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Flights

CC1

Active Member
Messages
30
Location
Yorkshire
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all going away shortly, do I pop my needles and insulin pens in clear plastic bags to go through security at the airport? I have a letter from my diabetic nurse.
 
Hi all going away shortly, do I pop my needles and insulin pens in clear plastic bags to go through security at the airport? I have a letter from my diabetic nurse.

I don't and have never been challenged.
 
Ok what do you put them in to go through security then?
 
The scanners will pick them up
 
Thru whatever packaging you choose @CC1

It won't matter as there will not be an issue
 
I don't, it's hard enough getting a few bits of make up in those tiny bags, they are definitely not big enough for insulin cartridges and of course you are only allowed one. I keep the cartridges in their actual boxes and then I put those boxes and the needles etc in a small over the shoulder rucksack type bag (a small one). I stick it on the tray and so far have never had it questioned. If it was I would show them the Drs letter etc.
 
Ok what do you put them in to go through security then?

I have an old pencil case that I keep 2 pens (long and short acting), some needles and a pot of strips in. My longer term supplies, like enough needles and strips to last a couple of weeks stay in the bottom of my rucksack in their original packaging. My spare insulin pens stay in a Frio wallet, again in my rucksack.

The only diabetes related iems that I put in the clear plastic bags are the small bottles of Glucojuice and tubes of Glucogel if I have them with me.

Never ocurred to me to remove them for security and as I said, I have never been asked to put them in seperate plastic bags, or had a security person question what they were. I fly 3 to 4 times a year for work and liesure (have just come back from Portugal) so it's not a one off. I actually tried to show a Gatwick security guy my kit when I was a diabetes rookie but he just said something along the lines of 'we see a lot of that stuff' and was plainly uninterested.

Edited:- I have always undrstood the clear bags to be primarily for refillable containers that you could have easily put some dubious liquids in. Insulin pens are clearly not in that category.
 
I have been told by airport security that you can have multiple clear plastic bags for liquids if they are used for medication.

Thanks Helen, I thought that would be the case (they're mostly good at airports) but I always think I have enough pressure getting my shoes off and faffing about with my computer and taking off my belt and making sure I pick it all back up at the end, without undoing all my insulin boxes and trying to re zip 5 of those ****** little zip bags.

Edited by moderator
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you KK for a sensible answer I agree you can only have one plastic bag and I can't fit the prefilled pens in them.
 
I have found it depends on the airport (I know, not much help) so I have just got to the stage of whacking the whole lot in a clear bag to save any hassle! Cartridges of insulin and any pens are fluids so they are a given and after a particularly salty experience at Dublin airport a few years ago I now whack my needles in too and all my meds go in one bag on their own. Of course I ended up with a security officer who decided to question why I had two bags as ‘its ONE per passenger’ and tried to explain it was medication in one and my other fluids in another and I was perfectly polite about it, she wasn’t happy though and I ended up getting a full-body pat down from her colleague.

I travel frequently though (mainly to the States) and have never had a problem, in fact most NYC airports don’t even have the clear bag/liquid rule.
 
Insulin pens go in clear bags , thats the requirement however, the security dont count them .So 1 bag with your liquids and as many as you need for your insulin pens. I go for extended periods so i sometimes need 3 bags extra. The whole shebang goes in an extra meds bag ie insulin, needles,
Libre, nightrider , ketone strips yady yah...
You are allowed to carry what you need to keep you alive in a extra bag They dont question it ..a doc letter is advised but in 10 yrs ive never been asked for it . I stuff mine in the libre bag ...a freebee from them
 
Hi. I've always left all of my insulin kit in my carry-on luggage and it's never been queried despite dozens of trip thru security.
 
Hi. I've always left all of my insulin kit in my carry-on luggage and it's never been queried despite dozens of trip thru security.

Hi Daibell. I think that's what every single one of us is saying (it comes with us in our carry on) but do YOU transfer it into those liquid bags or not? x
 
I don’t I have it all packed in a diabetic kit bag which has lots of compartments to put things in. Including a small sharps box. I just put in the tray. No one has batted an eyelid.
 

That’s it totally, go prepared for any situation. I have experienced lovely security staff as well as some horrible ones, but that’s life really! Once going through Edinburgh I was trying to stuff something into the one plastic bag and a member of staff came up to me and said ‘medication? Pop all of that in a different bag, you can have as many as you like’ and I sailed through. I have only ever been questioned in Singapore and a quick look at the letter I was carrying meant I was on my way in minutes.
 
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