Why I don't Fly, The List Keeps Growing...

[crb07]

I average about twenty flights a year, about half are international. I get a TSA idiot every once in a while. Really hard to just bite your tongue but no point in arguing with them, it will not be productive. Pre Check and Mobile Passport make life easy.

[porsche4life]

Their Instagram is a good read...


https://www.instagram.com/tsa/?hl=en


Like everyone else has said, don’t be an inconsiderate idiot, plan your time accordingly and you will be fine...

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by island911

I checked:

85$ (cheap)

background check

finger printing --Land of the free Home of the brave

https://www.tsa.gov/precheck

Off by $5! Just did it a couple weeks ago and already have my ID number loaded in my travel profile for work and on Expedia for personal. I should have done it a long time ago.

[porsche4life]

I did it a while back. Super nice to walk past the super long TSA line at SeaTac last week and breeze right through at pre. Between that and my company having our own bag drop lane with delta, I felt like a VIP. 🤪🤪🤪

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by NotaBRG

In May I flew out of SEA ad didn't even have to take my laptop out of the bag. I didn't assume that meant I didn't have to take it out on my return through MSP. I just politely asked "Laptops in or out today?" same with shoes, cell phones, etc.

Yup. Some days it's shoes off, laptops out. Some days it's shoes on, but laptops still out. Or, some days it's "Casual Flyday" and you are just waived through without any of the shoe/laptop hassles.
It would seem that it's totally at the discretion of the supervising agent on duty that day. Of course, avoiding those hassles and the long lines of unwashed masses is an option...for a price.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Ayles

Off by $5! Just did it a couple weeks ago and already have my ID number loaded in my travel profile for work and on Expedia for personal. I should have done it a long time ago.

Originally Posted by porsche4life

I did it a while back. Super nice to walk past the super long TSA line at SeaTac last week and breeze right through at pre. Between that and my company having our own bag drop lane with delta, I felt like a VIP. 🤪🤪🤪

You might consider ponying up for Global Entry next time. It's $15 more, but is processed much quicker than PreCheck (got mine a while back and had my appointment scheduled ASAP). You get all of the PreCheck features, plus the added benefit of being able to bypass the Customs lines if/when coming back into the US from abroad. It also includes Sentri, which expedites things if/when coming back into the US from Mexico.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Yup. Some days it's shoes off, laptops out. Some days it's shoes on, but laptops still out. Or, some days it's "Casual Flyday" and you are just waived through without any of the shoe/laptop hassles.
It would seem that it's totally at the discretion of the supervising agent on duty that day. Of course, avoiding those hassles and the long lines of unwashed masses is an option...for a price.

What they are required to do is based on real-time threat warnings. If they do anything different, there are signs posted everywhere. It does not behoove them for you to be confused any more than it does you. Since they have to route all the folks through who showed up way too late, didn’t read the signs, follow the rules, or exhibit any common sense...without increasing waits...they do their best to keep it simple. If it is difficult or slow, blame the guy in front of you who had a glock or a cold steel katana in their carry on.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Yup. Some days it's shoes off, laptops out. Some days it's shoes on, but laptops still out. Or, some days it's "Casual Flyday" and you are just waived through without any of the shoe/laptop hassles.
It would seem that it's totally at the discretion of the supervising agent on duty that day. Of course, avoiding those hassles and the long lines of unwashed masses is an option...for a price.

That's the difference between TSA Precheck and normal security. Likely you were in a non Precheck line, or got lucky and were upgraded to Precheck. Some airports don't have Precheck lines. It's really not that complicated, and Precheck is cheap considering the benefits.

[cairns]

I average about twenty flights a year, about half are international. I get a TSA idiot every once in a while. Really hard to just bite your tongue but no point in arguing with them, it will not be productive. Pre Check and Mobile Passport make life easy.

Same here. And BTW it isn't just the US version of TSA. Last time I left Australia I couldn't take my shave cream because it didn't have a top on it. It had come all the way from the USA through the Emirates but take it home? No way.

