laptops and IPAD to remain in your bag with other cities requiring them in a seperate container. Some cities requires jackets and belts off?

That's all dependant on the scanning hardware in use though.

 

[VPS]

Boarding in Sydney yesterday on a QF flight to Adelaide. They asked priority customers to come forward and there was a woman in the queue who wasn't priority and they sent her back.

There was also a couple on the other side who were flying to Melbourne and they advised them to go to a different gate.