Strict security checks at Heathrow today

Curry powder, gasp! What could you have been thinking? ;-)

Hope you had a good flight home in time to enjoy our spell of nice weather!

I always have one of these compasses in my carryon too and never had a problem with it setting off any alarms or even being asked about.

The travel warnings issued yesterday might have something to do with it

The walk through arch is set to beep randomly as well as on the detection of something. 15% is typical but can be more.

I am always stopped at Heathrow and go through the same thing, so I don't think it necessarily indicates the security is tighter than usual. I have yet to be able to determine why I am always pulled at Heathrow and not other airports. I don't mind though. The agents all are pleasant about it. I think they are almost embarrassed, actually.

Earlier this year in Munich we changed planes in Munich. We headed for our next gate for the flight to the US and about 4 gates were roped off. At the entry was a nice woman in uniform that appeared to be a United employee. We told her our flight number and she directed us to the first gate counter in front of us. Then she walked behind the counter and asked for our passports and boarding passes. While she clicked away on the computer she made polite conversation, but asked way too many personal questions for my taste. None of her dang business I thought but I remained calm. Finally she was done and she hand the passports and boarding passes to us. “All set” I asked. She said, no and told me another gate number I would have to go to for check in. So I asked he what we just did. She said, we passed inspection. It was a security interview. She was good.

My experiences in Heathrow is that there are often surprise inspections at the gate. The security seems to be more comprehensive than the US; but well managed.

MrsEB--- for the Fast Track, yes, we fly business class, thanks to airline miles.

I have carried my compass through security in the US and in Europe more times than I can count, and it has never been noticed before.

My husband's backpack got searched as well --- his bad as he forgot he had sunscreen in there ( we actually needed that when hiking in the Lake District!)
The bottle held six ounces so he lost it.

I went through Fastrack at Terminal 5 last week.

While I didn't set off the metal detector, my bags were subject to a full search. (I forgot to take my 3-1-1 bag out which I haven't had to do before in Fast Track or anywhere in the UK.)

And then I got the security person who was having a screaming match with her co-workers about her supposing to get a break. She'd search fora minute and then walk away to scream at her workers. She was scrutinizing my prescription meds all of which were pills.

Finally, another person came over, who I think was a supervisor, and took over. I kept my cool even though my gate was the furthest one you could haves at T5 and I wanted to get going. My security took nearly 20 minutes--and no one else during that time was stopped and searched.

From now on, I am going to not only take my 3-1-1 out buy everythin I have that's electronic and put it in a bin.

Fastrack security at Heathrow is for BA passengers flying in either Business or First Class. It has nothing to do with Global Entry or your nationality. It is supposed to be faster--ha.

We passed through Terminal 2 on our way to Ireland a month ago. The security process seemed to be set up to flag a lot of people for secondary screening. They did not ask you to remove stuff that going to set the alarms off (or even give you the opportunity the way the line was set up) and then what do you know, secondary screening required. My sense was that was their intention, to do secondary screening on almost everyone.

I used LHR for my return flight last September, and found the security to be very thorough and efficient. I also had my daypack "swabbed" which was then analyzed in the "sniffer". They also went through my carry-on items, including my camera gear, and inspected everything.

One benefit of the thorough security at LHR was that when I arrived in Vancouver, I didn't have to go through the ridiculous "dog & pony show" of retrieving my checked pack, walking it past CBSA and then dropping it on another conveyor belt for my final flight. I was told that the security at LHR was "trusted" for that flight, so my checked luggage was transferred through to my final destination. That was a nice treat!

There are too many things called "Fast Track" and it gets confusing.

Fast Track is mostly available to premium class passengers and some frequent fliers. Not all airlines offer either or both.

I found a website that tells which airlines offer both:

http://www.heathrow.com/airport-guide/terminal-facilities-and-services/fast-track

We flew out of terminal 5 today on fast track and hubby had small tubes of stuff in his suitcase. He wasted 30 minutes and people not in fast track passed. Not sure what he was thinking when he packed. The guy went through his stuff at a sales pace and removed everything. Flights originating in France were late arriving due to the strikes.

For anyone that objects to the full body search type scanners you do have the right to decline them in the UK, but this will result in a personal body search of some degree as the alternative.