How do you fly pretty?

[ColleenA]

Hello,
So often I have seen gals here talk about flying pretty. I have always wondered how to do that.

In February, I did my first overnight outing where I was dressed the whole time. The main problem I encountered was when I was checking into my motel the first night. The clerk asked for my ID. When I handed it to him, he looked at it, then asked where my husband was. I had to break the illusion and explain that it was me. I was uncomfortable doing so, since you never know how someone is going to respond, but I didn't see any other way.

So when it comes to the TSA and their no-nonsense approach to things, I have always wondered if, to fly pretty, you just be upfront and trust that they will not make a big deal of it. Is there any other way?

I am taking a trip next month to New Orleans with two GG friends. My plan for now is to fly drab, but once we land to find a unisex bathroom and do a quick change of clothing in there.

TIA for any insight into this.

[Claire M]

Flying pretty can seem pretty stressful but it's actually pretty easy. Rule #1 is be up front and relax. Make sure your ticket information matches your legal ID you will be presenting to TSA. You will not be the first trans person or CD they have encountered. Wear casual comfortable clothes (like every other woman you see in the airport these days). Blending may be boring for some but in this instance, be boring and comfortable in your presentation. (don't be a princess unless you're going to Disneyland)

When the airlines and TSA look at your male ID just smile. I've gotten no reaction to comments like "You've changed your hairstyle" or "I like your glasses". I've seen some airports going to pictures and facial recognition but I haven't used those yet. It shouldn't matter as they are looking at your facial structure, not your makeup.

I generally pack any hip padding in my luggage ... mostly for comfort. The first time I flew, I removed my breast forms before the TSA screening and put them in my carry-on. They hand searched my bag but it was for something else I was carrying. I have also just worn my forms through without issue. In general, TSA wants to keep the lines moving. If you do get stopped, you can request a private screening area. Forms are medical devices so they are allowed.

Most of all, have fun. I have had some nice, friendly interactions with airline staff, TSA and other passengers. Enjoy the experience!!

[jjjjohanne]

If he asked where your husband was, then either you pass excellently, or that guy at the counter was a true encourager!!

Flying Pretty:
* Option 1: You can go through security, and then change in the secure area.
* Option 2: You can go through security while pretty. The US TSA is used to this stuff, or so I hear. I never present female. I have flown while dressed pretty as a guy several times. No problems.

Things to consider:
* You will possibly have to stand in a corral while waiting to go through security. You could be in the presence of ~50 people for 30 minutes in this situation.
* In security, you may have to be scanned by the machine and someone will be able to see under your clothing.
* If they detect something curious, they may hand-search you. They will ask whether you want to be frisked by a male or female TSA employee. You might want to pre-decide what your answer will be.
* This is a place where you may have issues with underwire bras or breast forms. I don't know a lot about such things. See others' comments.
* Once you take off and put on slip-on ladies' shoes in security, you will not want to return to men's shoes!
* In the airport concourse, you may occasionally encounter a plane-load of people who just disembarked. They will be walking in the opposite direction of you and will possibly get a good look at you.
* Airport restrooms can be crowded. They probably will have alternative bathrooms for families, people with handicaps, etc.
* You may need to sit in the gate area for a while next to strangers.

When I have flown pretty, everyone treated me with respect.
The TSA web site has a page for people like us: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/tsa-cares/gender-diversity

Joey

[Robyn n TN]

I agree with jjjjohane, The TSA agents have seen everything and you won't be the first trans or CD they have seen. Don't worry about anything. Checking into a hotel when you are presenting differently than your ID is much more stressful than getting on a plane. And a side point is that if you are wearing your forms and such you don't have to make room in your luggage for them. Good Luck and let us know how it went.

[Sandi Beech]

I guess because I have flown so many times, I have zero interest in flying en femme. I just envision trying to use a tiny aircraft restroom while wearing pantyhose and hip pads as a nightmare. The most I have flown in 1 year is 115 flights, so it is just transportation to me. I dress for comfort when flying and hope I don?t get stranded overnight somewhere with no luggage.

