Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security • Hacker News Board

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#351

Post by anarazel » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:30 PM UTC

cookiecaper wrote: post #326

chrisbennet wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or deaths due to people driving instead of flying. "Increased delays and added costs at U.S. airports due to new security procedures provide incentive for many short-haul passengers to drive to their destination rather than flying, and, since driving is far riskier than air travel, the extra automobile traffic generated has been estimated in one study to result in 500 or more extra road fatalities per year." https://…

It's not really worth it to fly if your destination is Example itinerary: Flight leaves at 6:00pm, gotta be there bare minimum 1 hour early, preferably 2+, going to split the different and say 90 mins. Leave home at 4pm, drive 35 min to airport. Wait in line 15 mins to check bag. Allocate generous 20 mins for a quick security scan (this can blow up to 60 mins+ if it's a busy day and/or your airport sucks, but 20 mins…

> It's not really worth it to fly if your destination is Except if you don't have a car - which, in some cities, isn't unheard of even in the US.

Renting a car, possibly across state lines, is a good bit of hassle too.

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#352

Post by fbuilesv » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:30 PM UTC

laxatives wrote: post #294

tehwebguy wrote: post #25

Here's an awesome TSA story for you: Late last year while trying to fly out of LAX a TSA employee thought I was carrying a throwing star. They called the police, who correctly identified as a toy in seconds. I thought the whole ordeal was over until I got a "notice of violation" in the mail from TSA 45 days later. Now I'm banned from pre-check for three years, even though I have global entry and even though the fine…

I've flown with shaving razors and pocket knives attached to my keys numerous times. They get found and confiscated about 20% of the time. I recently forgot to remove both and the TSA agent spent 5 minutes looking for something. He found the shaving razor, but not the pocket knife and was very pleased with himself. Its absurd the profiling going on with the TSA. If I dress well, I get rushed through the lines quickly…

Similar story here. I'm a smoker and usually do international/inside-US flights on a monthly basis. In 7-8 years the only lighters I recall losing have been in my home country (where pat downs and having your bags opened are a common thing).

Curiously, I haven't had a TSA line longer than 45 minutes flying from places in NY, CA or FL (I mostly flight late evening/disgustingly-early morning though) in the last few months.

PS: laxatives, you mention being treated like a human. Why not help by not referring to TSA employees as "dropouts"?

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#353

Post by alistairSH » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:35 PM UTC

laxatives wrote: post #294

tehwebguy wrote: post #25

Here's an awesome TSA story for you: Late last year while trying to fly out of LAX a TSA employee thought I was carrying a throwing star. They called the police, who correctly identified as a toy in seconds. I thought the whole ordeal was over until I got a "notice of violation" in the mail from TSA 45 days later. Now I'm banned from pre-check for three years, even though I have global entry and even though the fine…

I've flown with shaving razors and pocket knives attached to my keys numerous times. They get found and confiscated about 20% of the time. I recently forgot to remove both and the TSA agent spent 5 minutes looking for something. He found the shaving razor, but not the pocket knife and was very pleased with himself. Its absurd the profiling going on with the TSA. If I dress well, I get rushed through the lines quickly…

Disposable razors are allowed. If they are confiscating those, they're not following their own rules.

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#354

Post by seanmcdirmid » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:35 PM UTC

silencio wrote: post #208

vinay427 wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slightly off-topic, but just to clarify Miami requires everyone to go through security again for an international connection, or was this a special case?

I wonder if it's a case like domestic terminal -> international terminal without any post-security options to move between the two. I do know that flying _back_ to the US on my last few international flights, there was a second security checkpoint I had to go through. Very silly. I had filled my water bottle at a fountain at the gate and then had to empty it right out 5 minutes later.

Whenever you transfer at different security zones, you have to go through security again. So I fly threw Japan a lot, and always have to recheck (but they are pretty fast). I'm connecting through Moscow next week to get to Europe, and I'm dreading Russian security a bit (it's pretty fast, they don't actually check much, but very disorganized).

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#355

Post by tn13 » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:39 PM UTC

Am I the only one who thinks telling an online community about how you managed to sneak X past TSA is a bad idea ?

People at TSA are doing their duty which is essentially completely pointless. Also it is the case everywhere. When I was in India I by mistake carried my wife passport and boarding pass and she carried mine when we entered the security post. The security guard carefully matched the boarding pass name with the passport name and let us pass!

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#356

Post by mindcrime » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:39 PM UTC

I just now completed the online application for TSA PRE, but I am curious about something... I've been VERY, (very) vocally critical of the US government, the DHS, TSA, FBI, NSA, CIA, etc., here, on my blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, etc. I've always wondered if that would affect me if I applied for PRE. So, have any of you experienced any issues getting accepted for PRE, based on your political positions/ statements/whatever? Or even heard of anybody who did?

Just curious about what to expect...

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#357

Post by ringwalt » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:40 PM UTC

geerlingguy wrote: post #80

freehunter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the reasons I love the Midwest and living in smaller cities. My airport is international and flies just about anywhere you want to go, but 90% of the time I walk up to an empty line and I'm told "we don't have a precheck lane open, just walk on through". As a consultant, I fly the busiest times (monday and thursday), but the only trouble I've ever had was in Denver where I waited almost an hour and a h…

With the exception of Chicago, I agree. St. Louis, Indianapolis, KC, and many other airports have direct flights to most parts of the US (or connect through Chicago almost anywhere in the world), and I've never waited more than 20 minutes in the TSA lines. Due to the frequency of travel, I do have Pre-Check, but I hate that I had to pay extra money to get what I think should be the normal experience for all domestic…

Does any midwest airport outside of Chicago actually fly "anywhere you want to go", internationally?

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#358

Post by zeveb » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:47 PM UTC

fapjacks wrote: post #323

RyJones wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to take my CRKT M16-14 knife on the nerd bird SJC SEA round trip twice a week. Nobody cared. This was mid-90s until just before 9/11. I didn't try to hide it - just tossed it in the bin with my keys etc. https://www.copsplus.com/prodnum4396.php

Well, before 9/11 you didn't have to check your firearms. You could carry them on as long as they were in a case. Things were more reasonable back then.

> Well, before 9/11 you didn't have to check your firearms. You could carry them on as long as they were in a case.

Do you have a source for that? Because for as long as I can remember they have had to be checked, including in the 90s.

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#359

Post by rhino369 » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:49 PM UTC

Hondor wrote: post #35

If a terrorist wanted to kill a lot of people confined into too small space to run away, what better target than these densely packed zig-zag queues? Really, what's the point of protecting a plane carrying hundreds of people by putting those same people into harm's way like that? It already happened in China - Muslim terrorists killed dozens of people waiting in a ticket hall a couple of years ago.

Maybe it'll start happening more, but a single bomb on a filled 747 you can kill 350 people. The same bomb on the ground might kill a dozen or two.

A plane with a hole in it crashes and kills all on board.

Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

#360

Post by seanmcdirmid » Mon, May 02, 2016, 8:51 PM UTC

icelancer wrote: post #218

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on. I fly through Europe twice to three times a year. The transfer from Charles de Gaulle is a nightmare worse than any major US airport. They literally make you leave the security area and go through security for simple transfers if you're coming from the states. That's shit design right there. A lot of international connections are terrible and knowing which airports/airlines do a good job is important. Its…

Agreed. CDG is worse than almost any US airport. SEA is up there with the worst in the world though. It's only tolerable for me because I have NEXUS/Global Entry/TSA PRE.

SEA? I've never had a problem with customs/immigration, 5 minutes tops. Security getting in is a long line but nothing horrible. All in all, a dream compared to Beijing capital airport.