Regarding having important items about your person, a typical piece of non-joined-up aviation procedure is that if you present yourself at security with the relevant items (passport, wallet with CCs, etc) in your pockets, at a number of stations, although not all (so it's not legislation) they will insist you take these off your person, and put them in your laptop bag, which is of course going up in the rack. We know about keys and phones but some places want all this off you as well. Dublin is particularly zealous in requiring this, there are many others. Now often I transfer them all back afterwards, but also can find the first time I need them that they have done the journey up in the rack.
Given the media reports of the subsequent treatment of the passengers from the accident flight at the hotel they were taken to in Las Vegas, which was, simplistically, no credit card = no service, no refreshments, no phone calls, nothing (a typical USA reaction to someone without a credit card, and probably also a standard Las Vegas reaction to anyone who has the temerity to check in without tipping the desk clerk US$20), let alone how you might anticipate be treated at immigration the next day on arrival with no passport, and given the eternity it takes bureaucracy nowadays to reissue passports, you can understand more why people would want these items with them.
Last edited by WHBM; 12th Sep 2015 at 19:07.