Go figure.

[KevinTodd]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I fly frequently and never have an issue. But I'm also aware of the rules, respect the rules, don't consider myself to be above the rules, and treat TSA and police with respect even if they are grumpy. Most of these cases are people behaving badly who want to blame someone else. Typically there's plenty of blame on both sides, because God knows the TSA isn't perfect.

+1

I fly almost non-stop, and truth be told, its the moronic public that creates every single issue....the slow-walkers, the entitled, the generally stupid, and there are alot of them. They can't get out of their own way---can't or simply won't plan ahead, and just like the left-lane police, they are the ones mucking it up for everyone else.

I take no issue in mowing down the tool-bags who literally stop on the moving sidewalks, who walk five abreast down every hallway, who have no idea that they cannot bring a big-gulp or a 32 ounce mocha latte through security--as if most of the folks I see with these can afford to consume that extra 2000 calories to begin with.....

I also have TSA Precheck, Global Entry and Clear--and that usually gets me ahead of some of the cattle-call.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by Gogar

What does that mean? Go ahead and educate us on respect and decency. I'd love to hear your words of wisdom.

sincerely,

guy who flies 12 days a month.

I'm editing this with a pre-fix,
you personally on account of what you do have a strong counter-influence in how you look out and see a crowd,
you get to see a crowd of passion, you get to see a crowd of love, you see a crowd of humanity.

It is the regular walking through a system where guilty is a base assumption over innocence. Others see a crowd of stupid, a crowd of obstacles, a herd of dumb animals lining up like cattle.

Look at comments about the guy who may hold the line up from not having flown before and not inherently knowing what to do.

A little compassion would be patient. Instead there is an uncompassionate herd through the check point.

Standing legs spread with my hands up through a scanner in the same posture as a guilty criminal being searched for arrest can't be good for the human mind on a regular basis.

Each time you go through you give up being human temporarily.

Now some pick it back up on the other side, but the continual laying down of what we consider basic human rights and dignity to transform into animals at the airport has got to wear on some of those folks that do it regularly.


I know it is a necessity for some folks, and some may handle it better than others. Still, if you can avoid stepping in to such a situation you are better off.

It has been a gradual increase of one thing at time, so frequent fliers may not be aware of just how harsh things feel to someone who is not a frequent flier and is confronted with the "new ways" in all their glory.

[dmcummins]

Just get your license and buy a plane. No TSA and take what you want with you.

[recycled sixtie]

The patdown through security etc is to me an acceptable way to get flying from A to B. It is indeed what makes it more secure. We make choices whether we fly or drive but when it comes to trans ocean I will take the plane over a ship any day and of course you cannot drive a car in water too well.

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by cairns

Same here. And BTW it isn't just the US version of TSA. Last time I left Australia I couldn't take my shave cream because it didn't have a top on it. It had come all the way from the USA through the Emirates but take it home? No way.

Go figure.

Why not just put your shaving cream in your suitcase and check it in? Just take minimal essential items in your carry on bag. I don't know if aerosol cans are restricted articles?

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

It is the regular walking through a system where guilty is a base assumption over innocence.

Look at comments about the guy who may hold the line up from not having flown before and not inherently knowing what to do.

A little compassion would be patient. Instead there is an uncompassionate herd through the check point.

Standing legs spread with my hands up through a scanner in the same posture as a guilty criminal being searched for arrest can't be good for the human mind on a regular basis.

Each time you go through you give up being human temporarily.

Now some pick it back up on the other side, but the continual laying down of what we consider basic human rights and dignity to transform into animals at the airport has got to wear on some of those folks that do it regularly.


I know it is a necessity for some folks, and some may handle it better than others. Still, if you can avoid stepping in to such a situation you are better off.

It has been a gradual increase of one thing at time, so frequent fliers may not be aware of just how harsh things feel to someone who is not a frequent flier and is confronted with the "new ways" in all their glory.

Well, next time you feel aggrieved about this process, thank a Muslim for ****ing up a perfectly suitable arrangement we had for decades.

