wtf

Whaaaa?

No fucking way I could make a transatlantic flight without a book. OMG.

Jan, maybe you should get a cheap digital cam for the trip? Aaaargh.

I've got an ancient Sony digital camera, which I think I'll bring instead of the Panasonic. I was looking forward to taking some good pictures, dammit.

I'm going to carry a book, and give it up if I have to. Otherwise I'll have to read the Sky Mall catalogue for 7 hours (just shoot me now).

Yeah... Probably the best plan. Hide a crossword puzzle in your bra!!! And solve it only with the power of your MIND, since of course you won't be able to have a dangerous pen or pencil.

According to the BBC, there is absolute bloody chaos at the airports. Hopefully in 6 weeks the panic will have subsided and there'll be a more sensible set of restrictions in place.

Jan, depending on how crazy things still are when you are travelling, perhaps you should consider shipping some stuff (like your nice camera) ahead of time to krix's place.

No liquids? Now there's a racket if I ever saw one. Premium water will be available for a nominal charge in the SkyLounge.

I'm sure there will be a variety of reading material awaiting you in the seatback in front of you.

Thanks mike, but I'd rather take a cheap camera than trust my good one to the mail. No big deal, there'll be lots of bunnies taking great pics, I'm sure.

Note to self: Do not fly anywhere via the UK. I would kill somebody if I couldn't bring a book or my iPod on the plane.

Imagine having to entertain two or three kids on a long-haul flight with nothing but your wallet and keys. "I spy, with my little eye ..."

And, I just realised, no pens allowed. Every flight to the US I've been on, the air crews always get really pissy if you need to borrow a pen to complete the immigration cards they have to hand out before you land.

Yeah, hugh, how the hell am I going to get my snake on the plane now?

I thought of you first thing this morning when I watched the news essexjan.

Having travelled to the US 2 weeks after 9/11, I'm sure I can cope with this. It's the lack of toothbrush & book I can't get my head around. That horrible feeling, when you wake up from a nap, after a vile dinner of something microwaved, and you can't clean your teeth. Eeeeew ....

Canary Wharf is on virtual lockdown around the estate (it's a private estate). There are security checkpoints on every road, as well as those barriers they can raise in the road to stop cars from driving through. So, in theory, everyone who comes onto the estate is checked, right? Wrong. There are no ticket barriers anywhere along the Docklands Light Railway, so anyone could get on along the line, travel right into Canary Wharf and blow the place up.

I'm meeting a friend in Central London tonight, and am anticipating a long journey home because people tend to get a bit hysterical whenever there's any kind of security alert and they report every abandoned Coke can or KFC box as a potential bomb.

No book? How can you smuggle explosives in a book?

A Tom Clancy book works best, tilda.

PyrE.

Jan, when are you supposed to be flying out? The MeFi thread is creeping me out a bit.

I was thinking of you, too, essexjan. I hadn't heard about restrictions on "solids" like books, just liquids. Giant bins full of discarded hair gel and aftershave at the airports here. Like you said, hopefully things will settle down in a month's time. Seems like we can bring almost anything as long as we check it.

The rules:

Passengers may only take through the airport security search point, the following items in a single (ideally transparent) plastic bag:
Travel documents essential for the journey (eg passports, tickets and visas)
Pocket sized wallets and pocked sized purses plus contents (for example money, credit cards and identity cards). Handbags are not permitted.
Prescribed medicines essential for the duration of the flight, except in liquid form unless verified as authentic.
Spectacles and sunglasses, without cases.
Contact lenses, without bottles of solution
For those traveling with an infant: baby food, milk and sanitary items essential for the flight.
Keys (but no electrical key fobs).
Every other item must be carried in customer’s checked luggage.
No electrical or battery powered items including laptops, mobile phones, ipods, remote controls etc can be carried in the cabin and must be checked as baggage.

More info:

At-a-glance: Flight chaos
Airlines operating flights into and out of the UK have been forced to make major changes to their schedules after police said they had foiled a large-scale terror plot to attack planes heading from the UK to the US.
Stringent security measures in place in the UK caused knock-on delays in airports around the world as passengers whose flights were not cancelled underwent thorough searches of their bags and belongings.
Scores of short-haul flights into London's Heathrow airport were cancelled on Thursday morning, but UK airport operator BAA lifted a blanket ban on short-haul travel in mid-afternoon.
Nevertheless, British Airways cancelled all of its short-haul flights in and out of London's Heathrow airport, cutting services to other UK and European cities as well as the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
But it aimed to "operate as many long-haul services as possible from London Heathrow and London Gatwick", adding that such flights were subject to delay.
Major US airlines also suffered from the alert: American Airlines cancelled flights to and from Heathrow from Chicago, Boston and New York because of the disruption, but said it hoped to operate its remaining 13 US-bound flights from Heathrow.
The US has raised the terror alert to red, its highest level, for commercial flights originating in the UK.
It has also raised the alert level to orange, the next-highest level, for all domestic and international flights, and banned passengers from taking liquids or gels aboard other than baby food.
In Europe, budget airline EasyJet cancelled all flights in and out of all London airports, citing increased congestion.
The German carrier Lufthansa confirmed that Heathrow-bound flights had been stopped, with three flights sent back to Germany and about 25 others cancelled, after initial reports of a blanket suspension of services to the UK.
Flights to other UK destinations including London City Airport were operating but with expected delays, Lufthansa said, adding that 3,800 of its passengers had been turned back.
Air France cancelled all its Heathrow-bound flights until 2000 GMT, and there was no word on whether Spanish airline Iberia would fly into Heathrow on Thursday.
Greece's Olympic airline denied suspending all flights to the UK, saying it was only waiting for Heathrow to give it the go-ahead to operate.
Italy's national carrier, Alitalia , said it was grounding all flights to the UK, while aviation authorities in the Netherlands cancelled all flights to the UK until 1800 GMT.
Air New Zealand warned of delays to flights to London over the coming days.
Australian airline Qantas restricted hand luggage on UK-bound flights and banned liquids on flights to the US.
Flights from Israel to London airports other than Heathrow were experiencing delays, a spokesman told AFP news agency.
Germany's Frankfurt International Airport said it could accept some flights diverted from Heathrow.

Jeebus.

Pushchairs and walking aids must be X-ray screened, and only airport-provided wheelchairs may pass through the screening point.

I wonder how my cousin is going to make the trip he has planned next week without the use of his custom powered wheel chair

You can also take tampons or sanitary towels onto the plane, as long as they are not boxed. Upside: at least you won't get the creep sitting next to you pestering you to join the mile high club if he sees you carrying a clear plastic bag containing sanitary towels. Downside: kid pointing and asking, loudly "what are those?"

taz, I fly on 19 September. Plenty of time for things to get sensible.

I checked my airline's movie schedule and the main feature on my flight is likely to be Mission Impossible 3. Fuck.

*reaches for Skymall catalogue*