Don’t mean to be or sound rude, but three times a year does not count (imho) as a frequent flyer. I’m on a plane every week, as are a number of my co-workers. The TSA program is intended for true “road warriors” (I hate that term, there’s nothing “warrior” like in what we do, maybe “road drudges” would be better, but who would own up to that title).

The TSA program is intended for those of us who do travel VERY-regularly, in part, because we are often in a position of having very narrow windows of opportunity to meet our flights (I could tell you some stories!).

I would (respectfully) urge you and your readers to (re-)condsider carefully, whether your flying patterns truely require or warrent a TSA Frequent Flyer card. I do understand and appreciate the hassels you go through (because I endure it every week), but at least at its inception, don’t “clog” the system because you fly once a quarter.

at least wait until I have my card, anyway

Love your blog

dla

I wrote that “I consider myself” a frequent flyer, and as far as I’m concerned, flying three or more times a year is frequent for me. Besides, if I don’t qualify for the card on that basis, I’ll do what people do these days: sue. – Admin

Me? I don’t get nearly so worked up. See, the people on the 9-11 plains may have been Middle Eastern, but not ALL terrorists are Middle Eastern. Unfortunately, we have Americans who are perfectly happy to help them out. At first, I was annoyed about the “obvious PC ness” of it. THen I started listening to the news… With the people we’ve got here, random searches is what it has to be. There is no profile of a terrorist, either by race or by where you are traveling or anything. If there being a random chance at any time of being extra-searched keeps them from considering using planes again, the searches have done their job as far as I’m considered.

I think we should just take off our shoes and let the TSA guys do their job. And have a little faith there is more security going on behind the scenes than we are going to be told about. After all does it make sense that checking if i have smelly feet is why we havent had a plane hijacked in the last 5 years?

Since Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber”tried to blow up a plane, the TSA has been VERY aware of shoes.

In fact, one man with shoes that seemed too large for his feet had some explosives hidden there. Another man had wires sticking out of his pants by his shoes.

Here’s a security story like no other.

A colleague’s husband is a commercial pilot.

He had to go through an incredible song and dance to obtain a permit to carry a gun in the cockpit.

He had to travel from Shreveport to Dallas to take a psychological test.

He was extensively tested in the military to be certified to fly with nuclear bombs on board. This apparently was not good enough for the TSA.

I sometimes travel with my 86 year old mother-in-law who does not brook foolishness. I have wondered many times why the TSA didn’t just duct tape her and load her with the baggage.

She has to take her shoes off and explain the metal in her bones and sit fuming while they go through her bags. And she is the original bag lady, so she has sacks and bundles galore.

The best part is her ordering the TSA people to help her get her shoes back on. She is always an entraining scene. (I hide behind a post.)

Mostly, I find the TSA people are pretty patient and polite since they are facing the same types of personalities the checker in a 12 items or less lane is facing at the grocery store. The more impatient or self important the client, the greater the burden of the experience.

I don’t disagree that the whole program is probably misguided, but it is the program. Maybe everyone should fly El Al one time or pass through Narita (Tokyo) to get a perspective on how pervasive our own process could be.

When I was traveling through London’s Heathrow Airport in 2003 on my way to Kuwait, I had my laptop with me and proceeded to pull it out at the security checkpoint just as I had done on the previous two stops in the States.

The security officer looked at me strangely and told me to put the laptop back in the bag before putting it on the conveyor belt to go through x-ray. Confused, I questioned him and said, “really? We have to in America.”

Trying his best not to roll his eyes, he threw my bag on the belt as he said in his dry unemotional British tone – “this isn’t America.”

As I walked through the metal detector and retrieved my zipped up laptop, I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not.