Category Archives for Airports.
The TSA makes most travelers take off their shoes, many go barefoot on germ-laden floors. And most of us assumed, I think, that they weren’t doing much to wash or sanitize bins.
Your fellow sick passengers touch the bins, they even put their dirty tissue sand handkerchiefs in them before going through the nude-o-scope. TSA employees get gloves to wear, passengers don’t.
There are premium airport departure, connection and arrival services that you can buy all over the world. Some are offered by airlines, others by airports, and some by third party services. In fact it isn’t even always clear which is which.
I’m a fan of these offerings, but I like to see them affordable. I think that a meet and greet buggy service at under $50 for 2 people in Bangkok, including assistance from plane through immigration and with baggage claim (with handover to your transportation into the city) is a real value that more travelers would take advantage of if they were aware of the service.
At first world prices though it’s strategically useful to be aware of the option but not something most readers will take advantage of. Still it’s nice to see this option at a lower price than many vendors offer in Europe, and for less than the airlines are offering in the U.S. as well.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is the government agency which manages Washington National and Dulles airports and has a role in construction of the metro Silver line to the airport and the Dulles Toll Road.
The airport authority has resisted making the new contract for its CEO public, arguing that they’re not funded with public dollars but by fees earned from running the airport. Of course the government gave them the airport, board members are appointed by government, and they receive substantial government funding for capital projects, and much of their operating revenue comes from ticket taxes.
A TSA official gave a deposition stating they do “not perform intelligence collection on passengers at airports.” So add giving false testimony to the litany of behaviors we let slide at TSA.
Developing. Washington’s National airport (DCA) is currently without power.
New York JFK airport is a disaster. Governor Cuomo’s $10 billion plan won’t begin to fix it. The people who work there are bad enough but the physical plant itself is irredeemable.
On July 20 at the Savannah-Hilton Head airport the battery of an e-cigarette malfunctioned. TSA has just released video of the incident, because this happened, no one was hurt, and they didn’t even shut down the airport.
You can see the bag smoking once it’s gone through the x-ray. Initially the TSA screener saunters over, picks up the bag, and walks off. You can then see him on another camera speeding up.
It’s often been said that there are two kinds of luggage: carry on and lost. It turns out there’s a third kind.
Joshua Dwain Frith captured a Delta baggage handler on film Wednesday at New York JFK “recklessly tossing bags and a strollers… [h]e was assaulting those bags. But the stroller was attempted murder.”
CBS ran a story on people using wheelchairs to get priority access at airports — even when they don’t need assistance. If you need assistance contact your airline in advance and they’ll arrange for a wheelchair.
There are three potential benefits I see to this strategy, all involve boarding the aircraft early.
A couple of years ago Atlanta fired the General Manager of its airport. They didn’t provide much of a reason, and it seemed strange considering the success that the airport had.
The General Manager had plenty to say, though. He claimed he was fired for refusing to go along with corruption. Contracts were expected to be awarded to politically connected companies, not to the best companies or to those offering the best prices.
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 »