I'm a pragmatist. Little **** like this doesn't really bother me. If you have a better solution, let's hear it.

Some people get bent out of shape over the smallest things, it's getting to be ridiculous.

[legion]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

It is the regular walking through a system where guilty is a base assumption over innocence.

Look at comments about the guy who may hold the line up from not having flown before and not inherently knowing what to do.

A little compassion would be patient. Instead there is an uncompassionate herd through the check point.

Standing legs spread with my hands up through a scanner in the same posture as a guilty criminal being searched for arrest can't be good for the human mind on a regular basis.

Each time you go through you give up being human temporarily.

Now some pick it back up on the other side, but the continual laying down of what we consider basic human rights and dignity to transform into animals at the airport has got to wear on some of those folks that do it regularly.


I know it is a necessity for some folks, and some may handle it better than others. Still, if you can avoid stepping in to such a situation you are better off.

It has been a gradual increase of one thing at time, so frequent fliers may not be aware of just how harsh things feel to someone who is not a frequent flier and is confronted with the "new ways" in all their glory.

I used to love to fly and I used to do it with relative frequency, but I stopped when the scanners came out. The government has no right to inspect my naked body to prevent me from committing a crime. It's a perversion of due process and it is a presumption of guilt. The courts, in the ways that lawyers often twist things to mean the opposite of what they say, have basically ruled that you have no rights from the moment you step foot in an airport until the moment you leave the airport at your destination. Along the way, TSA agents may steal your belongings, they may call over coworkers to ogle your naked body, or the airline may have someone punch you in the face when they decide to give your seat to someone else. The way people get treated by airlines and the TSA is unconstitutional, immoral, and unethical, but it's for our safety--which is always the excuse given when violating our civil rights.

Imagine if you had to remove your shoes, have your bags inspected, strip naked (which is essentially what a body scanner does), and then be molested to do any other activity? No one would stand for these things if introduced all at once. But because they were done gradually, and for our safety, people blindly accept exactly the kind of warrantless searches and seizures our constitution is supposed to protect against.

The saddest part is that all of the violations airline passengers endure are largely just expensive and ineffective security theater. They do almost nothing to really improve safety other than reassuring those that don't think too hard about their loss of dignity and fooling casual criminals into thinking they will probably get caught--all the while punishing millions of otherwise innocent passengers along the way. There are security methods that are less expensive, less intrusive, preserve dignity and civil rights, and far more effective--but we don't do them, why? I have to conclude that "airline safety" was just an excuse for an unconstitutional power grab rather than an effort to really protect us.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by javadog

Well, next time you feel aggrieved about this process, thank a Muslim for ****ing up a perfectly suitable arrangement we had for decades.

I'm a pragmatist. Little **** like this doesn't really bother me. If you have a better solution, let's hear it.

Some people get bent out of shape over the smallest things, it's getting to be ridiculous.

Policy was to let them take over the plane.

There were armed hi-jacking attempts after 9/11, passengers and crew used whatever they had to physically overwhelm and beat down the hi-jackers.

[911_Dude]

The way to go is by private jet. I was waiting in the cell phone lot at SDF during the Kentucky Derby. The airport is so packed with planes they park on the taxiways, and there was a row of nice Gulfstreams, Falcon Jets, etc across the fence in front of me. The main race had finished about 30 minutes prior. As I was sitting there, a limo drove through a security gate with a wave and looped around to a waiting G5. I timed it- less than 8 minutes later the plane was taxiing for takeoff. I watched this happen 2 or 3 more times as I sat there. Im definitely getting a Netjets card if I win the lottery.

[recycled sixtie]

The problem is not the airline personnel or TSA it is the occasional ignorant passenger who acts like an idiot on or around an aircraft.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Policy was to let them take over the plane.

There were armed hi-jacking attempts after 9/11, passengers and crew used whatever they had to physically overwhelm and beat down the hi-jackers.

WTF are you suggesting? It's better to let a hijacker on the plane so the passengers have to stop him?