Our journey from the US to India took us a little less than 30 hours of personal time, from leaving our house early to arriving at the flat near Delhi where we spent our first night. In real world terms, we left at 9 am and and were filtering out of Indira Gandhi International Airport around 1 am two days later.
After the jump, I do have a few notes to share on the front line of European security at Amsterdam's Schipol airport, and how the Air Boss did on its first voyage. (Unfortunately without photos, as I currently can't get them off my phone without a bluetooth connection.)
But first -- I must emphasize my continual astonishment at how easy it is to go around the world. As I said to the Beloved Wife: if the worst thing we have to endure is awful food (and Delta's was really awful), a bit of a hassle with luggage and of course the continuing trial of dealing with other people -- we actually have a lot to be thankful for.
But first -- I must emphasize my continual astonishment at how easy it is to go around the world. As I said to the Beloved Wife: if the worst thing we have to endure is awful food (and Delta's was really awful), a bit of a hassle with luggage and of course the continuing trial of dealing with other people -- we actually have a lot to be thankful for.
TSA's Noh Drama of the Damned
We went through very minimal TSA procedures at our port of origin -- shoes, liquids, laptops removed, passing through magnetometer, and then scurrying into the secure zone with everything thus undone. I didn't go through the new procedures, which I find demeaning and degrading. Thus I can't speak directly to the ridiculousness of TSA procedures... though I will pause to note that it remains a truism that if a procedure is unavoidably essential anywhere, it ought to be essential everywhere. Security theatre, QED.
Gate Security at Schiphol
The EU has also introduced body scanners. Though I was hesitant at first, I am now ready to state from first hand experience that I completely content to use the European scanners.
At Schiphol, security screening is performed at the gate. (This is all I can say from my experience; I am not sure if there is initial screening to get into the airport. I prefer the American arrangement in this respect.) You form a random and haphazard queue to get into a departure lounge, and it is from there you board the aircraft.
The scanner takes 3 seconds. Stepping into it is a highly sci-fi kind of experience, as it is a transparent cylinder that makes a whoosh and has a drum that revolves around you rapidly.
Despite removing everything from my person, the machine detected something and I was pulled aside for further screening. I was able to catch a glance of the image that had caused this: the areas that the computer could not interpret were displayed, boxed in yellow, on an generic and anonymous "Person" image. In my case, this a few areas on my left shoulder where my shirt must've been crumpled.
A male guard politely asked me to step onto a designated spot and raise my arms. He carefully frisked only my shoulders, then thanked me. That was the end of that.
Also, I didn't have to remove my shoes. I mean, the body scanner is supposed to detect PETN, so that makes sense, right?
What the EU does wrong, unfortunately, is the quart bag of liquids (the US' 1 bag, 1 quart of 3 oz liquids, 311, rather less poetically metricizes as 1 bag, 1L, <100mL). EU security were handing out the bags left and right to people who frankly looked confused. Signs were everywhere telling people what to do (put liquids and gels in bags), but not how to do it (311). I noted one woman who had 3 or 4 bags with one or two things in each.
The Air Boss: Tribulations and Triumphs
Now to follow up on my previous review. I've now taken the Air Boss on three separate flights - everything from a tiny CRJ-200 to a giant Boeing 777.
It had to be gate checked on the CRJ along with almost everyone else's hand baggage, so no benefit there.
Once we made it to the infinite corridors of the Minneapolis airport, the shoulder strap got its first big test. The Claw, they call it, and it continued to stick to my arm whether I wanted it to or not. I was able to make it from one gate to the next (in two separate terminals, of course) with no problem. But as I expected, wandering aimlessly in the airport with several hours to spare proved more taxing than enjoyable.
It was a draw until we left Schipol. KLM was allowing only one piece of hand luggage (plus personal item). Beloved Wife was using the same type of gear I used to (a backpack and a small black rollie). Just before we entered the departure lounge, an airline agent decided her two items together were too large and put her rollie into checked luggage. Of course, I only had the Air Boss, and it stayed with me all the way from Minneapolis to Delhi.
Beloved Wife's rollie, on the other hand, was in one of the last batches of luggage off the plane. During that time, of course, it was hard not to wonder if someone had mistaken the nondescript black bag for their own and rolled off with it.
I'm not saying no one should have a black rollie bag. The Air Boss is not for everyone. However, it definitively proved itself to me in getting me this far and I now look forward to dragging it all over India.
Now to follow up on my previous review. I've now taken the Air Boss on three separate flights - everything from a tiny CRJ-200 to a giant Boeing 777.
It had to be gate checked on the CRJ along with almost everyone else's hand baggage, so no benefit there.
Once we made it to the infinite corridors of the Minneapolis airport, the shoulder strap got its first big test. The Claw, they call it, and it continued to stick to my arm whether I wanted it to or not. I was able to make it from one gate to the next (in two separate terminals, of course) with no problem. But as I expected, wandering aimlessly in the airport with several hours to spare proved more taxing than enjoyable.
It was a draw until we left Schipol. KLM was allowing only one piece of hand luggage (plus personal item). Beloved Wife was using the same type of gear I used to (a backpack and a small black rollie). Just before we entered the departure lounge, an airline agent decided her two items together were too large and put her rollie into checked luggage. Of course, I only had the Air Boss, and it stayed with me all the way from Minneapolis to Delhi.
Beloved Wife's rollie, on the other hand, was in one of the last batches of luggage off the plane. During that time, of course, it was hard not to wonder if someone had mistaken the nondescript black bag for their own and rolled off with it.
I'm not saying no one should have a black rollie bag. The Air Boss is not for everyone. However, it definitively proved itself to me in getting me this far and I now look forward to dragging it all over India.
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