Taking off shoes at the airport

wrote:
I'm considering buying a pair of those new "airport safe" dress shoes that
some shoe manufacturers are making nowadays. They don't have any steel in
them, so they won't set off the metal detectors in the airport, and you can
just go through security without taking off your shoes. That is the hope, at
least.


Doesn't matter anymore. You now have to take shoes off regardless - as
of three weeks ago, at least.


But I'm wondering, has anyone ever been asked to take off their shoes after
they had walked through the metal detector and the alarm did NOT go off?

My DH gets searched regularly - even with no metal detector alarms or
problems with x-ray or at the wipe staion. He "gets" to be hand
searched almost every flight we take, which includes taking off shoes,
being patted down and having all the junk twaken out of his bags. I
dunno if it is because of his ethnicity, political affliations or the
fact that he travels with computer testing boards, but they search him
even when we travel for pleasure. It's annoying as hell.

-L.

Reading this thread I think but one thing: Thank God nobody has hid an
explosive device in their crotch.

BV

-L. wrote:
wrote:
I'm considering buying a pair of those new "airport safe" dress shoes that
some shoe manufacturers are making nowadays. They don't have any steel in
them, so they won't set off the metal detectors in the airport, and you can
just go through security without taking off your shoes. That is the hope, at
least.


Doesn't matter anymore. You now have to take shoes off regardless - as
of three weeks ago, at least.


It's still hit and miss and with no apparent rhyme of reason. I
still
get through MCO with no problems. I've been through DCA with none
either.
But I have been forced to remove them at PDX and BWI. In some cases it
appears it is a function of the specific person working the line.

In article .com, "-L." wrote:


wrote:
I'm considering buying a pair of those new "airport safe" dress shoes that
some shoe manufacturers are making nowadays. They don't have any steel in
them, so they won't set off the metal detectors in the airport, and you can
just go through security without taking off your shoes. That is the hope, at
least.


Doesn't matter anymore. You now have to take shoes off regardless - as
of three weeks ago, at least.


Interestingly, I flew out of TRI (Tri-cities Regional in TN) Saturday, took
off my shoes as usual. After they went through the X-ray, the TSA agent told
me I needn't have done this, as my shoes had no metal in them (I knew this
already, wear the same shoes every flight). After I mentioned to him that I
did it as a matter of course because some airports do get excited if you
don't, even if they don't set off the detector, he said they absolutely
shouldn't. But I figure better on my way than hassled. :-)

Personnally, walking barefoot for six feet in an airport doesn't bother me a
bit. I do it on the beach afterall, and the airport floors are a whole lot
cleaner than that.

Kevin Rhodes
Westbrook, Maine
67 segments on NWA this year and climbing fast

Kevin Rhodes wrote:
[snip]
Personnally, walking barefoot for six feet in an airport doesn't bother me a
bit. I do it on the beach afterall, and the airport floors are a whole lot
cleaner than that.

Worst time is when it's wet outside, rain or snow. The floors are
all wet,
then your socks are all wet.....

Wouldn't bother me nearly as much if they'd ever found anything.
But
bajillions of shoes x-rayed and the only thing they've ever found is
false alarms. When they DO run some test, they virtually always fail
to
find anything.

Congratulations on starting the dumbest thread in a long time. Can't
believe it has legs like this. Over a month.
Absolutely useless discussion.

You've gone a certain part of the way to proving your own point - Kudos!


" BruceB" wrote in message
ink.net...

Congratulations on starting the dumbest thread in a long time. Can't
believe it has legs like this. Over a month.
Absolutely useless discussion.

In message .com "-L."
wrote:

wrote:
I'm considering buying a pair of those new "airport safe" dress shoes that
some shoe manufacturers are making nowadays. They don't have any steel in
them, so they won't set off the metal detectors in the airport, and you can
just go through security without taking off your shoes. That is the hope, at
least.


Doesn't matter anymore. You now have to take shoes off regardless - as
of three weeks ago, at least.

I'm writing this post from an American Airlines flight out of DFW. I
was not required to remove my shoes, but it is "preferred"

I took them off simply because the last time I flew out of DFW my feet
set of the metal detectors. No, not my shoes or my socks, my feet
(well, actually the bottom of my ankles)

We never did figure out why, I don't have any pins or anything, but it
just seemed easier to take my shoes off before they forced the issue.

And no, my feet didn't set off any alarms this time.

--
I should have gotten off in crackton
-- Lisa

I just returned from Florida. I boarded in Minneapolis/St Paul airport
and everyone had to remove their shoes and place them in a basket. When
I returned, I boarded in Pensacola, Fl the same thing. Everyone had to
remove their shoes before going through the metal detector. At least
they now have chairs at the other side, where us old ladies can sit to
put them back on. I wore slip ons because last year when I flew to
Arizona and everyone had to remove their shoes, I had tennis and had to
put them on and tie them with no place to sit. Thank goodness I had my
son with and I leaned on him for support.

In his recent funny book, Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame) commented
that it was really a shame that it had to be a Shoe Bomber; it would
have been lots more interesting at the airport security gate now, if it
had been a Bra Bomber, or a Panty Bomber.