Warning Concerning TSA Procedures

[Mikek]

We returned from CN on May 7 after a wonderful 7 days. I had read on this message board about purchasing duty free liquor at the airport on your way home. You can carry it directly on the plane for your flight back to the US. If you have a connecting flight, you must put it in your checked luggage before going through the final check point. I purchased 5 bottles of jerk sauce, 5 oz each, and another bottle that was 12 oz while at the airport in Jamaica and put 5 bottles in my backpack and the 12 oz bottle in my wifes backpack. Before we could enter the waiting area at our gate in Jamaica, we were patted down and my backpack was opened and searched and my bottles were OK. When we arrived in Ft Lauderdale, we went through Customs then picked up our checked bags. We sent checked bags and backpacks through an xray machine. We then left our checked bags with our airline. We then went to ANOTHER checkpoint ran by TSA. They took my cirgarette light, OK. My wife and I put our backpacks through the xray and were told they needed to be searched. My wife had hers opened and they looked at the 12 oz bottle and put it back in and she was cleared. They took 3 bottles out of my backpack and told me they were over 3 oz and were not allowed. I tried to explain that I had purchased them after going through security in Jamaica and was searched there and they were approved. She said that what they allowed in Jamaica was not what they allowed. She then put my backpack back through xray and found another bottle which she removed. She did not find the 5th bottle and I was allowed to go. What I tried to explain, to no avail, was that I had not left a secure area and if I had I understood that it was not allowed. She was so arrogant that she would not listen to anything. Final point! If TSA is so concerned about safety, how did my 5th bottle get through and my wifes bottle was deemed OK? Just be sure to put all liquids in your checked bags if you really want to get it home. The TSA woman is probably enjoying Jerk Chicken using my jerk sauce she Stole from me.

[KrisJamie]

Liquids over 3oz need to be in checked baggage at your connection. It's always been that way for liquor and is now the case with the 3oz rule as well...has been for 9 years.

[rhallva]

I wish everyone would read this: http://www.tsa.gov/311/ These are not new policies.

When you landed in FFL any liquids that do not meet the 3-1-1 TSA rules ( http://www.tsa.gov/311/ ) need to be in your checked luggage in order to get through TSA and go on to your gate ... even if you they were in your carry on leaving MBJ. You have to take them out of your backpack and put them in your checked luggage before you check your luggage for your connecting flight. You cannot carry those liquids that were in your carryon leaving Jamaica through security for your next flight after checking your luggage. The only liquids that can go through TSA Security once you have already re-checked your luggage must be : 3 oz or less containers of fluid packed in a single 1 quart clear plastic bag. Each traveler can have one of these quart bags filled with 3oz or less containers of fluid in carry on. This bag should be taken out of your carry-on and sent through security in plain sight so as not to slow down TSA progress for everyone. It would also help if TSA took some extra measure to make sure people understand the p0licy before they get to TSA and think they are getting screwed out of their Jerk Sauce or booze.
In MoBay, once you have already checked your luggage and gone through the initial TSA security you can buy then and carry these fluids on as you leave MoBay. Once you land in the US you have to claim your luggage, and go through customs and immigration. At that point you are technically no longer in a secure part of the airport. This means you have to go through TSA Security again and the 3-1-1 rules for carry on luggage are in effect at that point. If you have a connecting flight any liquids that do not meet 3-1-1 must go into the luggage you will check. It cannot go in your carry-on luggage.
NOTE; Once you pass TSA and go on to your gate at FFL (or wherever) you can buy liquids again and carry them on to THAT flight.

In short ... if you leave Jamaica with fluids you bought in the secure area of the Sangster that do not meet
3-1-1 rules for carry on .....you can carry them on to that flight out of Jamaica. If you have a connecting flight in the US ... these things absolutely must go into your luggage that you will re- check for your connecting flight.

This keeps coming up, and I see people struggling with these rules every time I travel, I hope this helps clear it up a little for those who have been unfortunately blind-sided by the rules.

[redinthehead]

Sorry your sause got taken, once you land in the states if you are on a connecting flight you have to put any liquid over 3.5 oz in your checked bag. Been the rules for awhile now. I understand the anger and fustration as it feels the rules are changed with every TSA agent you see.

