D
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I have thought long and hard about posting this thread before biting the bullet today.
Over the years I have noticed a steady decline in the quality of the experience in trying to negotiate the security personnel at SYD.
My most recent experience has sent me over the edge. On a recent trip to Lombok (via Jakarta) with Mrs GPH (we needed some R&R). We flew BNE - SYD to take advantage of the F Lounge then on to CGK etc.
We flew down the night before, so we weren’t having to rush, when it comes to the laborious process of getting through airport check in and security, we are still using a wheel chair for Mrs GPH since her rather serious car smash last October, usually this is (in any other airport we have used since October, here and overseas) a speedy, efficient and hassle free experience. But not in Sydney. I have come to expect generally rude and dismissive attitudes from security staff (no, not all of them are this way) but on this occasion we were being escorted by our QF person and I was following behind, with all of our travel documents and of course the now redundant express lane cards as we have our own express lane for wheel chair pax. When I was abruptly and rather rudely pulled away from Mrs GPH and told to go and queue up. I suggested that I wasn’t going to be separated and the security guy then became immediately aggressive. Knowing that these guys are a power unto them selves, I then tried to reunite Mrs GPH with her passport etc (as is our usual process when being separated in an airport) and again was aggressively told off, saying we didn’t need to be holding our own documents and that we needed to do as we were told. . This caused distress to Mrs GPH and she told the security guy to back off and not tell her what she could and couldn’t do in regard to her passport and other documents. So the speedy process was now slowed to a snails pace as I had to wait in line in the non express lane. So Mrs GPH and the QF attendant were left languishing airside while I went through my paces.
Australia is not a police state ..... YET, and while airport security isn’t something to ridicule or trivialise, the sydney experience is getting out of hand. Maybe it’s just bad luck, but every single time I transit through SYD to an overseas destination, I am pulled out of the line and put through extra screening (body scanning). Maybe I look a little suspicious? I don’t know. Or maybe it’s just bad luck. But I accept it and continue on through.
I much prefer the more friendly BNE experience and F lounges notwithstanding, I am resolved to avoid Sydney where possible.
For the record, the Indonesian security screening experience was akin to being treated like royalty in comparison to SYD.
I’m sure there are many who find SYD a different experience, but for me, it has left a bad taste in my mouth far too often for it to be a random problem.
Over the years I have noticed a steady decline in the quality of the experience in trying to negotiate the security personnel at SYD.
My most recent experience has sent me over the edge. On a recent trip to Lombok (via Jakarta) with Mrs GPH (we needed some R&R). We flew BNE - SYD to take advantage of the F Lounge then on to CGK etc.
We flew down the night before, so we weren’t having to rush, when it comes to the laborious process of getting through airport check in and security, we are still using a wheel chair for Mrs GPH since her rather serious car smash last October, usually this is (in any other airport we have used since October, here and overseas) a speedy, efficient and hassle free experience. But not in Sydney. I have come to expect generally rude and dismissive attitudes from security staff (no, not all of them are this way) but on this occasion we were being escorted by our QF person and I was following behind, with all of our travel documents and of course the now redundant express lane cards as we have our own express lane for wheel chair pax. When I was abruptly and rather rudely pulled away from Mrs GPH and told to go and queue up. I suggested that I wasn’t going to be separated and the security guy then became immediately aggressive. Knowing that these guys are a power unto them selves, I then tried to reunite Mrs GPH with her passport etc (as is our usual process when being separated in an airport) and again was aggressively told off, saying we didn’t need to be holding our own documents and that we needed to do as we were told. . This caused distress to Mrs GPH and she told the security guy to back off and not tell her what she could and couldn’t do in regard to her passport and other documents. So the speedy process was now slowed to a snails pace as I had to wait in line in the non express lane. So Mrs GPH and the QF attendant were left languishing airside while I went through my paces.
Australia is not a police state ..... YET, and while airport security isn’t something to ridicule or trivialise, the sydney experience is getting out of hand. Maybe it’s just bad luck, but every single time I transit through SYD to an overseas destination, I am pulled out of the line and put through extra screening (body scanning). Maybe I look a little suspicious? I don’t know. Or maybe it’s just bad luck. But I accept it and continue on through.
I much prefer the more friendly BNE experience and F lounges notwithstanding, I am resolved to avoid Sydney where possible.
For the record, the Indonesian security screening experience was akin to being treated like royalty in comparison to SYD.
I’m sure there are many who find SYD a different experience, but for me, it has left a bad taste in my mouth far too often for it to be a random problem.
