4 ms·
Am I the only one who finds vanishing leg room a larger disturbance than TSA lines? The big airport crybabies are usually those who expect weather or mechanica
by AJ007 9y ago
Am I the only one who finds vanishing leg room a larger disturbance than TSA lines?
The big airport crybabies are usually those who expect weather or mechanical problems to vanish by voice command. Unless you fly Spirit, I've seen minimal problems with airline staff or TSA agents. Most are fairly friendly.. of course this may vary by airport. I usually fly in and out of the same handful.
- Zak 9y agoIt's not TSA agents that are the problem, but TSA policy. Unless you pay the TSA for precheck to abuse you less, the process is pretty invasive. To give just one example, in Europe, passengers are not routinely required to remove shoes.
- c22 9y agoLast time I flew in the US (3 weeks ago) I didn't have to remove my shoes. The security process was actually quite streamlined. The biggest indignity was provided by Alaska Airlines, where one self check kiosk had run out of receipt paper, causing a massive deluge of people to line up at the only human agent available. (Other kiosks claimed you were already checked in and couldn't reprint your boarding pass.) I, and I'm sure many others, alerted the agent to the problem, but she was too busy servicing the growing line of increasingly late passengers to do anything about the root cause. It wasn't even clear if replacing the tape was her responsibility.
- decebalus1 9y ago> Last time I flew in the US (3 weeks ago) I didn't have to remove my shoes. That means either someone was not following protocol, they were running an experiment or you were in business class. Shoes need to come off in standard screening (1). Such anecdotal evidence means nothing. I for one had to take off my shoes a month ago (a long with all other passengers) but I never had to remove my shoes when flying inside the EU. (1) https://www.tsa.gov/travel/travel-tips/travel-checklist https://www.tsa.gov/travel/travel-tips/travel-checklist
- c22 9y agoI don't know if it was an experiment but there were signs prominently posted advising all travelers to keep their shoes on. My companion also did not have to remove her laptop before screening, but they did pull her aside to look at it after the X-ray. There were no bins, passengers were expected to put their phones and loose change into a pocket of their carry on, then I just walked through a metal detector and it was done. The line was very long but moved extremely quickly. There was a dog working the line, so perhaps it was an instance of this: https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-24/shoes-on-feet-laptops-in-bags-tsa-now-waves-passengers-around-body-scanners https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-24/shoes-on-fee...
- glandium 9y agoI had the same experience at about the same time (3-4 weeks ago) on a transfer after an inbound flight: no need to remove shoes, no need to pull out laptop. That was however not the case for my outbound flight.
- chrisseaton 9y ago> Shoes need to come off in standard screening That's just a website of things they recommend you do. It doesn't look like any kind of official policy document or protocol. I mean it also says 'give yourself enough time to arrive at the airport early' but that's an official protocol is it?
- tomjakubowski 9y agoon the busiest travel days the TSA often ease the shoe requirement. they even let me keep my laptop in my bag when flying this Christmas.
- user5994461 9y agoThe shoes vary in Europe, sometimes have to keep them, sometimes have to take them off.
- rhizome 9y agoAround Thanksgiving I had to remove my shoes at both SFO and PDX.
- Zak 9y agoThat sounds like the precheck screening procedure. I've seen them use it for everybody rather than just paid precheck members once or twice.
- djf1 9y agoLeg room can be purchased, if you're willing to spend more. Airlines attempt to satisfy both those who prefer leg room (premium economy), and those who prefer cost savings (economy). In my experience, the TSA experience is consistently inefficient, with (occasionally severe) bottlenecks. But more frustrating than inefficiency is a sense of apathy radiated by many TSA agents. Whereas the airlines compete to serve us, the TSA feels vaguely like a slaughterhouse, in which we are the livestock.