all hail vic

Across the Ocean

Two days ago I took 22+ hours, door-to-door, to get from my apartment in Prague to my parents' house in Bloomington, Indiana.

For once, the flying experience was fairly enjoyable, if not weird.

I got to the Prague airport at 8:30 for my 9:30 flight. That's pushing it, but only barely, at the Prague airport. I checked in really quickly but the security line took a little while. After getting through security, I decided to purchase two bottles of liquor from one of the duty free shops. With all the new restrictions on liquids in carry-ons, I still thought I would have no problem because I had heard that it's alright to bring any liquids bought within an EU airport on any EU-origin flights...

As I approached the gate, about 30 yards out, my name was called out over the PA - "Will Mr. Robertson please come to gate XO as you are delaying the flight. If you do not arrive soon, your luggage will be off-loaded." Suffice it to say, I was just around the corner and I got on the plane with my two bottles of liquid.

My flights were thus: PRG to Amsterdam (AMS), AMS to Detroit (DTW), DTW to Indianapolis.

During my layover in AMS, I encountered two very distinctly different people in very distinctly different areas of the airport both whistling (very loudly, too) the theme to The Godfather, which kind of freaked me out. I also encountered many security personnel who were informing the passengers about the new EU liquid policy. They confirmed my info and I was told by a few that it was okay to bring EU-bought liquor on EU-origin flights. "No problem", I thought.

A few hours later (it was a long layover), I got in line to board the Detroit-bound airplane. A man with not-so-hot English (which is rare in Dutch-land) came down the line asking passengers if they had any liquids. I said "yes, I have duty free I bought in Prague".

His response was roughly equivalent to: "You can't take those bottles with you. Because of conflicting policies between the EU and the US (and US airlines - I was flying Northwest), you cannot take any duty free liquor on the plane unless it was bought here in Schipol." Schipol is the Amsterdam airport.

"Grrr. I'll talk to people at the front of the security line."

"Okay," he replied.

I got up to the heavy interrogation point, where they ask you all about your personal life before allowing you to go through the security clearance. The man there said I needed to talk to the people at the security checkpoint. So, I still had the liquor.

I got up to the checkpoint and asked the guy before the x-ray machine - "ask the guy on the other side", he said, as he placed my bag with liquor on the conveyor belt for the machine.

As my bags went through, they didn't inspect the liquor bottles. However, they did pull the empty water bottle I was carrying in my backpack out to look at it. (It's important for you to know that nobody goes through x-ray screening in Schipol with duty free because they deliver duty free to those who purchased some at the door to the jetway, so those who bought duty free in Schipol do not have it in their possession when they pass through security clearance.)

On the other side of the x-ray machine, I packed my bags up, including the bottles of liquor which were now comfortably in my computer bag. I was under the impression the guy in the line was wrong because my liquor had gone through unquestioned. So I turned to one of the security agents and said, "You should tell your guy in line that he's telling people the wrong thing. I have two bottles of liquor I bought in Prague in my bag and it's okay for me to bring it with me."

The guy looked at me and said (also in not-so-perfect English), "No, he's right. You can't bring any liquids that weren't bought in Schipol on the plane."

"Oh," I said.

That was it. He didn't ask to take the liquor. I decided to press the issue no further and boarded the plane with my liquor safely in tote.

I had an exit row seat from AMS to DTW, so I had a plethora of leg room. Plus it was an Airbus 330, which is large and floats on the air like a boat on water. It was a very comfortable flight, made better by the fact that the cabin crew were really quite nice and friendly, instead of the usual surliness that accompanies a Northwest flight. Also, the parents across the aisle with the two very young children (2 years and 14 months, respectively) were really attentive and patient with their children, which meant that they were well-behaved and relatively quiet. I was astonished how pleasant the flight was.

In DTW, a person got on the plane before we disembarked and said "If you bought any duty free liquors in your travel, please repack them in your checked luggage after you clear customs. You will not be allowed to take them past security for any continuing flights."

So I did that and the bottles made it safely to Indiana.

My DTW to Indy flight was also really pleasant I had the first row behind business class (see also "bulkhead") in that Airbus 320, which was exceptionally roomy (more so than business class). And despite the flight being full, I had nobody in the seat next to me.

I was quite tired by that point and spent that flight mostly dozing in and out, waking up only briefly to drink a quick glass of water.

And then my dad picked me up in Indy. That's a different story for a later time though... And it's not much of a story really. But I'll tell you about it later.

Posted by iain at December 16, 2006 04:22 PM