Horrific. For comparison, when I flew Sydney/Melbourne recently it took me 2 minutes in line and 30 seconds through security, and that's including being singled out for the bomb-residue swab. Never needed to present an ID, either.
Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
441–450 of 512 posts
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#442Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
If 0 people had signed up for Pre-Check it would get shut down. It's nicely described by the Prisoner's dilemma.
No, it's not a Prisoner's Dilemma.
If there were no Pre-Check, normal lines would still be long—they'd just be slightly shorter.
I'd much rather pay for dramatically shorter lines than to save that money and have slightly shorter lines in normal security.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#443What happens when you miss your flight due to screening? I mean if you really had to wait for over 30 minutes for a domestic flight and did not book any expensive ticket which allows rescheduling. Are you allowed to catch the next flight or do you have to buy a new ticket. Furthermore, how do airlines handle your baggage. They won't know that your too late until everybody is in the plane (because you are already chec…
The airlines usually reschedule you for the next flight. However, your baggage gets sent on the original flight anyway. It is held in the destination airport's baggage office until you get there on the later flight.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#444This, in combination with American airports being completely ignorant to the transit concept must cost American airline companies dozens, if not hundreds of millions a year in lost revenues. Case in point: if I want to to fly from Zurich to Lima I have essentially two choices: I can connect either in Amsterdam, or in Madrid. Madrids legal connection time is 55 minutes max (on Iberia). In AMS on KLM it's a maximum of…
What is this "legal connection time"? Never heard of it before - despite being in Europe.
Expanding a bit: the more usual term is MCT -- "minimum connection time". There are actually multiple categories of MCTs:
* MCT D-D: Minimum connection time, from one domestic flight to another domestic flight.
* MCT D-I: Minimum connection time, from a domestic flight to an international flight.
* MCT I-D: Minimum connection time, from an international flight to a domestic flight.
* MCT I-I: Minimum connection time, from one international flight to another international flight.
These are set per airline per airport, and in many cases there are more fine-grained MCTs for flights depending on origin/destination or categorized by flight number. The airline will not let you purchase tickets for an itinerary which violates the relevant MCT, and if delays cause you to dip below the MCT you're possibly going to be rebooked (though no guarantee of it).
For completeness' sake, here's what the information looks like in raw form (this is the MCT for American Airlines at its hub in Charlotte):
STANDARD.D/D...D/I...I/D...I/I.
ONLINE .40 1.00 1.00 1.00
OFFLINE .40 1.00 1.00 1.00
** OR * ARE ALL
AA-AA ID .30 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 2755 - 6099
EQP ALL - E70 PUERTO RICO - ALL
AA-AA ID .30 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 2755 - 6099
EQP ALL - E70 VIRGIN ISLAND US - ALL
AA-AA ID .30 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 2755 - 6099
EQP ALL - E75 PUERTO RICO - ALL
AA-AA ID .30 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 2755 - 6099
EQP ALL - E75 VIRGIN ISLAND US - ALL
AA-AA ID SUP FLT 1 - 9099 - FLT 1 - 9099
CANADA - CANADA
AA-AA ID SUP FLT 1 - 9099 - FLT 1 - 9099
MEXICO - MEXICO
AA-AA ID .50 FLT 1 - 6099 - FLT 1 - 6099
IRELAND - ALL
AA-AA ID .30 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 1 - 2754
PUERTO RICO - ALL
AA-AA ID .35 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 2755 - 6099
PUERTO RICO - ALL
AA-AA ID .30 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 1 - 2754
VIRGIN ISLAND US - ALL
AA-AA ID .35 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 2755 - 6099
VIRGIN ISLAND US - ALL
AA-AA ID 1.15 FLT 1 - 2754 - FLT 1 - 6099
GROUP3 - ALL
AA-AA ID 1.00 FLT 1 - 6099 - FLT 1 - 6099
**-AA ID 1.15 ALL - FLT 1 - 6099
**-AA ID SUP ALL - FLT 6100 - 9099
AA-** ID 1.15 FLT 1 - 6099 - ALL
AA-** ID SUP FLT 6100 - 9099 - ALL
USE T*GRPN FOR CITIES IN A GROUP. WHERE N IS THE GRP NUMBER.
