Oh boy. Yesterday was an insane travel day. Even though day trips are always long, I should have known how rough it would be when my alarm was set for 430am, but my baby woke up at 4am. “Please, Mini Warrior!” I said. “Please can I have my extra 30 minutes!” He declined. At DFW,…
Travel security
TSA, you’re so smart!
A friend of mine (author of Confessions of a Coconut) is 6 months pregnant, and looks adorable and obviously pregnant. She also travels on a fairly regular basis. A few weeks ago, she was at the airport. In the security line, after she went through the scanner, the conversation went like this: TSA lady: “Ma’am,…
5 tips for getting through airport security quickly
It’s a holiday weekend, and lots of people are on the road. Because more travelers than usual are less experienced, I wanted to share my top five airport security tips. 1) Give yourself some extra time. The lines will likely be pretty long, so it will definitely make things less stressful if you arrive earlier…
Dealing with furloughs
If you listen to the news, you have probably heard about the mandatory federal budget cuts that have been happening over the last few months. I kept hearing dire warnings about the FAA cuts and flight delays, but it never seemed like anything was happening. Until now. Starting in April, TSA instituted a hiring freeze…
TSA Pre-check is now available at my airport! Except that I can’t use it. Lame.
A couple of years ago, I got an email from American inviting me to participate in a pilot program of some new expedited security system called “TSA Pre-check”. I was interested enough to read about it on the TSA website. It sounded very interesting, but I didn’t travel to any of the airports where it…
Planes and pocketknives
The TSA recently announced they would be allowing pocketknives through airport security and on to planes starting in April. A lot of people are very concerned about the safety repercussions, including the flight attendant unions and some members of Congress. I have tried to stay away from the pocketknife controversy because, honestly, it’s been covered…
Quick Security Tip: Get the right laptop
On a trip a couple of weeks ago, security was a little more chaotic than I was expecting. Right before I went through the line a group of school aged children came through, so I wasn’t paying as much attention to my stuff as I should. I ended up sending my computer through the x-ray…
Get to the airport early!
Last week I got to the airport a little less than an hour before my flight left. This is pretty normal for me—but was about the only normal thing about the airport. I completely forgot that Spring Break is starting soon, and the lines were looooooong. I am lucky I have status and could go…
TSA trainees at the Premium Passenger line
When I flew to Nashville a few weeks ago, I noticed that the security line designed for first class and elite flyers at my home airport was unusually long, in fact longer than I’ve ever seen it. Normally it moves pretty quickly, though, so I went ahead and got in it. This time, though, it…
Security tip: Ebooks and tablets
A friend asked me yesterday about Kindles and security. (You may have seen the exchange on my Facebook page.) “Do you have to take your Kindle out at security the way you do with a laptop? Or can it stay inside your bag while it goes through x-ray?” Regular readers may have noticed that I…
