Category Archives for Airports.
CLEAR is expedited airport security. You use biometrics instead of a drivers license to identify yourself, and you skip to the front of the security line. If you’re eligible for PreCheck, you skip to the front of the PreCheck line. And you can leave your ID in your pocket or carry on. They’re also used at some entertainment venues.
When their home was raided they were held at gunpoint, handcuffed, and not allowed to use the bathroom for hours. You might say ‘but they were at the Capitol on January 6th’ and if they were convicted of activities related to the riots that day I might not be sympathetic. But they haven’t been charged. Many people there were innocent of wrongdoing. And there doesn’t appear to be any reason to suspect they’re a threat to aviation. Indeed, they’ve flown successfully and their behavior on those flights proves it.
You can skip showing an ID altogether if you have CLEAR and are flying from a terminal where that service is offered. Your eyes or fingerprints are your ID instead.
But if you don’t have ID, perhaps you’ve lost it or forgotten it, you can still fly. TSA has procedures for that. A viral video tells you how.
The story is a familiar one. Lower-wage employers aren’t able to find workers when they can make as much or more on pandemic unemployment, perhaps they still have stimulus money banked, and they need schools to re-open so they can work without childcare expenses.
Airports are having a difficult time because on-site businesses employ a lot of low wage workers. For instance go find someone to help a passenger in a wheelchair at major airports today.
When I renewed my Global Entry three years ago, the online request (and payment) was enough. I wasn’t required to do an in-erson interview. Not everyone is so lucky.
Somehow I missed the news earlier this month that Customs and Border Protection will now let you do Global Entry renewal interviews over Zoom.
A former Customs and Border Protection officer, now working with Immigration and Customers Enforcement, shared her recent experience having Global Entry taken away from her. It wasn’t because she committed a crime, or forgot to declare fruit she brought back into the country. Instead, she says it was because she complained about an officer who processed her at the border.
There are videos everywhere in the airport, yet some people think it’s a good place to steal. They’re not entirely wrong since in most airport thefts no one gets caught.
In Atlanta, though, a man caught on camera stealing bags off of a carousel at baggage claim has been identified and is now in custody. He was caught because Atlanta’s airport police were already familiar with him from previous run-ins. Everyone returns to the scene of the crime.
The people who run Priority Pass and The Club lounges also now provide Covid-19 testing at Dallas Fort-Worth airport. Collinson offers rapid tests and PCR tests, and for a premium will even turn around PCR tests same day (though it takes longer than just a layover). They tell me they have “applied to be a Trusted Partner with Hawaii and anticipates approval in June.”
The Lexington, Kentucky Blue Grass airport is the primary air travel embarkation point for central and eastern Kentucky. American, United, Delta and Allegiant all service the airport with service to 16 destinations frequented by more than 1.3 million passengers per year. And it’s decided to close and shut down to all air travel for 3 days.
Watch your stuff! Airports have more surveillance than just about any other place in the country. There are numerous law enforcement agencies on site, from the TSA to Customs and Border Patrol to the DEA. There are cameras everywhere. Yet passenger belongings are being stolen all the time, and almost no one gets caught.
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 »