But look on the bright side now you have to go back sooner to get more Jerk.

[BobandJudy]

I travel almost every week for work domestically, and several times a year internationally. I only mention this because I have learned this lesson from all the travel: The TSA does not enforce rules the same at each and every airport. Every airport is different in its approach to security and the equipment that they have. For example, at some airports you have to put your shoes on the belt; at others, the shoes go in the tray. The TSA retains the right to enforce the rules as they see fit.

Having said that, the TSA agent actually enforced the "3-1-1" rule as you describe it above. No matter where you buy it, when going through domestic security at a U.S. airport, all carry-on liquids must be in containers 3 oz or less in a one-quart bag and one bag per person. (This is also why you must check your liquor once you arrive into the U.S.)

When you return from an international destination, you are required to go through security just as if you are arriving to check in for a domestic flight. So all of the rules that applied to you when you checked in on your way TO Jamaica apply to you as you connect on your way home to your domestic flight in the U.S.

None of your bottles was less than 3 oz, that's where you got into trouble. The fact that they did not "catch" one of the bottles is not a big surprise - they either could've chosen to let you slide (as the agent did with the 12 oz bottle), or simply did not see the 5th bottle.

The fact that you chose to argue with a TSA agent is a little bit disturbing. These people are just trying to do their jobs for the most part. And they can surely make your life miserable if you give them a hard time. They are agents of the Federal government with all of the attendant powers to make your trip easy or difficult. Be glad that after you argued with the agent that she didn't pull you out of line and make you undergo enhanced screening.

[IceMonkey77]

Do they re-weigh your checked luggage after you have to put your purchased liquids in at your connecting flight?

[sherrynchuck]

Agreeing with rhallva in that this is not new and you didn't get mistreated. I do agree that the TSA policies are poor in that things get through often that are not supposed to...your missed bottle and that of your wifes that they apparently allowed. Your wifes bottle should have been confiscated when they found it. The bottle that slipped through unnoticed is the reason so many refer to the current procedures as "security theatre"...but that's another discussion entirely.

Point being, because you have no other options they excuse your purchases in Jamaica and allow them on the plane. However, your first stop in the US you are required to put all liquids into your checked bags when you collect them if you have a connecting flight...and apparently in some airports you now must do it even if you don't but that is also another discussion and is covered in another thread. This has been happening since 9-11. Most of the time there are announcements being played overhead in the area where you collect your luggage, I think the flight attendants make announcements on the flights most of the time and it seems to me there are signs also.

Sorry you had the misunderstanding but you didn't get treated any differently than you should have. Well, kind of...you actually got lucky in that you made it home with some of your purchases and apparently didn't get delayed in spite of arguing with a TSA agent.

[cypresspeeps]

I wish everyone would read this: http://www.tsa.gov/311/ These are not new policies.

When you landed in FFL any liquids that do not meet the 3-1-1 TSA rules ( http://www.tsa.gov/311/ ) need to be in your checked luggage in order to get through TSA and go on to your gate ... even if you they were in your carry on leaving MBJ. You have to take them out of your backpack and put them in your checked luggage before you check your luggage for your connecting flight. You cannot carry those liquids that were in your carryon leaving Jamaica through security for your next flight after checking your luggage. The only liquids that can go through TSA Security once you have already re-checked your luggage must be : 3 oz or less containers of fluid packed in a single 1 quart clear plastic bag. Each traveler can have one of these quart bags filled with 3oz or less containers of fluid in carry on. This bag should be taken out of your carry-on and sent through security in plain sight so as not to slow down TSA progress for everyone. It would also help if TSA took some extra measure to make sure people understand the p0licy before they get to TSA and think they are getting screwed out of their Jerk Sauce or booze.
In MoBay, once you have already checked your luggage and gone through the initial TSA security you can buy then and carry these fluids on as you leave MoBay. Once you land in the US you have to claim your luggage, and go through customs and immigration. At that point you are technically no longer in a secure part of the airport. This means you have to go through TSA Security again and the 3-1-1 rules for carry on luggage are in effect at that point. If you have a connecting flight any liquids that do not meet 3-1-1 must go into the luggage you will check. It cannot go in your carry-on luggage.
NOTE; Once you pass TSA and go on to your gate at FFL (or wherever) you can buy liquids again and carry them on to THAT flight.

