Category Archives for Airports.
What on earth is a “Hospitality Charge,” as seen at Bruegger’s Bagels in the Minneapolis airport? There’s signage explaining that a 4.5% surcharge is added on top of menu prices to cover ‘hospitality’ but also explains that this is not a tip and does not go to workers.
A security screener at the Manila airport this month was caught on camera stealing $300 from a departing passenger whose bag she was inspecting. To hide the evidence, she stuffs the money in her mouth.
Sidney Powell was indicted in the Georgia election case, alleging that she and the former President, along with other co-defendants, sought to overturn the state’s 2020 results. It’s already cost her PreCheck and she hasn’t been convicted.
Three TSA agents were arrested a few months ago for stealing money and other belongings from passengers as they went through the checkpoint. Here’s the thing: there’s video footage of airport security checkpoints. So now video is out showing some of the thefts at the Miami E concourse checkpoint.
Here, one screener reaches in and grabs a passenger wallet to take cash from it back on June 29. In total there’s more than 20 minutes of video showing three screeners pilfering from passengers.
CLEAR may have greater employee accountability than TSA – they say they fired the people responsible for last year’s lapses and their managers – but you’re still handing over your biometrics to a company and trusting them to manage those well, just as you’re trusting the federal government when you join PreCheck or Global Entry.
So how well are they managing them?
Maybe one family member gets stuck at security, or you have PreCheck and they don’t. Or someone in your group has to go to the bathroom and it takes a long time. You’re cutting it close to your flight. Do you board without them? Do you split up, and maybe wind up leaving them behind?
Once you sign up for Global Entry the government performs a search on you daily, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s latest performance and accountability report.
If you’ve never missed a flight you’re spending too much time in airports, although admittedly there are flights where arriving late has real consequences – either because of the importance of a meeting on arrival, or because of limited connecting options. Contra this fast-spreading claim on social media, there’s nothing inherently irresponsible about missing a flight.
Two police officers were injured at Washington Dulles airport when a segway belonging to the airport’s Segway/T3 Patrol spontaneously caught fire. The departures level of the head house was evacuated for approximately 90 minutes while the fire department responded to the blaze.
French-based Idemia makes the machines TSA uses to verify ID and signs people up for PreCheck. They don’t want people skipping TSA ID checks, and CLEAR recently won a contract to onboard as a provider of PreCheck signups. So they’re in a “power struggle” against CLEAR, with both sides signing up high powered lobbyists.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
