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Do you need a letter to get through airport security

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whatashock

Well-Known Member
Messages
92
I am a type 2, so just taking my blood monitor with me, but this obviously has 'needles'

I have looked on the Ryanair site, and they suggest I take a letter with, but it has nothign to do with them.

Is there a letter I can print out, or do I have to get my doctor/nurse to do somehting?
 
Ask your doctor for a letter stating that you are diabetic and need to carry your "equipment" on the plane for health reasons ,also stating what medication you are on etc.
 
I remember one superb occasion going through airport security with T1 husband. Each of us carrying a completes set of insulin syringes and lancets( before injector pens).
The security folk took my camera apart, removing the lenses and everything else that came off, but just glanced at the diabetic paraphernalia and ignored it.
PS there was nothing in my camera. luckily not even a film. Took a while to put it all back together though.
 
Needles are a bit of a no-no with airport security and airlines at the moment, for understandable reasons, and you'll need to prove that you need them, therefore a doctors note to prove to airport security that your test kit is a medical necessity will be required.

There are alternatives though, dependent on the length of flight and the duration of your trip - as the only sensitive piece of kit is the meter itself - you might want to consider packing the lancets with your hold luggage, in which case you won't need a letter.

Regards, Tubs.
 
I'm a very frequent flyer (due to my job) and also a type 1. I always 'carry-on' my luggage including syringes, needles etc and never in my life have I been questioned about them. I don't actually have a letter from my doctor although it's porbably something I should have just in case. (it would be just my luck to get stopped on the way to a lovely holiday rather than a work-related meeting!)

Katie
 
My diabetic nurse wrote a covering letter for me and I also contacted the airline to let them know. Having said that no-one actually checked my equipment at the airport on either side!

Chris J
 
Chris said:

no-one actually checked my equipment at the airport on either side!

Chris. I'm so glad to hear that - can't be too careful these days ! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Went away beginning of March, first time with insulin and needles. I checked with the DSNs and they wrote me a letter. Having said that no-one checked here or Lanzarote and that includes having my flight bag searched!!

Jude
 
Like others I fly all over on business and have never had a problem with security, and I don't have a letter. In some cases (e.g. Australia) it's actually been an advantage in that I go through the "RED" channel just be clear about my needles (totally unnecessary btw), usually saves me about a 40 minute wait while everyone else queues in line for the "GREEN" channel!

But in the aftermath of 9/11, I heard one nightmare story of a diabetic refused passage out of Bangkok by British Airways because he DIDN'T have a doctor's letter. Don't fly BA is my general advice, there are much better airlines out there! :mrgreen:
 
Just got stung for £11 for the pleasure of the letter. Told the lady at check in that I had needles but had a letter and she was fine

Went through the scanner fine.

Sods law says if I did not have the letter I would have got stopped. At least my boss said I could claim for the letter as I am on business
 
Unfortunately doctors do tend to charge for a letter, but my advice would be to always carry one. I fly on average 6-10 times a year and have been stopped twice by airport security staff and asked to produce a doctors letter (Boston and Gatwick).
 
Do you think carrying a repeat prescription would suffice??

I am going away nwext qweek & hadn't considered this. Then again, I could pack my lancets in my case as suggested earlier as it's a short flight & I am type 2...

CurvyP
 
Going away this week, 1st time as type 1 and have got the letter but really nice to hear it sounds unlikely to cause any big issue.

Love the tip around going 'RED' to speed things up too!! Got to grab any advantage we can :lol:
 
CurvyPixel said:
Do you think carrying a repeat prescription would suffice??

I am going away nwext qweek & hadn't considered this. Then again, I could pack my lancets in my case as suggested earlier as it's a short flight & I am type 2...

CurvyP
Click to expand...


You could try ??
However, do you really want all the hassle if you were asked to produce a letter ? :shock:
Personally, I would pay the money up front and do it right.

Ken.
 
Hi CurvyP,

If it's only lancets for a test monitor then I would say pack them in your main luggage, but well padded between layers of clothes. But carry the monitor itself in your hand luggage - and you wouldn't need a letter to cover that. The advice regarding a doctor's letter is really aimed at those who have to carry injection equipment with them. This simply can't be packed in hold luggage as it would most likely get smashed in transit, and may be needed on the journey on a long flight.
 
It's so annoying and confusing that there's no "standard" procedure. It's worth remembering that security is handled by the airport you are flying from/to, not the airline you are travelling with although individual companies may operate different policies. In 12 years of flying Heathrow/Gatwick to JFK/Newark and Boston 6-7 times a year with 4 different airlines, I've never been challenged once, but it seems others have.

Personally I couldn't last for 7-8 hours without the ability to test bg levels at least twice during a flight, especially given the muck so often described and served as "food".
 
Hi Kegstore,

Which airline do you use for the US? I always fly AA and have never had a poor meal yet. Really comfortable seats too!!
 
Dennis

After a bit of experimentation I have settled on Virgin. In 1997 when I first started transatlantic working I would fly with AA every month and always thought they were great, until I started to try other airlines (there's a diabetes parallel in there somewhere!). I used BA a few times but blacklisted them after they "stole" nearly 100,000 air miles from me and refused to return them. Virgin are hard to beat in my book, and their flat beds with big fluffy duvets just superb! :wink:
 
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