Airports w/ Body Scanners

[LGK]

Anybody had to go through one yet? Can you opt out and have them wand-and-grope you instead? I realize I'm due to go through Dallas/Fort Worth at the end of August here, and they are listed as one of the airports with them, and I really, really, really don't want to go through one of those wretched scanners.

And, since it's a connecting flight for me, I forget if I have to go through security again anyway... I leave from SeaTac, to DFW, then to San Jose in Costa Rica. So I know I have to do go through security in SeaTac but I totally can't remember if I will have to at DFW too, or if it's just done once when you leave, and not for connecting flights. Which would hopefully make the scanner moot anyway...

TIA

 

[slg47]

I have not been through one but would much rather go through a scanner than be wanded/groped...I was wanded/groped at age 16 and it was fairly uncomfortable IMO

 

[iheartscience]

If you're just transferring at DFW you shouldn't have to go through security. Not sure if you can opt out of the scanners or not, though.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Anybody had to go through one yet? Can you opt out and have them wand-and-grope you instead? I realize I'm due to go through Dallas/Fort Worth at the end of August here, and they are listed as one of the airports with them, and I really, really, really don't want to go through one of those wretched scanners.

And, since it's a connecting flight for me, I forget if I have to go through security again anyway... I leave from SeaTac, to DFW, then to San Jose in Costa Rica. So I know I have to do go through security in SeaTac but I totally can't remember if I will have to at DFW too, or if it's just done once when you leave, and not for connecting flights. Which would hopefully make the scanner moot anyway...

TIA

Yes, I have.

In my last trip, I was stopped at every single airport, often several times in each (manual baggage check, my checked in luggage was always searched, I was wanded, groped, scanned to exhaustion). In Dallas, I was not given a chance to object or ask for a different method. The agents were quite brusque, actually, and I was quite afraid of getting even more security checks for even slight deviations from the norm. When I was going towards the scanner, I kind of stumbled and stopped to get my balance - the agent scowled at me and told me to get going

I went through Dallas on an international connection (Guatemala), by the way.

Agents in Asheville were just lovely. In Miami, they were friendly and helpful, even though they had to get huge numbers of people through the system. And this was on the same trip, so I was triggering the same alarm bells!

 

[Indylady]

I'd rather go through the scanner than get groped. Its really fast. You walk in, put your arms up, flash of light, walk out.

 

[zhuzhu]

I wonder how much radiation gets observed in your body from the scanner machine?

 

[LGK]

I'm fine with the groping process actually, because I always get that anyway. I beep. Every time. I think it's my earrings and piercings, which I don't/cant take out. So I'm used to the boob-grabbing routine. (Wow, what a shock, my bra's underwire is... wait for it... metal! Better grab my boobs! They might be explosive!)

I was not cool with the time one security guy lifted my skirt up though. In front of the whole security line. He stuck his wand under the hem of my kilt and flipped it right the heck up. Boy was I glad I was wearing full-butt panties that day and not a thong! Least it's always women who have to do the boob grabbing now. It used to be whomever was free, guy or girl.

Hm. I hopefully I can opt out.

 

[deegee]

I don't think you go through security if it's just a connection. I flew from SeaTac last week with a layover in Chicago, and didn't go through security again there. Chicago definitely has the body scanners. My hubby got the wand and grope at SeaTac because he had on cargo pants. At the airport at the start of our trip I got put in a little glass room without my shoes, jacket, top shirt & purse and checked for explosives residue. I'm really beginning to hate flying!

 

[LGK]

I don't think you go through security if it's just a connection. I flew from SeaTac last week with a layover in Chicago, and didn't go through security again there. Chicago definitely has the body scanners. My hubby got the wand and grope at SeaTac because he had on cargo pants. At the airport at the start of our trip I got put in a little glass room without my shoes, jacket, top shirt & purse and checked for explosives residue. I'm really beginning to hate flying!

Oooh, did you get your hands swabbed and then they did something all blacklighty and weird with the swabs? Apparently my hands looked explosive last time and I got that procedure too. Funfun! Yes. Flying was never my favorite thing ever, but it's really getting incredibly unpleasant.

Cool. I really hope I don't have to do security in DFW. The scanners just creep me out intensely for some reason, and I'm not all that modest really.

