Help for a first timer!

"kat_d" wrote in message alkabouttravelling.com...
Thanks so much for the help so far, I'm glad to know that I won't have to
get my bag on my way there. On the way home I have longer connection
times (3 and 4 hours) so I think that should be enough. I thought of
another question...with all of the security checks, would it be quicker if
I didn't wear as much jewelery as normal? (3 pairs of earrings, necklace,
watch, rings) These are probably dumb questions, but I want it to be a
smooth trip Thanks!

Not to worry--dumb is when you try to pass security screening with,
umm, jewelry worn in very private places. Or "appliances" worn in said
places.

Here's what happens with security. You w-a-i-t on line (don't wear
high heels unless you're so used to them you can't wear flats). You
wave a foot at a TSA agent, who either passes you on, tells you to
take your shoes off to run through the scanner, or has you test your
shoes on a box with a metal detector inside. You step up to the
scanner and remove your coat, hat, pocketbook/fanny pack, and anything
that might conceivably set off a metal detector. If you have
non-removable metal--bone screws, embedded shrapnel, a medical
device--you alert an agent...and hopefully have the official
documentation to back up your claims. You put everything that goes
through the scanner in a tray or 2 and place that on the conveyor
belt. You wait until another TSA agent waves you through the metal
detector. Flunk that, and you get to remove things and go back again.
Flunk more than once and you'll get a once-over with a metal detector.
In the mean time, of course, the valuables you sent through the
scanner are out of reach, so you're trying to keep an eye on them.

Wear the jewelry if you like, but get ALL of it off and in a sealed
container (say, a zip-lock bag in your pocketbook) when you enter the
security line. Don't let the person in front of you trap you with
repeated passes through the metal detector while *your* metal and
money travels out of sight through the scanner and beyond--this scam
dates well before 9/11. And watch out for those *&^%$! poorly designed
terminals where you have to do the whole screening rigmarole everytime
you want to go to the bathroom (regional AA at Logan, anyone?).

Nancy