No lighters on planes beginning 4/16/05

[cru1s1ng]

FYI - From CNN:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/02/28/lighter.ban/index.html

[doone]

Thanks, being a smoker, this is of interest to me. I fly out on March 11th and home on March 30th, I'll just make it.

[ekerr19]

I thought I read in one of my travel magazines that it was starting earlier than 4/16 for some airlines??? I will re-read and see if I can find it - just in case.

[Dr Gonzo]

Thanks for the info,

While I have been an ex-smoker for 3 weeks now (thank god for the gum) I do carry my lucky Zippo lighter on me.

[macable]

We flew into FLL from NY on Feb 10th for our Feb 13th Westerdam cruise. We knew enough not to carry lighters on us or in our carryons. What a surprise to find that two of my DH's cigar lighters had been confiscated from his checked luggage! What a bummer! Replaced them in FLL, & took a chance coming home & stowed them in the carryon. Yup, you guessed it, they made it through!

It would be helpful to know the reasoning behind this. Is it because the TSA

doesn't want anything flamable on the planes? I guess this means no more butane haircurlers as well? Damn those terrorists!! :mad:

[cru1s1ng]

That's backwards, sorry. Lighters have been banned from checked luggage for a long time. Don't know why. In the past is was ok to have two lighters as carry-on.

 

This was caused by richard reid aka the shoe-bomber. They say if he wouldv'r had a lighter he would have been able to explode his bomb.It is going to be very inconvienent (I am a smoker) but if it makes us safer, ok. They are not banning matches at this point.

 

I'll be flying back 4/10/05 and don't expect to be flying for another year so it won't impact me this time.

[stretch]

That really sucks! Next they'll confiscate our wallets (watch out those credit cards can be sharpened to a razor's edge), oops, no socks or belts (can be used for strangling / gassing), oh oh, no shoes either (blunt instrument), and wheel chairs ( ramming instrument), no lipstick (could blacken out the camera lenses), glasses (could start a fire from sun passing through the lenses), oh, don't forget those shirt buttons (could be made from C-4), and heaven help those ladies with the bras. Guess we'll all be flying naked in another year. For goodness sake, homeland security is one thing, but it's getting rediculous now.

Hey, here's a novel idea........ PROFILING!

That's what they do in Isreal and they don't take your lighters away.

Stretch

[blackbird71]

That really sucks! Next they'll confiscate our wallets (watch out those credit cards can be sharpened to a razor's edge), oops, no socks or belts (can be used for strangling / gassing), oh oh, no shoes either (blunt instrument), and wheel chairs ( ramming instrument), no lipstick (could blacken out the camera lenses), glasses (could start a fire from sun passing through the lenses), oh, don't forget those shirt buttons (could be made from C-4), and heaven help those ladies with the bras. Guess we'll all be flying naked in another year. For goodness sake, homeland security is one thing, but it's getting rediculous now.

Hey, here's a novel idea........ PROFILING!

That's what they do in Isreal and they don't take your lighters away.

Stretch

 

Don't tell anybody, but when I was in the Army I was showed how to kill with a car key. :eek:

[Tatka]

Good thing we quit 2 month ago.;)

 

But even if we still were smoking you can always buy cheap one when you get there, or you can ask for matches on the ship.

[macable]

Crui1s1ng: How could R.Reid have accessed a lighter in his CHECKED luggage???

Forgot to mention that they took the cigar cutter too! One of those guilotine ones.

 

Blackbird: I believe it! Remember when they banned metal knives in all airport restaurants? Like you couldn't harm someone with a metal fork!!! GAWD!:rolleyes:

[BobBeaSea]

If lighters have been banned from CHECKED baggage as mentioned above that is news to me. I put a couple of Baby Bics in the side pocket of my checked baggage because I have had them confiscated when on my person or in my carry-on. Seems strange to ban lighters yet matches still OK (for a while). I can do more damage with a full book of matches than I can with a Baby Bic.:)

[cru1s1ng]

If lighters have been banned from CHECKED baggage as mentioned above that is news to me. I put a couple of Baby Bics in the side pocket of my checked baggage because I have had them confiscated when on my person or in my carry-on. Seems strange to ban lighters yet matches still OK (for a while). I can do more damage with a full book of matches than I can with a Baby Bic.:)

 

I don't make the laws, but thats what the TSA says. I don't see how they would be a problem in checked luggage either.