 

[April20]

I've had to go thru the body scanners twice now. Once in ATL and once at Reagan. Here's what KILLS ME. BOTH times, they've STILL patted down an "area". The second time in ATL, I was NOT happy to be going thru it, plus I was cranky. They'd been yelling at everyone to take everything out of their pockets. I didn't even have pockets in the dress I was wearing and it was obvious there were no pockets. I go thru the darn thing and then you have to wait to get "cleared" by the person in the office reviewing the scan. The TSA officer comes over to me and goes "What do you have in your pocket?". I tell her it's a dress, there ARE NO POCKETS. She says she has to pat me down. I asked her what the point of a FULL BODY SCAN was if they still had to pat people down. Then she got NASTY and said if I had a problem, she'd call someone over. I told her I had no problem, I was asking a SIMPLE question. She then proceeded to pat down one section of my outer left thigh. What the heck could they possibly have questioned on the scan there??? I assure you, the ONLY thing there other than my dress was CELLULITE.

TSA was cranky all last week in just about every airport. I flew out from Ohare later the same day as my run in with the ATL TSA agent and got yelled out for reaching two or three inches into the shroud of the xray belt to grab my flip flop. I'm not talking into the machine, I'm talking about 3' past the end of the machine. Then in Memphis, I got yelled at by the guy checking licenses for taking one additional halp step towards him. I'm telling you, they were all ridiculous this week.

 

[doodle]

We flew from Manchester, England to Atlanta right after the bomb incident last year that got everyone all riled up again. At least the Brits had a sense of humor. I told all security that if they got to grope me, I should get to grope them back. Tit for tat, you know? Got a chuckle or two in England, but not so much in the A-T-L. I love my home state, but I seriously hate Hartsfield-Jackson! I personally object to the body scanners, so at this point, if we need to go back to England for some reason, I'm more than prepared to swim.

 

[April20]

We flew from Manchester, England to Atlanta right after the bomb incident last year that got everyone all riled up again. At least the Brits had a sense of humor. I told all security that if they got to grope me, I should get to grope them back. Tit for tat, you know? Got a chuckle or two in England, but not so much in the A-T-L. I love my home state, but I seriously hate Hartsfield-Jackson! I personally object to the body scanners, so at this point, if we need to go back to England for some reason, I'm more than prepared to swim.

Doodle, I'm not sure about South Security (that's the small one I think), but Main security only has the full body scanner if you go around to the far right side down the hall where there are those three other security lines. I'm not sure about the far left side (if you go to the left and then that hallway that juts off even further left and then down). Stick to the "main" section of the main security and you'll be body scanner free!

 

[doodle]

Good to know and thanks for the info, April20! God knows I'm not in the shape to swim across the Chattahoochee, much less to England! Then again, who in their right mind would swim in the Hooch!?

 

[galeteia]

Yep, I've been through one. It was fantastic! No grumpy TSA having to wand me, just step through, arms up, step past, wait for results, and carry on.

It was absolutely not a big deal and didn't make me uncomfortable at all. I'd rather be scanned than groped. I also got pulled into secondary for explosive residue check, but it was fast enough that it didn't endanger my flight and the girl complimented me on my nail polish before she sent me on my way.

Airport security is a necessary evil. The way I see it, my job is to be polite, follow orders, and not make their job harder. I've never had a problem with people being rude to me, but then again I've never disobeyed instructions.

 

[loriken214]

I would much rather go through a scanner than have to be patted down......my left knee replacement gives me no option....I get the pat down EVERY time I go through airport security.

Lori

 

[geckodani]

If it's a connecting flight you'll only have to go back through security if you have to go to a gate on the other side of the airport, or in an area that forces you to leave the gate/cleared areas.

I personally don't care about the scanners. I'll probably get patted down for the rest of my life though - I just got a pin in my foot and will probably set off the damn things. Whatever. Necessary evil IMO.

 

[MustangGal]

I went through one at the Burbank airport last year, it wasn't bad at all. My boss was actually thrilled to get to use one, she has a hip replacement and has to the the whole wand/pat down each time. With the body scanner they just did the scan and let her go on her way.

 

[happycanary]

This is somewhat belated but it is your right to request a pat down instead of a scan if you want. Time had an article on the scanners recently and although the manufacturers say the amount of radiation is lower than what you would absorb on a flight via atmospheric radiation, there are actually a few ways to measure radiation from the scanners and of course the manufacturers report the lowers #, measuring by other methods will give a higher read. Probably only a concern for people who fly extremely frequently though.

