In a message dated 4/28/05 9:27:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
A lot of you travel around and fly hither and thither. Have any of you used
the system of wrapping your cases in Cling Film that is now on offer at
airports, to secure your cases against tampering, etc.?
We are considering it for our travels to USA in July.
Dear Liz and Other Air Travelers,
After going through the inspection - in Budapest - I paid to have two
suitcases wrapped. Then, they were put on a conveyor belt. The smaller case
was
full of lace books purchased at OIDFA Prague, and nothing else. Very heavy. I
thought the wrap would protect the cases from rough handling and soiling.
When I showed in my ticket at the loading gate, I was pulled aside and
ordered to follow someone who took me all the way back to passport control,
took my
passport, then ordered me into a small room on the other side of passport
control - all in sign language. There, on a table, was my suitcase of books.
They handed me a cutter and indicated I should remove the shrink wrap, open the
combination lock and unzip the bag. They opened every book (there were about
30) and flipped through them. Then, let me close and lock the bag. In broken
language one said it would be on the plane.
All of this took place with them refusing to speak any English. Very
frustrating. I KNOW that young students in Hungary are all learning English
and that
among 6 people with whom I tried to communicate there had to be at least one
who understook and could have replied. This flight makes one round trip to
New York per day, and English must have been a requirement of the job for some
of this personnel.
I am a senior citizen, rather petite, a very plain American, and not
intimidating. When my luggage arrived at Kennedy Airport in NY, the larger
suitcase
was still encased in shrink wrap. No books were missing from the other case.
I did not take another flight, connecting or otherwise, so do not know how the
shrink-wrapped case would have been treated by airport security in the U.S.
My friend in Hungary (whose husband is a retired judge) investigated and
reported back that the airport had a warning that some people were packing
explosives in books. This incident would have been very frightening for a
first-time
traveler who had no friends in-country. Fortunately, I've been through some
pretty interesting travel situations. Experience helps.
I do think it a good idea to try to seal luggage so nothing illegal is added
and your luggage has some protection from conveyor belts and so forth. Just
know that there may be some aggravation along the line, such as a demand to
remove the wrap.
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
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