AA 3rd degree at FRA---normal? legal?

In article , RPG
wrote:

I just returned from a trip to FRA on AA. No hassle on the outbound, but on
the way back, everyone ahead of me in line seemed to be spending five
minutes or more at security. When I got to security, the El-Al-style
questions included:

How did you get to the aiport? Can you produce the ticket for the train?

Why were you in Europe? Can you prove it?

Where do you work? Do you have ID?

They then showed me (and were showing everyone) one of those posters that
have pictures of things you can't take on the plane. Did I have any of
these things?


I don't think I was singled out for questioning, everyone was being asked
lots of questions. When I expressed surprise, the guy said "Maybe you don't
fly AA, because we do this everywhere." But I do fly AA to LHR fairly
regularly, and while there is a security "interview" at LHR, the questions
I've fielded there have been perfectly reasonable, nothing like this.

To my subsequent shame, I did show them a piece of paper that was evidence
of what I had been doing in Europe. I declined to look for the S-bahn
ticket and said I didn't have any employee ID; I also rolled my eyes when
they showed me the laminated picture of the banned items, and said I'd been
flying a long time. I was then selected for manual baggage search (sloppy
and casual, but done right in front of everyone).

I remember reading something here about this sort of thing happening on AA
maybe 10 years ago, but that it was stopped after court cases. Am I right?

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the exception,
or is FRA?

Maybe a little bit ... harsher than normal but perfectly normal for
flights to the U.S. since Pan Am whatever.

In article , RPG
wrote:

I just returned from a trip to FRA on AA. No hassle on the outbound, but on
the way back, everyone ahead of me in line seemed to be spending five
minutes or more at security. When I got to security, the El-Al-style
questions included:

How did you get to the aiport? Can you produce the ticket for the train?

Why were you in Europe? Can you prove it?

Where do you work? Do you have ID?

They then showed me (and were showing everyone) one of those posters that
have pictures of things you can't take on the plane. Did I have any of
these things?


I don't think I was singled out for questioning, everyone was being asked
lots of questions. When I expressed surprise, the guy said "Maybe you don't
fly AA, because we do this everywhere." But I do fly AA to LHR fairly
regularly, and while there is a security "interview" at LHR, the questions
I've fielded there have been perfectly reasonable, nothing like this.

To my subsequent shame, I did show them a piece of paper that was evidence
of what I had been doing in Europe. I declined to look for the S-bahn
ticket and said I didn't have any employee ID; I also rolled my eyes when
they showed me the laminated picture of the banned items, and said I'd been
flying a long time. I was then selected for manual baggage search (sloppy
and casual, but done right in front of everyone).

I remember reading something here about this sort of thing happening on AA
maybe 10 years ago, but that it was stopped after court cases. Am I right?

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the exception,
or is FRA?

Maybe a little bit ... harsher than normal but perfectly normal for
flights to the U.S. since Pan Am whatever.

RPG wrote:

I just returned from a trip to FRA on AA. No hassle on the outbound, but on
the way back, everyone ahead of me in line seemed to be spending five
minutes or more at security. When I got to security, the El-Al-style
questions included:

How did you get to the aiport? Can you produce the ticket for the train?

Why were you in Europe? Can you prove it?

Where do you work? Do you have ID?

They then showed me (and were showing everyone) one of those posters that
have pictures of things you can't take on the plane. Did I have any of
these things?


I don't think I was singled out for questioning, everyone was being asked
lots of questions. When I expressed surprise, the guy said "Maybe you don't
fly AA, because we do this everywhere." But I do fly AA to LHR fairly
regularly, and while there is a security "interview" at LHR, the questions
I've fielded there have been perfectly reasonable, nothing like this.

To my subsequent shame, I did show them a piece of paper that was evidence
of what I had been doing in Europe. I declined to look for the S-bahn
ticket and said I didn't have any employee ID; I also rolled my eyes when
they showed me the laminated picture of the banned items, and said I'd been
flying a long time. I was then selected for manual baggage search (sloppy
and casual, but done right in front of everyone).

I remember reading something here about this sort of thing happening on AA
maybe 10 years ago, but that it was stopped after court cases. Am I right?

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the exception,
or is FRA?


we had this flying out of London on AA last year -- and they also did a
horrendous job of managing the huge lines so that people who had been
waiting a long time had a line of newcomers swept in ahead of them

same silly sort of questioning with chip on shoulder

but nothing like this year when we arrived in JFK taxied over to
LaGuardia and found that the AA computers had been down all day and the
lines were thousands long -- with no way to effectivelyy process
anything -- a real nightmare after a trip that had already begun for us
16 hours earlier

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the exception,
or is FRA?

