Knitting needles on airplanes?

[littlepunkkitty]

so i just called british airways and was on hold for 15 minutes before i remembered that i could always turn to trusty ol' craftster for this info.  anyhoo, just as i was logging on they picked up my call and the answer is no.  they do not allow knitting needles on british airways   i have a flight home from amsterdam, stopping in england and then again in chicago before i get home to northern california and since i can't take my knitting on the plane in amsterdam i won't have knitting the entire time.  this is enough to bring a girl to tears!  i leave there at 11:45 am and i don't get home until 9 pm.  ugh, a whole days knitting wasted

[knittyknitter]

I guess now's a good a time as ever to learn how to crochet, right? lol.  (unless you already know how to...)

[Zero Cool]

I'm flying from the UK - USA next month and here is the response I got from my query to BA:

 "Thankyou for your query,  I'm afraid that you will not be permitted to take knitting needles in your cabin luggage,  however
you will be allowed to take a crochet hook as they are blunt ended"

Shame about the needles but it gives me a chance to practice crochet which is a good thing cause I am a newbie and have a lot to learn! I'm going to take plastic hooks just to be on the safe side.

[littlepunkkitty]

UPDATE:  so my bf's mother brought up a really good point about us flying from amsterdam to the us (the whole "no knitting on BA" thing).  we have to go through customs when we get into the us, so we will have our luggage with us and i can just pull them out then!  yay! only 1/2 day wasted!

[ax174]

Okay, here's the latest.  My (beautiful, hand-carved, expensive, exotic wood) shawl pin was confiscated!  I got to keep the "frame" part, but they took the actual pin.  It's not exactly this pin pictured here, but it's the same style.  I was shocked - the pin is pointy, but no pointier than a pen, and is very short.  Now, I have to write to the artisan to see if she'll sell me just the pin part - sigh...

[atrebla]

     As has been posted previously, in the US it is up to the individual screener what is allowed through security.  Personally I have never had anything confiscated, but I ask myself the question, would I be OK giving up X, before I decide to take it as carry-on.  Friends, acquaintaces, and co-workers have so many stories about confiscations that I can't imagine how they are justified that I'd rather be safe.  The hardest to understand?  A 3" black plastic men's comb.  You know the one that are about $0.50 US in any drugstore?  I figure if that can be confiscated as dangerous anything that I might have can also.  So if I'm not willing to lose it, it goes into checked baggage.

[viri]

Hungarian Arlines told me I1m not even allowe dto take crochet hook cuz they can be pointy as well. I'm flying from Hungary to Spain in September. I have manual fixation (ok I made this up) i have to do knitting or crochet. So i was thinking taking  wooden needles in my pencil case and keep fingers acrossed they won't tell. And if so I  only loose a cheap self made needle which is replaceable.

[tuatara]

i think that the policy of individual airlines means diddlysquat when it comes to actually going through security.  as a few people have pointed out, it is ultimately up to the person who screens your bag.  the security staff do not work for any particular airline and they are unlikely to know the various policies of all the different airlines flying from their airport.

in my experience the allowing or disallowing of needles seems very random, and i have been given a collection of different answers by calling the airline, asking the check-in staff, and asking the security staff.

i think the sensible solution for everyone is to follow the oft-repeated nuggets of advice that lots of craftsters have posted here ... such as:

* only travel with bamboo or plastic needles/hooks
* don't take equipment that you would be upset to lose
* take a prepaid self-addressed envelope to post your stuff to yourself in an emergency
* for knitting, threading a safety line through your stitches before going through security will mean that you can whip out the needles quickly if you need to give them up (dental floss is good for this)

i'm sure there are more handy tips as well - maybe we can collate all of them into a one-stop list of how to do your chosen craft on a plane?  (without being arrested by an air marshall!)

[knitty_kitty]

I agree with tuatara.  We should gather all this info together.  It would be quite useful for the knitting traveller.  There is also advice on my post

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=174964.0

I hope that link works.  Anyway, my post is called "knitting on the plane".

[badass knitter]

Where do i find the FFA list??