 

[bricklayer]

I have been through one and it was nothing. I kind of would like to see what they saw!

 

[LGK]

Yep, I did ask for the pat down instead of the scanner in Dallas/Ft Worth, actually. I got patted down three... or was it four? times this trip. In case anyone was wondering, my boobs are Very Very Secure. (The wand always beeps over the underwire in my bra and so they check 'em. Every freaking time!)

I also discovered that it wasn't a bracelet that I finally got off before the trip (it was stuck on my wrist for a couple of years) that was making me beep going through the metal detectors. (Must be the alien implant then I guess.) Because I beep every time for no reason and I took off every single scrap of metal except my bra, and I know the underwire isn't enough to trigger the stupid gate thing- just the wand- because my mom and my aunt were both wearing underwire bras and they didn't beep. Sigh.

And yeah, I do know that the actual physical process of going through the scanners is not a big deal, nor am I really that modest. It's just the idea that it's suddenly OK to digitally strip search passengers that drives me batty, and I won't do it unless I absolutely positively have to.

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Don't wear an underwire bra I learned that the hard way

guess I should read all the posts first. And yes, those hidden piercings that the wand finds are fun to explain been there too....

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

So weird. I wear underwire bras, and jewelry (gold and stainless steel), going through scanners and I've never gotten a beep. I also wear my belt usually and it doesn't set it off either. I wonder what the criteria is - all I'm sure is, thank goodness no one decided it'd be fun to scan me/pat me down while I was going through scanners holding two VERY nervous, wriggly and unhappy cats, weighing a combined total of 21 pounds and each clawing little claw-holes into my shirt and arms. I might have lost it at that point. Of course, none of the TSA people actually tried to HELP me either - I had to tell them, "Um, can you like open my cat carrier so I can get these guys in...?" (You know, because it's not like I have my arms full or anything )

 

[LGK]

So weird. I wear underwire bras, and jewelry (gold and stainless steel), going through scanners and I've never gotten a beep. I also wear my belt usually and it doesn't set it off either. I wonder what the criteria is - all I'm sure is, thank goodness no one decided it'd be fun to scan me/pat me down while I was going through scanners holding two VERY nervous, wriggly and unhappy cats, weighing a combined total of 21 pounds and each clawing little claw-holes into my shirt and arms. I might have lost it at that point. Of course, none of the TSA people actually tried to HELP me either - I had to tell them, "Um, can you like open my cat carrier so I can get these guys in...?" (You know, because it's not like I have my arms full or anything )

Ho boy. That sounds like the Trip From Hell. I cannot imagine herding my cats through an airport. They'd scream bloody murder and yes, claw holes would abound. Eeek! That does NOT sound like fun.

I don't know what it is with the beeping. I'd love to not, but I think only once have I not beeped, like ever. I travel with my mom a lot and it's just a running joke at this point, about how my boobs just set the metal detectors off and require searching and may possibly be concealed weapons. Fun times! (I sometimes wonder if they can *make* the thing beep, frankly.)

 

[bricklayer]

Yep, I did ask for the pat down instead of the scanner in Dallas/Ft Worth, actually. I got patted down three... or was it four? times this trip. In case anyone was wondering, my boobs are Very Very Secure. (The wand always beeps over the underwire in my bra and so they check 'em. Every freaking time!)

This was pretty entertaining to me.

The only place I've had a particularly ridiculous pat-down was in San Francisco. I had bobby pins in my hair and a bra-tank-top thing on and I guess that was enough for them.

 

[April20]

Yep, I did ask for the pat down instead of the scanner in Dallas/Ft Worth, actually. I got patted down three... or was it four? times this trip. In case anyone was wondering, my boobs are Very Very Secure. (The wand always beeps over the underwire in my bra and so they check 'em. Every freaking time!)
.

Okay, here's what KILLS me with the body scanner things. You can opt out with a pat down, right? Well, every single time I've had to go thru one, THEY'VE PATTED ME DOWN ANYWAY. I watched them completely pat down a woman wearing jeans this past Wednesday. I mean, completely felt up and down every leg AFTER she went thru. If the scanners, or the person reading the images, is so ineffectual that they still need to do pat downs, what is the point??? I, for one, DO NOT feel safer!