I'm going to regret asking this

[deathboy]

I may be flying to Scotland in the near future (from London).

If so, I will need to carry with me about 10 mobile phones (so that I can work while visiting friends).

Am I basically going to be grabbed by the security types when they x-ray my carry-on luggage and find 10 mobile phones? (all different)

Being carted off to have my innards felt by a butch feller with a moustache is less appealing to me than it may initially seem.

Sensible replies only, please, this is actually rather important, as I might be booking a flight or not in the next few hours depending on what information I can dig up.

Should I just call the airport and ask?

Bleh. Fucking "terrorism". The War Against Flying Without Bum Searches, more like.

WAFWBS. You know it'll catch on.

Comments

[gaius-octavian.livejournal.com]

1) Send them by Special Delivery (next day by 1pm, insured)
2) Get a train

I suspect they'd be more likely to think you nicked them and are off back to some godforsaken Glasgæ housing estate to flog them and buy smack, than that you were a terrorist.

[gaius-octavian.livejournal.com]

'Cos you look more like a junkie than a terrorist :-P

[lineoutrecords.livejournal.com]

No personal experience but I'd just make the call to the airport and check it out first, there may be some form of arrangement you can make to prevent aforementioned bottom probing.

[ed-dirt.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that having ten different mobile phones is gonna trigger a bum search.

Since mobiles are used as detonators, you're almost certain to get a whole bunch of specialt treatment for having so many.

I have no basis for my belief, however, than pure conjecture, so maybe nothing will happen.

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

i last flew within the uk after the war on anal virginity began. i was drunk, and forgot that i had my mobile, and they never even noticed either. i left it on, too.

we've never had the slightest suspicion paid to numerous gadgets. i doubt that calling ahead would hurt, mind.

also, why not just carry the sim cards?

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

I suspect these are multiple demo devices for mobile games 0 in which case the hardware is definitely necessary!

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

ah, right, yeah. duuuurrr...
i'm slow today.

[sarahx.livejournal.com]

No idea about flying (it does sound deeply dodgy) but a sensible - and potentially cheaper - alternative is the overnight sleeper train. You can book their 'bargain berths' online and it gives you a bed for £19 each way if you're lucky. And you're far less likely to be subjected to the joy of body cavity investigation before boarding.

[nem0.livejournal.com]

I dunno how different UK flights are from US ones, but usually you can put suspect shit (knives, nail files, can openers, whatever) in your checked luggage. As long as it's not accessible to you in the flight, it's ok, supposedly.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Checking expensive kit is dangerous for other reasons - it's likely to go walkabout somewhere en route...

[therealdrhyde.livejournal.com]

And if it doesn't go walkabout, the baggage scum will play football with it. Just because they can.

[scathedobsidian.livejournal.com]

Dunno how things are done over there, but here in the States, you can declare suspicious cargo and weapons before you check your luggage, and that usually leaves you in good shape.

If you have a doubt, ship most of the phones over. You can probably get away with three or four (I carry two on my person all the time).

[dangermonkey.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've already thought of this, but you could always try putting them in your luggage rather than trying to stuff ten mobile phones up your arse?

[https://users.livejournal.com/-leet-/]

Or glue in a buttplug afterwards?

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

I found the sleeper train to be good value and a decent night's sleep, [and got the train to Edinburgh for about £12 each way during the day] but if you must fly, I'd suggest giving them a ring too - presumably you don't want to check the phones in so they can get lost ....

[r0zi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would just call ahead and ask what they suggest and then mention it again when you check in.

Like a previous comment said ...

[btripp.livejournal.com]

Again, it may be different in the UK, but here your best bet would be to load all the phones and whatever "work-like" extraneous materials (development notes, flash drives, CDs, floppies, reference manuals, etc.) into a separate bag, and give the airport a call about how to have specifically "mobile IT development industry" equipment checked. If that stuff's all in a small kit together, even the most paranoid security guard will see it's "all triggers" and "no bomb"!


(http://www.btripp.com)

Re: Like a previous comment said ...

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Aaargh, no! Never check expensive kit - that would be an invitation to never see them again...

I've lost too many loan devices to "baggage problems" to ever do it again...

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

It shouldn't be a problem. I regularly fly with three or four devices, a laptop, digicam(s) and all their power supplies.

And I'm that scourge of society, the freelance journalist!

[deeteeuk.livejournal.com]

Flying has become such a pain in the arse. I wouldn't be surprised if you get taken aside and asked a lot of questions, which would at least take up a lot of time. Next time I go up, I think I'm going to take the sleeper train. Go to sleep in London, wake in Edinburgh or Glasgow. Doesn't actually take any time out of the day that way. And if you buy a £20 railcard, that should pay for itself and then some. Also, there's nobody taking a keen interest in your luggage. Hope that helps.

[dan-lane.livejournal.com]

Presumably you have business cards and other business paraphernalia that can backup your claim.

Yeah, try calling the airport in advance and explaining, get the name of the person you speak to in case the security guy is a dick.

You shouldn't have too much trouble, I flew to Canada in 2005 wearing my pockety SWAT vest thing packed with 4 mobile phones, a GPS and a bunch of cables.

Although the nice man at Heathrow asked me to go through the human x-ray machine and said he'd "search me the old fashioned way" when I asked "what would happen if I said no?".

[wafermouse.livejournal.com]

Shit, don't make acronyms regarding terrorism! Xeni Jardin might be watching!!

[organex.livejournal.com]

I know in the US, and thus I'd suspect elsewhere in the anglican business world, many cellphone companies and service providers were keenly interested in having people found carrying/purchasing large numbers of cellphones arrested.

This was done under the auspices of "The War on Terror," but was actually a bit more nefarious.

People were purchasing "locked" phones under pay-as-you-go plans and then hacking the software on them to "unlock" them, then sell them (either online or right out of the backs of their cars... you see this happen in some big cities here).

see here for details on one story that made national news.

I would strongly urge you to mail them, priority, to your destination.

[untermensch.livejournal.com]

Mobiles and chargers, travelling together into your checked in luggage (not gonna happen in hand luggage, that's for sure), should be ok. I travelled to Ireland with 8 mobiles on and around me and didn't have a problem. Having the chargers is some assurance that they're not stolen.

[darkstones.livejournal.com]

I reckon you'll be OK - I always explain what all my stuff is before it goes through the xray, and they seem quite disinterested they usually pay more attention to my boots.

Where in Scotland are you going?

[rik.livejournal.com]

I've never had an issue, but shipping it overnight to whoever you're staying with is the solution if you're nervous.

[lis0r.livejournal.com]

You think you're gonna have it bad? A friend of mine recently flew from Bristol to Leeds, and ended up having to turn out a huge great rucksack full of BDSM gear in front of an exceedingly embarassed security guy XD

[markeris.livejournal.com]

yeah, but Scotts going to have a bag full of mobile phones AND buttplugs.

[lis0r.livejournal.com]

Then surely in that case any bumsearchery will just involve a quick look around with a torch, barely touching the sides? Hardly worth making a fuss about!

[poggs.livejournal.com]

Call and ask. Also, get some kind of signed declaration from your employer to say they are for work.

Make sure they're all charged and you can turn them all on and do stuff on them.