AA-AA ID SUP FLT 1 - 9099 - FLT 1 - 9099
CANADA - CANADA
You can spot other fun things in there, like the shorter time to connect on a flight from Ireland to a domestic flight; AA flies to Charlotte from Dublin, and Dublin has US Customs preclearance facilities, so passengers arriving from Dublin don't have to clear customs in Charlotte and can make a tighter connection.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#445Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
A lot of people wouldn't consider it reasonable to allow people to carry guns around, least of all on a plane.
I can see how one might immediately jump to the conclusion that I said people bringing firearms on board an airplane is reasonable. The sentences are so close to one another. I can see how tempting it would be to do that. But just for the sake of argument, let's pretend I did say that. So... How do you feel about armed air marshals?
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#446As someone who fly quite often, fuck the TSA.
Seeing that O'Hare picture in the article makes me so angry (as that's when I fly the most to/from). Last times it took 3 hours to pass the border.
Here's an idea: boo people who are in the "TSA pre" lines.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#447Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best solution is to have everyone go through it. No fast lane, no special categories, just eveyone lined up including those in private jets. If the powerful had to stand in line with the plebes then the TSA would be history before the end of the month.
There are no powerful people going through those lines. Just semi-rich ones. The GP's list would be more effective. And only if it got enough people to participate in our government by writing/visiting our representatives and demanding en masse to be heard. I just don't see that happening now.
That is exactly my point.If the 0.01% had to line up for 3 hours like the rest of us then something would be done.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#448Earlier quoted context omitted.
The best solution is to have everyone go through it. No fast lane, no special categories, just eveyone lined up including those in private jets. If the powerful had to stand in line with the plebes then the TSA would be history before the end of the month.
No fast lane, no special categories, just eveyone lined up including those in private jets. If the powerful had to stand in line with the plebes then the TSA would be history before the end of the month. Nope. My congressmen and senators go through the line twice a week, and yours probably do, too. Billionaires can influence them more than you or I but personal experience beats any outside persuasion. TSA owns them.…
I did suggest that we need to get the powerful to line up, not congressmen and senators. If the members of the 0.01% had to line up for 3 hour to get on their private jets you can be sure that something would be done.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#449Earlier quoted context omitted.
Absolutely not true. You haven't been able to carry a firearm onto an airplane for, pretty much, forever. You always could, and still can, check a firearm into luggage on a flight.
Absolutely true. In the 90s, I went to a regional shooting competition with a handful of other high school kids, and we brought firearms onto the plane.
I'm sorry, but you are just wrong. The relevant US code is at https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/46505 -- it's been in place since the 50's. Security screening to detect weapons has been in place since the early 1970's, after a rash of hijackings in the late 60's. You must be mis-remembering.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#450Security theater, especially since anyone with 1/2 a brain saw what happened in Brussels, and understands that if there actually were any terrorists, the most dangerous part of flying would be the hoard of people packed together in a twisty line waiting to go through security. Frequently either in a contained area, or right next to a public drop-off area. Said theoretical terrorists could just buy an ak47, convert it to full auto, walk into the airport and start spraying bullets into the cluster of people. Or for bonus points, load up a baggage cart with suitcases full of explosives and push them right into the people standing in line. The enclosed area near security at some of the airports would significantly increase the effectiveness, and/or the people escaping would likely trample a few more.
Worse, the general inefficiency of the whole thing pisses me off too. I flew 3 legs on an international trip recently, and had to go through security 4 times even though I either never left the secured area, or in the case of Dallas the international arrival dumps people outside of the terminal rather than into it.
Like really? I'm safe enough to fly a 15 hour leg into the US, but i'm not safe enough to fly a 1/2 hour domestic flight from Dallas to a little town?
two words: "Jobs Program"
Only I wish the result of said jobs program was better infrastructure, even if its just stone bridges on hiking trails ala the WPA/CCC.