American will 'never return to UK' after airport mistake costs her £236
An American traveller has vowed to 'never return' to the UK after an unfortunate mistake at the airport cost her £236.
Through all our years of heading off to European countries in search of warmer weather, most Brits are pretty well versed with the way our airports work.
You have to get there ridiculously early, make sure your carry-on bag fits in the little test stand, cram your liquids into a tiny plastic bag and then, once you're through security, spend every second you have left consuming pints in the airport bar.
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It's a well-worn ritual for Brits, but tourist and travel blogger Chloe Jade Meltzer found issue with part of the process when she recently attempted to travel from San Francisco, California to West Africa.
Chloe just had to transfer through London's Heathrow Airport, but out of fear of losing her suitcase, she decided to take all of her belongings with her in a carry-on bag.
As a result, she had to make sure her toiletries were all within the 100ml limit, and fit into the plastic bag which would allow them to pass safely through security.
She didn't have an issue with this, but due to a previous experience at the airport, Chloe was left confused about exactly how many bags she could have.
Chloe explained: "I had to take all of my toiletries, which were all within the 100ml limit. However, last time I connected through Heathrow, I had the same exact toiletry bag and they allowed me to fill up multiple bags with all of the same toiletries that I had on this day.
"But this time they gave me one tiny bag and I was required to only fill that one bag."
Limited only to the items that would fit in her bag, Chloe had to 'pick and choose' which toiletries were most valuable to her, and which she needed the most.
"My connections were pretty quick and I knew I was not going to have time to re-purchase any of the items," she explained.
After making it through security, Chloe estimated she'd had to give up £236 ($300) worth of toiletries - but her losses didn't stop there.
In the chaos of trying to make her liquids bag suitable for the flight, she also lost her sunglasses, which she says were valued at £173 ($220).
Chloe tried to film the incident for her travel account, only to be told that doing so apparently caused her to be a security threat.
"I tried to take a quick video, considering I am a travel blogger, and when I did that a random employee came up behind me," she said.
"I think he was in charge or overseeing and said that I was a threat to national security and forced me to delete the video and then go to my deleted as well.
"I totally understand this but the way that he did it was very abrupt and it was pretty dramatic and scary considering I didn’t realise there was an issue was filming since there are no signs around saying do not film while getting your bag scanned."
Chloe has vowed never to come back to the UK as a result of the ordeal, though when she shared a video recounting the incident, she stressed that it was recorded on 'zero sleep' and that her reaction was 'incredibly dramatic'.
"I do take responsibility for this but it does not make it any less of an unfortunate situation," she said.
Emily Brown