Souvenir

I can't help thinking that airports are one place where airside smoking areas are a good idea. Get people though security checks, once, and keep them there. If people (smokers) pass back and forth through security to go outside, surely that just increases the possibility of something nasty slipping through?

Pretty Flowers

I never really understood this either. I went on vacation to Arizona in May, and missed my outward flight in the morning. This meant waiting 7 hours for the next flight to Albequeque. Cue lots of going in and out of security. The first time I went through I brought a plastic lighter with me in my jeans pocket without realising. That allieviated the handing in of lighting impliments...

So, therefore, I don't think having an outside smoking area is a good idea at all...

Daedra

I agree with you two, it doesn't make much sense to me either.

Charles Du Gaul airport in Paris and Heathrow in London are a bit too extreme with having "open air" designated smoking areas in the post security check waiting areas... was pretty disgusting hanging around there even though I was a smoker myself.

One of the best airports I've been to was in Nadi Fiji that had a seperate air conditioned (external air coming in, not recycled toxins filled air) smoking room and the one in Auckland New Zealand was a step above that with much more pleasant an enviroment and ashtrays/seats that look like they were cleaned regularly.

If there is a closed room away from eating/shop areas with properly ventilated air conditioning (not recycled air) it is far more "secure" to both smokers and non-smokers and more pleasant a travelling experience for all.

Don't know if any of you have experienced this, but on my flight from Montreal to Manchester, there was a passenger a couple of rows away from me who was VERY obviously having nicotine withdrawl symptoms, sweating and agitated drumming his fingers constantly on the arm rests and fold out tray... I had nicotine gum I had brought with me and after watching him escalating in stress for the first 2 hours of the flight, I asked him if he would like a couple of peices and he was so relieved & grateful... calmed him down a bit for the last couple of hours of the flight. Can you imagine how bad he would have been if he'd not been able to have his 'nicotine fix' even in the airport before departure??

jempee

we took our DVD player as we are only fools and horses addicts as well!
took all our electrical items in one bag..camera,dvd player,PSP,cam corder, 2 laptops, ipod, mp3, mobile phones with leads, accessories etc. they didnt even check bag!
BUT didnt need DVD player for the first time ever....x men 3, mission impossible 3 or whatever the latest is! and harry potter. So much better than the air canada crap film last year, good job they only showed one really i dont think i could of stood the excitment! i think we ended up watching loads of only fools and horses specials that flight.
Mind you we have just realised that the box set of vicar of dibley(the whole lot) husband brought day before we left has been stolen from one of our sport duffle bags we checked in as luggage!

jempee

perfume was brought after we wnet through security on our way to vancouver.

Daedra

through security at your departure city or did you have a stop over/connecting flight?

My mum read the KLM website I sent her and to her it sounds like duty-free perfume etc is allowed if we are to buy it in Amsterdam during our stop over before catching the connecting flight.

My concern is that we only have about 50 mins between the arrival of our flight in AMS to the departure of our flight to MTL, just worried it would be cutting it too close

Novocastrian

Yea, that sounds a bit tight to go shopping. I'm fairly certain you can get the duty free in Manchester on the departure side of security. You need to show your boarding pass for both flight legs to prove you are leaving the EU (depending on what you want to buy perhaps).

Daedra

Thanks Novocastrian & all the others who responded to this post... with only a couple of days to go until we leave I may not have time to check back in to the site, but I plan on asking the person checking me in about it so I am sure on where its best to buy from without risking it going in the 'bin' (aka; security guards pockets)

Cheers everyone, 4 days to go til I set foot in Montreal again!