Tag Archives for tsa.
Supermodel Chrissy Teigen is a legit frequent flyer who longs to blog about airline food instead of gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Her twitter feed is must-follow for the latest in passenger experience.
Senators Ron Wyden and Claire McCaskill sent a letter (.pdf) to the acting commission of US Customers and Border Protection today asking that the US government actually start using the “anti-tamper and anti-forgery features in e-Passports, which have gone unused by CBP since their implementation in 2007.”
A man from New Orleans packed a foot long sex toy and lube in his son’s carry on bag. Then he sent his son through a TSA screening checkpoint. Hijinks ensue.
One of the strangest things about the screening process to me is that at most airports when a passenger alarms or is flagged for random additional testing the whole line stops. It would be far more efficient to divert the passenger and continue moving the line through.
Sometimes going through the checkpoint I’m stuck waiting to get screened while my bags have already gone through. I never want to be separated from my bags where I cannot see my bags.
A college student says that Spirit Airlines told her when she made her flight reservation that she could bring her emotional support hamster named Pebbles onboard the plane. She bought Pebbles after a golf ball-sized lump developed on her neck and led to a cancer scare.
She traveled to have the growth removed, and brought her hamster with her. Spirit acknowledges that their agent told the woman this would be ok. …
Efficiency arguments aside we need this for accountability. It’s important to separate safety regulation from screening. The TSA shouldn’t be supervising itself. They should be focused on setting standards and monitoring compliance, and shouldn’t be certifying and monitoring themselves. TSA as its own regulator creates conflict and it creates poor performance.
While a government shut down doesn’t interfere with air traffic control and TSA’s front line screeners — both considered essential — that the FAA’s registration office closes and that could delay new aircraft deliveries.
That would delay American Airlines taking delivery of more Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with just 30 inches between seats, no seat back video, and shrunken lavatories that let the airline squeeze in an extra row of seats.
Marilyn Hartman, aged 66, keeps getting on planes without a ticket. Sometimes she’s successful, sometimes she isn’t. She once tried to fly to Hawaii because she said she thought she had cancer and that’s where she wanted to die. She says she feels safe in airports.
A deer is more likely to kill you than a terrorist. You’re more likely to die in a bathtub. The TSA has likely killed more people than terrorists have by causing people to drive instead of fly.
If there were active terrorist plots to take down airplanes in the U.S. the TSA wouldn’t do much to stop it since they have consistently failed to catch 90% – 96% of banned items going through checkpoints in tests over the last decade.
Since the federal government took over airport security they’ve consistently missed 90% or more of the dangerous items going through checkpoints, but we’ve learned that two inch plastic guns that come attached to stuffed animals might be used to take down planes.
Apparently though you can’t even make a gun with your fingers.
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 »
