Aiglet ([info]aiglet) wrote in [info]knitting,
@ 2004-12-09 16:56:00
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Current mood: curious

International Knitting on Airplanes
I know we just had a big thread on this, but I was wondering if anyone had any hard data on what the policies are for flying internationally with needles? I just bought myself a Boye Interchangable set (on sale, no less) and I was wondering if the people at Heathrow (London) or Fiumicino (Rome) were going to care?

Thanks!


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[info]tashabear
2004-12-09 05:15 pm UTC (link)
Have you asked your airlines or travel agent?

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[info]aiglet
2004-12-09 05:19 pm UTC (link)
Not yet, if only because every time I call AlItalia they tell me I have to ask in writing and I haven't got the time. :(

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[info]tashabear
2004-12-09 06:03 pm UTC (link)
That's lame. Likely no travel agent either, right? I suppose you could call and say you're thinking about taking a trip and you were wondering....

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[info]aiglet
2004-12-09 08:32 pm UTC (link)
No travel agent either, sadly. Fortunately, [info]toastiest had the info I was looking for further down.

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[info]myslideshow
2004-12-10 05:18 am UTC (link)
I am flying out of Newark Airport in New Jersey to fiumicino and I wrote an email to Alitalia asking if i could bring my knitting needles. I received a response saying that knitting needles were not allowed. Different airports always have a different response...I flew out of florida with long metal needles and they didn't even flinch.

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[info]tourwench212
2004-12-09 05:32 pm UTC (link)
No hard data but a little experience. But not at Heathrow or Fiumicino, so I'm not sure much help.

I flew to Paris (from Newark, NJ) and from Brussels (to Newark) and had no issue what so ever with my needles. I brought plastic and bamboo in my carryon. No one even gave them a second look. They didn't even open my bags.

That's just one experience though.

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[info]hoyland54
2004-12-09 05:41 pm UTC (link)
Knitting needles are not allowed in carryon on flights out of the UK.

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[info]faecat
2004-12-09 05:57 pm UTC (link)
Y'know, I've gotta ask. If you're going to start a post with "I know we just had a big thread on this, but..." why wouldn't you just go look at the big thread in question? Because the questions about flying with knitting needles pop up every couple of weeks on average, and the answers are pretty much universally the same.

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[info]kightp
2004-12-09 06:26 pm UTC (link)
The specific request this time - for hard data on international travel - doesn't seem out of line. I haven't seen anything but occasional (and contradictory) anecdotal comments on that topic, and unlike the US, where the TSA Web site has the rules in black and white, it's not easy to find the same thing for other countries.. (Those rules, by the way, will be changing again soon - Congress just passed a bill including some more prohibitions; I believe it takes effect Jan. 1. I don't know all the details, but I hear butane cigarette lighters will no longer be on the "permitted" list.)

The topic may be familiar, but the information [info]aiglet is seeking hasn't been posted here before, is certainly knitting related and would come in handy to quite a few of us if it could be found. Google, alas, seems to be no help on this.

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[info]bopeepsheep
2004-12-10 02:23 am UTC (link)
I've certainly posted the BAA link very very recently to someone in either this community or [info]novice_knitters and somehow I don't think it was the second one. But anyway, here's Gatwick Airport's list, Heathrow Airport's list, and BAA's list (British Airports Authority).

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[info]kightp
2004-12-10 07:17 am UTC (link)
Thank you. I don't remember seeing it here before, but you know how it is with LJ entries - you read, you comment, and then if you don't get comments-on-your-comments, you don't necessarily come back to the thread. A search of the community didn't turn it up. I'm bookmarking it now.

Darling mods: Considering how often this comes up, what are the chances of putting the BAA list, along with the TSA link, on the info page?

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[info]aiglet
2004-12-09 07:52 pm UTC (link)
Because I had just read that thread and no one had any real data and I wanted to see if anyone *did* have any hard data on the subject?

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[info]meggie
2004-12-09 06:18 pm UTC (link)
i had no problem at fiumicino. actually security at fiumicino is a total joke, in my experience.