I would much rather get to my hotel room, get cleaned up after the trip, get dressed and go out. But that is just me. I do not see the attraction of flying dressed up.

Sandi

[docrobbysherry]

If you're just a CD like me why would u want all the hassles involved?

If you're trans, that's a completely different matter!

[siva]

ColleenA
It is very interesting thing to fly in pretty. I did that few weeks back and a item on my bucket list was crossed.
I went with "Option 1: You can go through security, and then change in the secure area" as jjjjohanne listed. I was able to find a family bathroom in Denver airport Terminal A and took time to get pretty and then I flew'ed. I had my breast forms and all the make up items in my cabin baggage and TSA did inspect them and didn't cause any trouble. When they asked "what is in the box" - I told them open it and check it out, since I didnt want to shout breast form in front of 20 people.

Things that matter
Blend, Mannerism, Walking, Talking, holding your bag, standing like a lady - so many things are there and it is fun

[ColleenA]

Thank you all for the useful information., including the link to the TSA website.

I think I want to try Option 1 as described by jjjjohane - to go through security drab and then change before boarding the plane. I had already been thinking of doing something like that, but changing at the destination airport. I prefer the notion of avoiding the TSA portion en femme, at least this first time. More importantly, though, I don't know yet how we're getting to the airport. If we arrange to have a friend (vs. an Uber) drop us off, I will have to go drab as there is almost no one in my life who knows me as Colleen.

If things go well at the airports and on the rest of the trip, I just might try going through the TSA clearance on the way back.

P.S. to joey - No, I don't pass excellently. The guy just wasn't paying me much attention.

[StephanieCLT]

I have flown pretty 4-5 times. If you look through my profile, you can find my posts on the experiences which might give you some ideas.

[kimdl93]

I have never flown en femme, so it remains on my list of things to do. As you mentioned, Colleen, I had thought about doing a quick change in one of the unisex bathrooms, right passing through TSA and before departure.

[OrdinaryAverageGuy]

When I get to the airport the preflight takes me about 20 minutes, during which time there are always other pilots driving by waving, whether in land vehicles or planes, or often walking by, it seems like it would be awkward. But I'm often barefoot with my toe ring and anklet visible, so there's that.

[BrendaPDX]

With the new scanners this may not be even necessary, if asked just tell them that you are a crossdresser.

Or as jjjjohanne says:
Flying Pretty:
* Option 1: You can go through security, and then change in the secure area.
* Option 2: You can go through security while pretty. The US TSA is used to this stuff, or so I hear. I never present female. I have flown while dressed pretty as a guy several times. No problems.

[TheHiddenMe]

Except for the ride issue, Option 2 is a lot easier. The TSA doesn’t really care.

I've flown pretty four times. Zero issues.

Checking into hotels dressed. Zero issues, except one time when the clerk was asking for the person in my ID. I pointed to myself.

I just spent 8 days dressed at two different hotels. Zero issues.

[jjjjohanne]

I will expand what I said...
Flying pretty involves quite a few more things that sitting in a plane:

* Walking from your car to the little bus station in the parking lot. Possibly standing with other travelers waiting on the bus.
* Riding the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the airport.
* Check in. Checking in your luggage that contains all of your male clothes. Consider having a spare outfit on carry-on in case your luggage is lost (no matter how you are dressed).
* Security corral. There are people around.
* Security. You will be barefoot during this time.
* Walking to your gate. You will pass a lot of people.
* Eating at the airport.
* Sitting at your gate.
* Standing in line on the jetway.
* Sitting with strangers for a while.
* Walking through the second airport around people.
* Baggage claim, waiting in a wide-open area around others.
* Shuttle bus to the rental car facility. (Or shuttle bus to the hotel.)
* The rental car desk.
* Being taken to the car by the rental car person.
* Checking in at the hotel.
* Hotel breakfast.
---
* Returning the rental car, inspection.
* Rental shuttle.
...basically everything else in reverse order.