In short ... if you leave Jamaica with fluids you bought in the secure area of the Sangster that do not meet
3-1-1 rules for carry on .....you can carry them on to that flight out of Jamaica. If you have a connecting flight in the US ... these things absolutely must go into your luggage that you will re- check for your connecting flight.

This keeps coming up, and I see people struggling with these rules every time I travel, I hope this helps clear it up a little for those who have been unfortunately blind-sided by the rules.

Not to mention the pilot or flight attndents normally announce that you will have to put your liquids over 3 ounces in your checked luggage...

[KrisJamie]

Do they re-weigh your checked luggage after you have to put your purchased liquids in at your connecting flight?

If they do, it doesn't count against your bag/put you "over the limit".

[BeachGrl]

If you have a connecting flight, you must put it in your checked luggage before going through the final check point.

It sounds like this may be something new... seems to me that he knew he would need to check the liquids if he had a connecting flight.
I am reading this as he had a direct flight..

[Chris]

IceMonkey -

This question has come up a couple of times; last year, when it was asked, I had to rack my brain, but remembered that the bags did NOT get reweighed in any of the airports in which I have cleared Customs in the US on the way back into the country. I also paid attention when we came in last year, just to be sure, and no... bags were NOT weighed, at least not last May.

[redinthehead]

Do they re-weigh your checked luggage after you have to put your purchased liquids in at your connecting flight?

I dont think so, and you dont have to pay for checked bags again.

[JackNJen]

So once you land back in the U.S. you receive your luggage that you sent to be stored under the airplane when you left Jamaica before catching your next flight? For example....when I come back from Jamaica...I will fly into Atlanta, Ga. and then to Indianapolis, IN. If I buy liquid items at the Jamaica airport, will I have a chance to put them in the bags, or do they check them in before you get to where you can buy stuff?

[trhops]

We had a connecting flight in Memphis to STL back in 2008. We had to repack all of the liquid items we got at Sangster into our checked bag. By the time we got to STL, a bottle of rum had busted. So we now learned how to properly pack when we buy items in Sangster. Fortunatley our recent trip we had a direct flight.

[rhallva]

JacknJen,
When you arrive back in the US (at any airport) from Jamaica you will go through Immigration and then you are required to claim your luggage to take it with you through customs. After you pass customs one of two things should happen:
1) If this is your final destination (you had a direct non-stop flight home) you go get your car and go home taking with you all your luggage and carry-on stuff.

2) If you are taking another flight from there to go home you must recheck your luggage for the next flight. Before you do that, but after Immigration and Customs, you need to put everything from your carry-on that does not meet the TSA 3-1-1 rules into the luggage you will check for the upcoming flight.
After you do this you will need to go through TSA Security to go on to your gate and at this point anything you are carrying must meet the 3-1-1 rules or else you will have to leave it behind.

I think part of the misunderstanding comes from how different it is going TO Jamaica as opposed to coming home. On the way down, even if you have connecting flights, you check your luggage at the first flight and it automatically transfers to the next flight. You won't see it again until you get to Sangster. The difference is that when you re-enter the US you must claim your luggage to go through customs, something it felt like you didn't have to do on the way down to Jamaica.

I think this misunderstanding of the rules and procedure was made worse a while back when someone here posted that you did not have to claim you luggage when arriving from Jamaica before going on to a connecting flight at Charlotte. This was a mistake one that person's part (or at least a misunderstanding) and it may have mislead people who read it. There are differences in how some of the details are handled at different airports for sure, but this is the same everywhere by federal law. You always have to claim luggage at the first airport you land at in the US when arriving from Jamaica . The one exception to this that I know if is when you come home from Nassau, Bahamas because there is an actual US Customs and Immigration office there and you do all of that before leaving Nassau.

All the best!
rhall

[JackNJen]

THANK YOU rhallva!!!! That was exactly what I was wanting to know!