UK Travel

Well. I won’t be traveling to the UK any time soon.

What follows is the list of things which a passanger may bring on a UK aircraft. This information is taken from here:

· Pocket-size wallets and pocket-size purses plus contents (for example money, credit cards, identity cards etc (not handbags)

· Travel documents essential for the journey (for example passports and travel tickets)

· Prescription medicines and medical items sufficient and essential for the flight (eg, diabetic kit), except in liquid form unless verified as authentic

· Spectacles and sunglasses, without cases

· Contact lens holders, without bottles of solution

· For those travelling with an infant: baby food, milk (the contents of each bottle must be tasted by the accompanying passenger) and sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight (nappies, wipes, creams and nappy disposal bags)

· Female sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight, if unboxed (eg tampons, pads, towels and wipes)

· Tissues (unboxed) and/or handkerchiefs

· Keys (but no electrical key fobs). All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be X-ray screened.

Yep, no books. No cameras. No electronics…

For one, I will not buy a flight case and then check the normal stuff I carry on the aircraft in order to ensure that it isn’t stolen by aircraft / TSA personnel. Two, I don’t want to have the airline’s seatback advertisements as my only source of entertainment (besides staring out a potentially darkened window) for the whole eight hour journey.

As it is right now, I may need to remove all liquids / gels from my luggage in order to get home, and this is simply the US reaction. < sigh >

UPDATE: The US’ take on this all can be found here. The specific part I see as being a problem is that the TSA is “…prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane.”

This means I will not have a bottle of water to drink (hello, dehydration), and I’ll have to toss out my personal products and camera lens cleaner. < sigh >

I should buy some of that chewing gum with gel in the middle. Or a new camera lens with a floating element.

Hrm, I wonder if I’ll still be able to bring a bagel w/ peanut butter on the flight. That’s kind of a solid. Or what about a bagel?

UPDATE 2: One thing I wonder about… The actual press release says “carried on the airplane.”. Perhaps I can check the stuff… That’d probably be fine with me, I guess.

At least there will be lots more room for carry-ons now that people aren’t bringing all of their stuff on. (This is because the default will be to check the whole bag if it has contraband on board.)

Hrm. Hopefully I can find a way to bring a bottle of liquor home. There’s some stuff I want which I can’t find around me.