PVG-SIN-MEL - Security, Security and more F'ing Security

[Cruiser Elite]

Dep PVG 16/12 - customary carry-on scan ex PVG - arr SIN and go through arrival scan - several hours in TPR then big bird to MEL - carry-on scan dep SIN - then as boarding open ALL carry-on bags for inspection for alcohol.

4 inspections b/w PVG and MEL - I could not give a hoot if there was 1,000 inspections for safety - but to throw in an extra one just to check for alcohol after bags just scanned seems a tad over top to me.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Dep PVG 16/12 - customary carry-on scan ex PVG - arr SIN and go through arrival scan - several hours in TPR then big bird to MEL - carry-on scan dep SIN - then as boarding open ALL carry-on bags for inspection for alcohol.

4 inspections b/w PVG and MEL - I could not give a hoot if there was 1,000 inspections for safety - but to throw in an extra one just to check for alcohol after bags just scanned seems a tad over top to me.

agree but the hand search of hand baggage on flights to Australia ex asia is nothing new. happens in BKK every time . didn't think it usually happened at SIN but Australia is really tight on this stuff

 

[casanovawa]

Flying out of Bali last time there were 3 security checks before you boarded the plane, which seems well over the top to me....

 

[Cruiser Elite]

agree but the hand search of hand baggage on flights to Australia ex asia is nothing new. happens in BKK every time . didn't think it usually happened at SIN but Australia is really tight on this stuff

I cannot ever remember a check of carry-on ex SIN before - naybe it has occurred - TPR can play havoc with ones memory.

 

[yohy?!]

HKG still has secondary liquid screening at the gate also for AU flights, utterly pointless and time wasting

 

[NM]

HKG still has secondary liquid screening at the gate also for AU flights, utterly pointless and time wasting

The Australian in-bound duty-free shops are unlikely to agree with you. I doubt they find it "utterly pointless". I expect they find it quite a cash-cow :evil:

 

[defurax]

Sorry for my ignorance, I actually never realised the secondary screening in the airbridge at HKG was for liquids. What's wrong with liquids bought duty free inside the terminal? (It shows I rarely buy duty free alcohol...)

 

[Austman]

Sorry for my ignorance, I actually never realised the secondary screening in the airbridge at HKG was for liquids. What's wrong with liquids bought duty free inside the terminal? (It shows I rarely buy duty free alcohol...)

They aren't delivered to the gate at HKG. So they aren't allowed under Australian LAG rules. HKG is not an exempt country (NZ, USA are).

 

[coles525]

HK security / liquid screening is not just booze, but even a bottle of water or coke gets trashed....

Drink the remaining coke in front of them, as i use the empty for tap water... Had to wait till melb airport for a refill though!

 

[seanpodge]

Same deal as the OP when I did PVG-ICN-SYD in January. Didn't know it at the time though. Pleased that I didn't find any booze at attractive prices at ICN. Would likely have ended up being a nice little gift for some lucky Korean security guard.

 

[seanpodge]

In addition, it really would be great if security procedures could be harmonised so that transiting passengers don't have to go through superfluous rechecks. Unless security has intelligence of threats of transiting passengers terrorising people with plastic knives and half frozen bread rolls, that is.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Same deal as the OP when I did PVG-ICN-SYD in January. Didn't know it at the time though. Pleased that I didn't find any booze at attractive prices at ICN. Would likely have ended up being a nice little gift for some lucky Korean security guard.

usually the staff at duty free stores wont sell to you if your boarding pass is to Australia

 

[seanpodge]

usually the staff at duty free stores wont sell to you if your boarding pass is to Australia

I would hope so. Did see quite a number of bottles being collected at the table in the boarding bridge, although my memory is too hazy to remember if any of it was duty free. Certainly seems to be scope for connecting passengers to be caught out though.

 

[pn1]

I travelled on QF30 yesterday (23 January 2013) and was surprised to find the additional check just before you boarded. I had filled my water bottle (emptied for the usual screening) from a bubbler at the departure gate only to have it confiscated a couple of minutes later. The additional check was a surprise to me. However, bottled water was handed out to passengers very early in the flight.

 

[AVC]

Yes, the good old confiscate the water bottle trick.

Here's a crazy scenario. We are flying BKK-SYD. First security check involves us piling everything on to an xray scanner. But what about the pram? Just push it around here they say, gesturing to a gate off to the side. No one checks the pram.

Second security check. I get pinged for scissors (had the small first aid kit in the carry on as opposed to checked where it normally is). The two bottles of water clearly visible on the outside of my bag? No problem.

Third security check (at boarding). The two full water bottles still in the outside mesh pocket of my backpack. One a standard disposable, the other my daughter's pink drink bottle. I get pinged for the water bottles. I just throw mine in the bin and say to the guy "this one is hers" (pointing to my daughter in the pram, which could be packed full of C4), and walk on through with it.

Now THAT is an exercise in Security Futility.

 

[Fantic125]

I cannot ever remember a check of carry-on ex SIN before - naybe it has occurred - TPR can play havoc with ones memory.

I've seen it a few times; they use they little tables just after the x-ray scanners. It certainly slows up the process of getting through the gate......

 

[BensAdventures]

The Australian in-bound duty-free shops are unlikely to agree with you. I doubt they find it "utterly pointless". I expect they find it quite a cash-cow :evil:

Massive Cash Cow! I wanted to buy some tequila in BKK in December, I meant to buy it before I left the city and forgot. I knew I could get it in MEL, but priced it at BKK airport anyway. $35 AUD in BKK Airport, $65AUD MEL, and around $80 in bottle shops! Massive difference!

 

[yohy?!]

Massive Cash Cow! I wanted to buy some tequila in BKK in December, I meant to buy it before I left the city and forgot. I knew I could get it in MEL, but priced it at BKK airport anyway. $35 AUD in BKK Airport, $65AUD MEL, and around $80 in bottle shops! Massive difference!

total scam - you get a good sense of satisfaction beating them at their own game though by buying it at bkk on the inbound then putting it in your checked bag on the way back