'Petty airport security overdoes it': Airport security agent on a 'power trip' foiled by quick-thinking traveller

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 18, 2023 5:00 PM EST

Nothing will stop a determined traveller from bringing along all of their belongings. 

Every friend group has people who under-pack for trips. They're the ones always asking to borrow a phone charger or a pair of socks, because they packed at the very last minute. 

Then, on the other end of the spectrum, are the over-packers. They want to bring three suitcases for a weekend trip; they're the one who needs to pay extra on the flight so that they can get all their bags back home. Your over-packer friend will frequently summon you to help sit on their suitcase to squish it down. But that still might not be enough to get all of their belongings inside. 

So what's to be done at that point? The only thing left to do is to wear your clothes to free up some space. I once witnessed a friend pile on five layers of clothing, then a coat over that, in order to save space in her suitcase. And, just like the OP in this story, a bathrobe was one of those layers. Genius or insanity? It all depends who you ask. 

Scroll down and check out this story, as well as input from commenters. Then, read about these smarmy people who thought they knew everything… but were actually comically misinformed. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9838713344
    via Johan Van Wambeke on Unsplash
  • 02
    Petty airport security overdoes it S OC My bff and I travel on a budget & the nameless budget airline in question has a strict 1 bag, 1 personal item per person policy when you don't check a suitcase.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 03
    We're on the return flight out and before they even let us through to the x-ray machines we have a security in our face telling us we're violating policy (we each have 1 bag and only one of us has a personal item - a tote bag we had on our flight there with the same airline). Man's clearly got a problem and when I cite the actual policy he insists it's a baggage item.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 04
    So I do what any normal person would do: don the the bathrobe and cat themed neck pillow (only items in the bag), fold up the tote and stick it in one of our bags.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 05
    Man still clearly needs his power trip so he now sends us to another colleague to measure our bags - they fit the measurements perfectly - and as soon as we walk through his gate and hit real security I take off the neck pillow & bathrobe and stick them back in the bag. Was satisfying to see the guy bite his tongue from the other side. Edit: thanks for all the comments telling me it was an airline employee (even more mystified that they didn't know their own policy now)
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 06
    Diberries Yeah that's not security. That's an airline employee being a dummy
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 07
    TraptorKai Most airline security ive run into has been the smallest amount of power that most quickly goes to someones head. They think theyre dealing with life or death when theyre harassing people about robes and neck pillows.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 08
    captaindomon I got so tired of this that I started just booking tickets on airlines that treated me like a human.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 09
    bdonvr In the US nobody really checks this until you're boarding. TSA doesn't give 2 craps about airline policies. Unless maybe you checked in at the ticket counter and the employee saw I suppose but who doesn't use mobile ticketing now eh?
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 10
    Slokunshialgo Had a similar thing happen to me when boarding an airplane at one point. I had a backpack and a (nearly empty) courier bag with me. When I went to board I was told it was two bags, and I was only allowed one.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 11
    I undid the flap on my backpack and half-assedly stuck the courier bag in the flap. It was now one bag, they were content, and I was free to board. As soon as I made it past, I took the courier bag back out.
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 12

    One commenter was ready to ask the important questions:

    PabloDabscovar Wait.... You travel with your bathrobe? 12 Reply Share EmperorB man OP Just this once for a funny video
    via u/EmperorB***man
  • 13
    Meggarea Honestly, the employees don't like it any more than y'all do, but they need a job, and this is part of their job. If you can make it look good, we are happy. If you have a carry on, and you know you're flying a cheap airline, just pay for it in advance. Save everyone the hassle, and yourself a lot of money.
    via u/Meggarea
  • 14
    dcgirl17 Yep, done this before. I have a tiny crossbody purse that's just big enough for a credit card, a phone, and your passport. It's so they're always on my body and I don't leave them anywhere. One attendant gets in my face about me having too many bags and doesn't listen when I point out it's purpose (basically an external pocket).
    via u/dcgirl17
  • 15
    So I look her deep in the eyes while I take it off, open my tote bag, and put it in. She had bulging apoplectic eyes when she scanned my ticket but didn't say anything else. Then immediately slung it back on my body when I passed her. Some people just like power?
    via u/dcgirl17
  • 16
    CoderJoe1 Next year they'll probably have an additional fee for thwarting their baggage policy.
    via u/CoderJoe1
  • 17
    myxomatosis8 I once had them tell me my carry-on was too heavy, but a tiny bit, but rules is rules. I stepped aside, wore a pair of jeans around my neck, tied a sweater around my waist, put my jacket on, and stuffed some electronics in my pockets. Reweighed the bag, and it was all good. At the gate I put all my back in.
    via u/myxomatosis8
  • 18
    PistachioMaru I hate going through security. I'm an airline pilot, so I go through all the time. And in uniform, 99% of the time it's fine. No issues, they're friendly, it's all good. Plain clothes? Totally different experience. I can still skip the lines when I'm traveling for non work reasons, I have to show my security pass, which says that I'm a pilot and the airline I work for. They still know I'm an airline pilot at that point. But completely
    via u/PistachioMaru
  • 19
    different experience nonetheless. They're often intrusive, impatient. It's nutty. And one of my personal biggest issues is traveling internationally when you're in a different country, airport security knows they're interacting with people from all over the world where normal things aren't necessarily normal to these people because they're from a different country with
    via u/PistachioMaru
  • 20
    different standards. And yet they still treat people like complete morons for not inherently knowing each different countries different customs. I've found America is particularly bad for this.
    via u/PistachioMaru
  • 21
    garylapointe I have a ScottEvest for flying, it's got 20 plus pockets. One is big enough for an iPad (I could put my 11" MacBook Air in a pocket). Besides NOT being a bag, it distributes the weight nicely, plus everything is spread out so you can find things. I had 25 pounds of stuff in there once.
    via u/garylapointe
  • 22
    When I travel I take a lot of cameras, lenses, video, and computer tech to use the content. It's all heavy and full of wires. Very handy.. Everything thing zippers up nicely too.
    via u/garylapointe
  • 23
    OpheliaMorningwood My hometown airport calls itself "International" because it connects to hubs that fly overseas but is so small it has maybe 4 gates and 1 baggage carousel. I was heading home after a quick visit and my mom had carefully wrapped up several large seashells from her collection to take with me to my landlocked destination. Nothing larger than a can of soda, but wrapped in paper and bubble wrap and stowed in my carryon backpack. Went
    via u/OpheliaMorningwood
  • 24
    through screening and Security insisted on taking everything out, unwrapping them for inspection, said, "oh, shells", then wadded it back up and shoved them back in my bag. My mom watched the whole thing unfold on the other side of the plexiglass divider. One look and I know she was thinking, "this fool lives 10 miles from the ocean and can't recognize a conch on an xray"?
    via u/OpheliaMorningwood
  • 25
    garryblendenning I've never understood what the person on the ground gets out of this. Just ignore it as much as reasonable, it makes your life more pleasant
    via u/garryblendenning
  • 26
    hooplah_charcoal Similar thing happened to me. Was traveling with my friend. She had a big bag and her purse. They wouldn't let her carry both so I grabbed her purse, put it around my neck, and said "my purse now". Gave it back to her once we were through security. It's pure silliness
    via u/hooplah_charcoal

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malicious compliance airport malicious-compliance-reddit flight plane passenger flights malicious compliance reddit airplane flying
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