 

Here's a link to the TSA, go to page 2 to see about lighters:

 

http://www.tsa.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/Permitted_Prohibited_12_18_2003.pdf

[ekerr19]

But even if we still were smoking you can always buy cheap one when you get there, or you can ask for matches on the ship.

 

Not on a HAL ship you can't! No lighters or matches - it's been that way for a long time. :)

[stretch]

Not on a HAL ship you can't! No lighters or matches - it's been that way for a long time. :)

 

 

???? There is no smoking on a HAL ship ?????

Stretch

[kryos]

That's backwards, sorry. Lighters have been banned from checked luggage for a long time. Don't know why. In the past is was ok to have two lighters as carry-on.

I've routinely carried a couple of extra lighters in my checked baggage. They were never taken. Only once I was asked if I had any lighters in there, and I played the dope ... "duh, I don't think so." They made it to my destination fine.

 

I plan to continue to do the same. The only thing I'll do differently is not pull the cigarettes and lighter out of my pants pocket when going through X-ray prior to boarding. Think that will get me stopped now. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

Stretch.....

 

HAL does not permit smoking at any interior eating area. There is a small section at Lido pool (outside Lido Restaurant) that has some tables where smoking is permitted. Smoking is not permitted in the showrooms but it is allowed in the Casino.

 

 

There is a smoking section the lounges/bars. You may smoke in your cabin and on your verandah (if you have one).

 

One side of the ship permits smoking on weather decks......It varies whether it is port or starboard, but you will easily determine where you can smoke. :) You'll see the ashtrays.

[Tatka]

???? There is no smoking on a HAL ship ?????

Stretch

 

THere is smoking on HAL ships believe me.;)

[ekerr19]

???? There is no smoking on a HAL ship ?????

Stretch

 

Stretch -

 

You can smoke in designated areas on a HAL ship - but there are no matches or lighters to be had, either in the shops or from bar personnel - sorry for the confusion.

[RuthC]

So if there's no matches or lighters on the ship how is the steward gonna light the candles on the birthday cakes? That's important! :D

 

Funny (well, not so funny) story from Ft. Lauderdale airport. Friend was wheeling her 91-year old mother through security. Mother was (unfortunately) wearing a dress. Dresses are not form-fitting (a good thing for some of us :rolleyes: ) so could have been covering a bomb.

Mother had to be taken to a private area to be strip-searched. :eek:

Gotta be a better way to separate the Richard Reid's of the world from the little old ladies. :mad:

[longtimecruiser]

Amen to that Ruth!!!!!!!!!

[BobBeaSea]

Cruising, thanks for the TSA info. This is weird, on my flight from Toronto to Miami this week my lighters have to be in my checked baggage- from Miami to Toronto they have to be in my carry-on. Geez....it's no wonder there is so much confusion out there.

[cru1s1ng]

Ruth, sorry about your mothers experience.

 

I flew into NYC 3 months after 9/11. I was selected for additional screening (pat down, take off belt, laptop examined, etc.) all under the watchful eye of a heavily armed marine. As a 40-ish white male, did I find it odd? Yes. Extreme. Yes. Did I appreciate the extra security Yes.

 

Let us not forget what happened 9/11 when 3000 people were slaughtered. Anything we can do to 'do our part' should be welcomed.

[RuthC]

Not my Mom! A friend's mom. Just need to clear that up.

 

I'm all for security, and not getting blown out of the air, believe me. But I do think there is something wrong when an obviously helpless woman is strip-searched merely because she is wearing a dress.

I travel in a dress. And I would prefer not to be strip-searched, thank you very much. And if I am going to be strip-searched because I'm wearing a dress I want it to be consistent in every airport. It is not.

And there-in lies a problem.

[dakrewser]

I'm all for security, and not getting blown out of the air, believe me. But I do think there is something wrong when an obviously helpless woman is strip-searched merely because she is wearing a dress.

I travel in a dress.

 

The problem most likely wasn't the dress, but the wheelchair which can't go thru the screening gates....

[RuthC]

Dave, the story I got was that it was the dress. They asked and that's what they were told; the explanation had to do with the dress could cover a bomb strapped to her under the dress. Slacks are more form-fitting and wouldn't be as likely to conceal a bomb.

The woman is able to walk a bit on land, and possibly could have walked through the screening gate. (Not positive on this part.) AFAIK it was not the wheelchair.

The woman had no trouble in her home airport heading down to Ft. Lauderdale---just coming home.