I just thought I should mention these things so that you are aware of all of the opportunities/exposures (that I could think of) that you should anticipate.

Joey

[chrissy111]

To me flying pretty starts with putting my makeup on, otherwise it wouldn't be pretty for me.

[Jane G]

The TSA web site has a page for people like us: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/tsa-cares/gender-diversity

Joey

That was great to read. Not that I plan to travel enfem. Just good to read it's out there for us.

[Prazia]

It took me a long time to get there but now it feels the most normal thing to do. Since I am the person who my ID says I am and I bought the ticket in my name, aside from the makeup, hairstyle and clothing there's nothing different. I just wear smaller forms during travel for convenience and carry the larger ones in luggage or carry on. Sometimes, I save lip gloss and jewelry for after going through security. On my last trip which was just a few days ago, my carry on was flagged for manual screening. It turns out it was a mirror. The agent who checked my bag first asked me who packed my bag and then complimented me for being a very organized and a neat person. One time it was a a body cream jar which got flagged but it had very little in it, so they didn't toss it. It has been many things but never the forms, bras, makeup or jewelry.

[Genifer Teal]

New consideration. Seems facial recognition is becoming a thing. Anyone encounter this?

[Jennifer_Ph]

Get on the plane and buckle up!
IMG_20240129_104108576_HDR.jpg

[JohnH]

2024-9/26: Today I flew en femme. I wore a black maxidress with long sleeves. I have hair below shoulder length and a bust (bra cup size DD). I got a pat down with a female TSA agent, but otherwise it was uneventful except for the times people called out for me by "ma'am". I had to go to the restroom, but with my appearance and attire there was no way I could go to a men's restroom. So I used the women's. Nobody blinked an eyelash in the restroom.
Do bear in mind my usual presentation is en femme.

2024-10/1. On the return flight I was also dressed en femme. This time I wore a floral maxidress. This time TSA did not pat me down. The whole trip was uneventful, and I blended in with the general population.

John

[Suzie Petersen]

To those who wonder about how TSA deal with CD/Trans people and traveling with things like breast forms in their carry-on luggage, here is a fresh experience for you.

I am on a business trip right now and had planned to fly in girl mode. Two stage flight via Los Angeles. I had to leave from home in male mode for several reasons, so I planned to get checked in, go through security, and then find a restroom in the secure area to change.
I had everything in my carry on, including a completely female outfit, shoes, wig, bra, breast forms, makeup, everything.
I had to move some luggage around between my checked bag and my carryon last minute before leaving the house, but more about that in a minute.

My carryon got picked for inspection, so I thought OK, maybe they do actually wonder about breast forms after all!
The male officer starts going though the well stuffed bag, it has a separate upper compartment. Breast forms are right there in a clear bag, but he doesn't pay any attention to them. Then he says "It looks like there is a knife here somewhere, but I can't find it! Do you know where it might be?"
I am puzzled by this, as I know I sanitized my purse (I have been carrying a purse in male mode for months) last night, and took my knife out of that, but he already told me I could take the purse, and there is no reason there should be a knife in the carryon luggage, weird. I wonder if I had one in my girl jacket, but nope, nothing there.
He takes out a power bank battery in a fabric pouch and puts it aside, takes out the laptop, keeps feeling around and cant find anything. A female officer comes over to help, and she picks up the battery and looks inside. Then she fishes out the knife I usually have in my purse, and it finally dawns on me what happened.
I had moved the knife from the purse to the battery pouch the day before, which is not where I usually put it. This is a longer trip that goes directly into a girl trip on Wednesday, so 95% of my luggage is female. I usually put the knife in my hiking boots in the checked bag, but I didn't bring them for this trip.
Well, the morning of the flight, I remembered always being asked if there are any lithium batteries in the bag, so as I am rushing to get everything moved to the car, I moved the battery, with the secret knife, into my carry-on! Idiot!

