Many Taylor Swift fans lucky enough to score tickets to her Eras Tour stops in Canada are flying to the concerts, packing beads to make and trade friendship bracelets at her shows.
One Canadian fan’s chance to trade bracelets, a thing common among Swifties at the show, was cut short after running into a hiccup with security while at the Calgary International Airport earlier this week.
Caitlynne Medrek lives in Vancouver and travelled to Calgary to pick up her mom on November 17. The next day, they were off to Toronto to see one of Swift’s sold-out shows.
Medrek says she did not unpack her bags from one flight to the next, and her beads were stored in her carry-on from the Vancouver flight. She added that she had “no issue whatsoever” with security there.
“Colour me shocked when security searched through my bag in Calgary and began to have quiet conversations amongst themselves for six minutes before I finally inquired what the issue was and they just said ‘beads,'” she explained.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) website says that solid beads in quantities less than 350 ml are permitted on carry-on baggage, and solid beads in quantities of 350 ml or more are permitted “subject to visual inspection.”
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She told the staff that she had no issues during her prior flight. However, she was eventually told that she was only allowed to have a “cola can” worth of beads and to dump the rest of them into the garbage, or she would be escorted out of security to let her mom also bring a “cola can” worth of beads, too.
Opting to save some of the beads, Medrek went back to her mom to give her some beads, tossing over $100 worth of beads in the process. Then, she went back through security again — but there was yet another problem.
“They said we had too many, we were escorted, and they watched us go back in line, and then made us toss more. I was able to walk with less than 100 ml of beads,” she added.
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She claims that her best friend, an Air Canada employee, has flown to four different countries to see the Eras Tour and has brought beads with her to make bracelets on every single flight, never encountering an issue with security.
“My only hope is that if beads are an issue, security would post something outside the line/or at check-in, telling people since the airports do know that 1 million people are about to come through with beads and bracelets for the biggest event Canada has seen in a while,” she added.
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Medrek says she was provided with a card to complain and will file a complaint regarding the incident.
“I understand it’s just beads — but so many of us have been working on our Eras projects for over a year, and to have the first portion of this long-awaited experience be ruined by something like beads is so traumatic.”
We contacted CATSA regarding the incident but have yet to hear back as of this writing.
Swift will wrap up her shows in Toronto this weekend before wrapping up the mammoth tour in Vancouver in December.
