Airport Security is a complete joke

[can we agree?]

Just came back on a flight from Hong Kong, what's the point of searching you BEFORE you enter the duty free area?  In the Duty Free area I have 3 hours to wade through all sorts of electronics, go to restaurants that have sharp knives etc. 

How difficult would it be for an airport employee to smuggle something dangerous through and hand it off to me before I board the airplane?

Shouldn't the thorough search be done immediately before you board the plane?

[Crazyman]

As long as nobody brings toothpaste tubes over 100 ml, I think we'll all be safe.

 

[But, but...]

There is a metal detector and X-Ray search at the gate also...

[some not all]

There is a metal detector and X-Ray search at the gate also...

Some, not all the flights search at the gate.  It's probably too expensive to have security at every single gate, so many airports prefer to combine security at one location to save costs.

For example the new x-ray machines used to scan for items hidden beneath your clothes?  Can you imagine the cost of having one of those machines at every gate in an airport?

[But but...]

Every gate at every major airport I've flown out of does the personal metal detector / carry on bag X-Ray check.

[impossible]

Every gate at every major airport I've flown out of does the personal metal detector / carry on bag X-Ray check.

Well my flight on Jetstar from Hong Kong to Singapore had only the one security check.  I definitely would have remembered if I had to line up for security twice, considering the amount of people that were on my flight.





 

[tell me]

.... WHICH airport security is NOT a joke?

there are a zillion things (on their taboo list) that can blatantly (not even ingeniously) stashed through the security system --- without even getting on the radar.

every airport (some more than others) goes through the motions, yes.
really effective? no.

[It's all a show]

I'm sure that they are as vigilant as they can be given time / money / manpower / resources but it's really just a show.

They may catch the odd 'nasty' but I think if somebody really wanted to do some damage they could.

I don't let it worry me too much. Do you worry that there are no checks outside bars, restaurants, on buses, MRT etc?

The odds are in your favour!

[the show]

I'm sure that they are as vigilant as they can be given time / money / manpower / resources but it's really just a show.

They may catch the odd 'nasty' but I think if somebody really wanted to do some damage they could.

I don't let it worry me too much. Do you worry that there are no checks outside bars, restaurants, on buses, MRT etc?

The odds are in your favour!

It's not the odds I'm worried about, it's the inconvenience they put me and other travellers through, frisking us, turning our bags inside out, making us come to the airport an hour earlier than we would like to, all for a security process that is not even effective.

Surely the time and resources could be spent in a more effective way?  I heard that in Israel they interview passengers as a security check.  That sounds like a sensible low-cost process which will weed out the shady characters who require more intensive screening.

The current system is wasteful and ineffective and needs to be changed.

[dirty]

taking off your shoes and then walking barefoot on everyone's dirt is the worst. Imagine all the fungus and crap* you are walking on before boarding the plane!!! I wish they would make it more hygienic really pathetic

[Personal interviews?]

I'm sure that they are as vigilant as they can be given time / money / manpower / resources but it's really just a show.

They may catch the odd 'nasty' but I think if somebody really wanted to do some damage they could.

I don't let it worry me too much. Do you worry that there are no checks outside bars, restaurants, on buses, MRT etc?

The odds are in your favour!

It's not the odds I'm worried about, it's the inconvenience they put me and other travellers through, frisking us, turning our bags inside out, making us come to the airport an hour earlier than we would like to, all for a security process that is not even effective.

Surely the time and resources could be spent in a more effective way?  I heard that in Israel they interview passengers as a security check.  That sounds like a sensible low-cost process which will weed out the shady characters who require more intensive screening.

The current system is wasteful and ineffective and needs to be changed.

I'm sure that personal interviews would really cut down the waiting time.....NOT!

I wonder why they have to be so tight on security in Israel. Perhaps because they have pissed off most of the peoples who live around them so badly?

[scarbowl]

[/quote]
I'm sure that personal interviews would really cut down the waiting time.....NOT!

I wonder why they have to be so tight on security in Israel. Perhaps because they have pissed off most of the peoples who live around them so badly?
[/quote]
If you lived among neighbors who hated you and fired missiles at you, you might be a bit grumpy yourself.  Perhaps you are not aware that, even as an American, if you have an Israeli immigration stamp in your passport (say you visited Jerusalem) you cannot enter Saudi, Libya, and certain other countries.  Saudi will cut the State of Israel out of any map or globe (even the inflatable variety) that enters its borders.
Israel's neighbors have attacked it since it was originally created by the UN.  So there's no need to start your stone-throwing here.
,

[Deserved?]

I'm sure that personal interviews would really cut down the waiting time.....NOT!

I wonder why they have to be so tight on security in Israel. Perhaps because they have pissed off most of the peoples who live around them so badly?
[/quote]
If you lived among neighbors who hated you and fired missiles at you, you might be a bit grumpy yourself.  Perhaps you are not aware that, even as an American, if you have an Israeli immigration stamp in your passport (say you visited Jerusalem) you cannot enter Saudi, Libya, and certain other countries.  Saudi will cut the State of Israel out of any map or globe (even the inflatable variety) that enters its borders.
Israel's neighbors have attacked it since it was originally created by the UN.  So there's no need to start your stone-throwing here.
,
[/quote]The term "reap what you sow" comes to mind.

The biggest peddlars of terror in the world. Luckily for them they have some rather powerful friends.

I am amazed that a race who have suffered such evil horrors in recent history can do the same to others. I would like to add that I have no hatred of Jewish people but the state of Israel has done some truly dreadful things.

[La-dee-bleeding-dah]

Oh, please. Get over your  bleeding heart, loopy loony, leftie liberal self already. And no, I am not Jewish. Just sick to death of the Israel bashers.

[new approach]

I'm sure that they are as vigilant as they can be given time / money / manpower / resources but it's really just a show.

They may catch the odd 'nasty' but I think if somebody really wanted to do some damage they could.

I don't let it worry me too much. Do you worry that there are no checks outside bars, restaurants, on buses, MRT etc?

The odds are in your favour!

It's not the odds I'm worried about, it's the inconvenience they put me and other travellers through, frisking us, turning our bags inside out, making us come to the airport an hour earlier than we would like to, all for a security process that is not even effective.

Surely the time and resources could be spent in a more effective way?  I heard that in Israel they interview passengers as a security check.  That sounds like a sensible low-cost process which will weed out the shady characters who require more intensive screening.

The current system is wasteful and ineffective and needs to be changed.

I'm sure that personal interviews would really cut down the waiting time.....NOT!

I wonder why they have to be so tight on security in Israel. Perhaps because they have pissed off most of the peoples who live around them so badly?

Interviews wouldn't take that long, you get interviewed with the group of people you travel with.  Notice that the terrorists getting caught recently have been male and travelling alone.  So why should a family get the same scrutiny as a single male?  This is just common sense.

The questions they ask you are, what is the purpose of your trip, when did you buy your ticket, etc. These are simple questions that can immediately determine who requires more screening.

New approaches are needed, the current system where a little girl's Hello Kitty backpack is searched just as thoroughly as anyone else's, is ineffective and inefficient.