IME German security does seem to be a bit harsher than most (outside the
USA).
IIRC It's the only place outside the US I have had my shoes scanned.

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the exception,
or is FRA?

IME German security does seem to be a bit harsher than most (outside the
USA).
IIRC It's the only place outside the US I have had my shoes scanned.

I haven't been shown pretty pictures, but the questions are SOP for a US
carrier in Europe.

"RPG" wrote in message
...
"Miss L. Toe" wrote in
:

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the
exception, or is FRA?

IME German security does seem to be a bit harsher than most (outside
the USA).
IIRC It's the only place outside the US I have had my shoes scanned.

This wasn't German security.

But were they German nationals ?
Or Trained by Germans ?

(not that I have anything against Germans)

"RPG" wrote in message
...
"Miss L. Toe" wrote in
:

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the
exception, or is FRA?

IME German security does seem to be a bit harsher than most (outside
the USA).
IIRC It's the only place outside the US I have had my shoes scanned.

This wasn't German security.

But were they German nationals ?
Or Trained by Germans ?

(not that I have anything against Germans)

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the
exception,
or is FRA?

Keep in mind the 9/11 terrorists spent some time in Germany, so this
might be part of the enhanced security.

To be honest, I'm always surprised when people tell stories of
"rolling their eyes" when asked these sort of questions, then complain
when the lines are too long. Obviously ANYTHING that can introduce
suspicion can slow down the line, including eye-rolling and attitude.
If everyone just left the chips on their shoulder at the curbside and
responded with "yes, sir, no, sir, thank you sir" the whole thing
would go a lot faster.

And if you're not happy with the security processes that are in place
then DON'T FLY! If you're in a position where you have to travel to
Europe for work I GUARANTEE you there is a junior person in your
company who would like nothing better than the chance to cross the
Atlantic, and if it's pleasure travel then stay at home and visit the
grand canyon. I'm a Canadian and when I travel to the USA I get asked
a lot of questions at check-in and at homeland security and at
security. I answer every question courteously and with no bull and no
attitude. If I don't like the questions well I can just choose not to
go the USA and go visit the CN Tower instead.

Cheers,
Geoff
Vancouver, Canada

jenn wrote:
RPG wrote:

I just returned from a trip to FRA on AA. No hassle on the outbound,
but on the way back, everyone ahead of me in line seemed to be
spending five minutes or more at security. When I got to security, the
El-Al-style questions included:

How did you get to the aiport? Can you produce the ticket for the train?

Why were you in Europe? Can you prove it?

Where do you work? Do you have ID?

They then showed me (and were showing everyone) one of those posters
that have pictures of things you can't take on the plane. Did I have
any of these things?


I don't think I was singled out for questioning, everyone was being
asked lots of questions. When I expressed surprise, the guy said
"Maybe you don't fly AA, because we do this everywhere." But I do fly
AA to LHR fairly regularly, and while there is a security "interview"
at LHR, the questions I've fielded there have been perfectly
reasonable, nothing like this.

To my subsequent shame, I did show them a piece of paper that was
evidence of what I had been doing in Europe. I declined to look for
the S-bahn ticket and said I didn't have any employee ID; I also
rolled my eyes when they showed me the laminated picture of the banned
items, and said I'd been flying a long time. I was then selected for
manual baggage search (sloppy and casual, but done right in front of
everyone).

I remember reading something here about this sort of thing happening
on AA maybe 10 years ago, but that it was stopped after court cases.
Am I right?

Is this level of questioning normal on AA in Europe? Is LHR the
exception, or is FRA?



we had this flying out of London on AA last year -- and they also did a
horrendous job of managing the huge lines so that people who had been
waiting a long time had a line of newcomers swept in ahead of them


Had similar questioning at LHR and Stansted, in fact, Stansted was a bit
more harsh than LHR. Also, at Stansted, they stated that disposable
razors were not allowed, yet they did not catch it in my carry-on.
(note: I would have never left it in the carry on, but didn't find out
disposables were not allowed until I was in line.)

As for shoes, many places in the US are still doing this. Funny thing is
that one airport says it is required of everyone (San Diego), a
different airport will say it is not necessary for everyone. Really
makes me worry about the actual security quality from TSA if each
airport seems to run by different rules.