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[info]toastiest
2004-12-09 07:41 pm UTC (link)
i just returned from the UK and i can assure you that not only was information regarding no knitting needles on carryons online, it was also on huge posters near the security gates at heathrow.

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[info]toastiest
2004-12-09 07:42 pm UTC (link)
and the security at heathrow was tight, to follow up. there was the regular metal detector and machine to put your bags through at security, but then at the actual gate, about 50% of us had the insides of our carry-ons checked and were patted down.

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[info]bercilakslady
2004-12-09 08:12 pm UTC (link)
If the information is online, would you mind sharing where it is? I've had trouble finding it.

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[info]toastiest
2004-12-09 08:20 pm UTC (link)
on heathrow's website, in the section about travel tips and security ;)

right here

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[info]aiglet
2004-12-09 08:31 pm UTC (link)
Thank you, this is the information I was looking for.

No knitting for me, I guess.

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[info]areia
2004-12-10 01:44 am UTC (link)
Speaking of anecdotal evidence, a friend of mine told me only last night that she'd looked at that site and chosen to bring a crochet project rather than a knitting project on her flight from Heathrow. Even though the list mentions nothing about crochet hooks, and hers was a plastic one the size of a ballpoint, security refused to let her on with it. To add to the stupidity, they suggested she could bring it if she was willing to break it in half first.

'Cause we all know that two sharp shards of plastic are much safer than one blunt crochet hook, right? For that matter, am I the only one who's considered the use of circulars as garroting devices?

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[info]robling_t
2004-12-10 04:52 am UTC (link)
For that matter, am I the only one who's considered the use of circulars as garroting devices?

{raises hand sheepishly} But then, I'm a writer, so it's kind of my job to see the dark side in everything... :)

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[info]ithilelentari
2004-12-10 09:25 am UTC (link)
Thank you! I feel so much less guilty now! (I've spent a scary amount of time thinking of exactly how I could manage things like using circs as garrottes...)

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[info]lomaprieta
2004-12-10 09:11 pm UTC (link)
Ha! Me too. I heard circulars were more likely to be allowed on flights and I thought, well, that's all I use so that's perfect.. just two bits of metal, a long wire... wait... ;)

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[info]trillian42
2004-12-09 07:54 pm UTC (link)
One of the ladies in my knitting group just flew to Pakistan and back, and had no trouble, but said to only take wooden needles. I'd say if in doubt, take a stamped envelope with you big enough for the needles, and a stitch holder, and if they give you trouble, put the project on the holder and mail the needles home to yourself.

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[info]calling_to_deep
2004-12-10 04:15 am UTC (link)
I take a large-ish purse and a small carry-on bag. Then if they say no knitting needles, I say "Well, can I just check my carryon then?" and I still have the project when I land at my destination :)

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[info]crackerbaby
2004-12-09 11:44 pm UTC (link)
You might ask over at http://travelsucks.com/bbs/index.html where a lot of travel industry folks hang out. If they dont know, they might know who/where to ask.

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[info]crayolaab
2004-12-10 04:18 am UTC (link)
Heathrow says no as of two weeks ago. Fiumicino said no as of May 2003.

British Air, KLM, EasyJet, Ryanair and BMI say no.

But, check with your airline (although, in the end, it's up to whoever you get at the security checkpoint) - and good luck!

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[info]tigergladys
2004-12-10 06:08 am UTC (link)
Heathrow says no as of two weeks ago.

I was wondering about this one, because I flew in and out of Heathrow in October, and on the way back to the US, all three us in my row were knitting (random strangers. it was fun!) - the flight attendants thought it was cute and no one said a thing at security. I guess things change, though. :(

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[info]sarakate
2004-12-10 02:38 pm UTC (link)
Out of curiosity, what type of needles were each of you using? From looking at the other items which are restricted, it seems like the writers of the ban were probably thinking of metal straight needles; I wouldn't be surprised if something like bamboo circulars, or the Denise interchangeables, wouldn't even be recognized as being in the same class of objects by the screeners.

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[info]tigergladys
2004-12-12 04:38 am UTC (link)
We were all using circulars - I had bamboo, and the other two people had metal.

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