The agent starts putting everything back in the bag, telling me I am welcome to help. He then tells me I can just go back out and mail the knife to myself, and then come back through security, which I did.
There was never a hint of interest in my very female carryon luggage, the breast forms, hip pads, all the makeup (yes, this girl needs a lot!), the cute jacket, nothing. No knowing smile, no smirk, nothing odd. This was all out in the open, and frankly I don't care what other passengers might see.

After all this, and a sudden rush of passengers going through security when I got there the second time, I lost the window of opportunity to change so the trip ended up being in male mode anyway.
Also, my 2 very large suitcases with all sorts of female luggage, plus suspicious looking bottles of glue, hair spray, lots of high heels (well .. what can I say!) and all sorts of interesting things did Not have any "Inspected" tags in them. There were also another set of breast forms in one of the suitcases.

Moral of the story is this: TSA does not care about breast forms or female stuff in your luggage, and .... remember where you put your knife!

I am flying to Atlanta on Wednesday, and we'll see if there might be a story about that sometime soon.

Hugs
Suzie

[Amy Randal]

If he asked where your husband was, then either you pass excellently, or that guy at the counter was a true encourager!!

Flying Pretty:
* Option 1: You can go through security, and then change in the secure area.
* Option 2: You can go through security while pretty. The US TSA is used to this stuff, or so I hear. I never present female. I have flown while dressed pretty as a guy several times. No problems.

Things to consider:
* You will possibly have to stand in a corral while waiting to go through security. You could be in the presence of ~50 people for 30 minutes in this situation.
* In security, you may have to be scanned by the machine and someone will be able to see under your clothing.
* If they detect something curious, they may hand-search you. They will ask whether you want to be frisked by a male or female TSA employee. You might want to pre-decide what your answer will be.
* This is a place where you may have issues with underwire bras or breast forms. I don't know a lot about such things. See others' comments.
* Once you take off and put on slip-on ladies' shoes in security, you will not want to return to men's shoes!
* In the airport concourse, you may occasionally encounter a plane-load of people who just disembarked. They will be walking in the opposite direction of you and will possibly get a good look at you.
* Airport restrooms can be crowded. They probably will have alternative bathrooms for families, people with handicaps, etc.
* You may need to sit in the gate area for a while next to strangers.

When I have flown pretty, everyone treated me with respect.
The TSA web site has a page for people like us: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/tsa-cares/gender-diversity

Joey

I have heard that silicone forms in a carry on are NOT allowed but, if you are wearing them they are allowed. Am I wrong?

[Suzie Petersen]

Lisa,
No that is not correct. They are considered a medical item and are allowed. As mentioned, I had no comments our issues to having mine in my carryon yesterday.

[TerriLynnCD]

I flew pretty from Diva Las Vegas for the first time last week. It was absolutely uneventful and no different from flying drab.

I checked my bags at the rental car center rather than lug them on the shuttle bus. The agent there referred to me as Ms P.... politely and with no issue. Neither was there any issue at the TSA ID check. I was just waived on my way, so both ID checks completely uneventful.

I have TSA precheck, but my waist cincher set off the metal detector so they sent me to the scanner. After that, the female agent patted down my tummy and back and sent me on my way. Neither my hip pads nor breast forms were paid any nevermind.

Flight wasn't full so I didn't have a seat mate. Picked up my bags, went out to the parking lot shuttle bus and the GG driver told me I looked lovely.

The only issue I had is that I broke off the block heel caps on both of my favorite ankle boots. will need to find a shoe repair place. I had no traction at all after that so had to walk very very carefully to avoid slipping on the slick tile or cement and going down on my (padded) butt.

[Jennifer_Ph]

Well if your forms are filled with plastic explosive, they might take issue, but I've never had a problem wearing them or packing them.