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airports
airports
Some Of These Airports Just Aren't Like The Others: List Ranks The Best & Worst
By Mary Beth Quirk on January 17, 2012 10:00 AM
63 Comments
We've never had the pleasure of flying in or out of Hajj Terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, so we can't agree with or dispute one list's ruling that it is in fact, the best in the world and will just trust the pros. But Chicago Midway Airport as the very worst of the worst in the entire world? More »
Nintendo 3DS Gets Free WiFi At 42 Airports
By Phil Villarreal on December 13, 2011 8:30 AM
17 Comments
While people-watching, reading and nervously quadruple-checking your boarding pass are perfectly valid ways to pass the time before your flight boards, they pale in comparison to squeezing in a few online rounds of Mario Kart 7. Thanks to a deal between Nintendo and Boingo, 42 airports now have free 3DS WiFi hotspots. More »
Baggage Handler: I Was Fired For Helping Sick Dog
By Chris Morran on December 5, 2011 2:30 PM
112 Comments
Usually when you see a Consumerist headline that involves a baggage handler and a pet, it means the furry friend is lost or dead. But here's one that's more uplifting... except for the fact that the handler says she was fired for doing a good deed. More »
Bing Airport Maps Help You Find Overpriced Coffee While Waiting For Your Flight To Be Cancelled
By Chris Morran on October 4, 2011 11:36 AM
26 Comments
Some people really enjoy exploring airport terminals. They find a thrill in getting to know every newsstand, bar, food court and sandwich kiosk. For the remaining 99.9% of us, we just go to whatever is closest and hand over a pile of cash for a small bottle of water. But last week, Bing introduced a new feature on its maps search that helps users navigate the concourses of more than 40 U.S. airports. More »
TSA Gives Breast Cancer Survivor Invasive Patdown After She Goes Through Scan
By Ben Popken on October 3, 2011 1:00 PM
68 Comments
A breast cancer survivor says she was forced to go through a patdown where TSA agents touched her breasts, even though she had already gone through the backscatter body scanner and had an ID card explaining the tissue expanders in her chest. More »
TSA Rolling Out New Procedures For Fliers Under 12
By Ben Popken on September 13, 2011 4:00 PM
49 Comments
In the next few months, the TSA will implement new security procedures for fliers under 12, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate. They can still get patted down, although it will be by a different method, and they no longer have to remove their shoes. Even if they have velcro straps and are super easy to take on and off anyway. More »
TSA Will Phase Out Making You Take Your Shoes Off
By Ben Popken on September 8, 2011 10:00 AM
75 Comments
At some currently unspecified point down the road, you'll be able to go through airport security without taking your shoes or belt off. The policy easement was announced by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano during a forum hosted by Politico Playbook in DC. More »
VIP Airline Treatment For Sale
By Ben Popken on September 6, 2011 1:00 PM
44 Comments
If you've ever said, man, I would pay good money to go to the front of this airport security line, your time has come. More »
40 Of 100 Most-Delayed Flights Take Off Or Land In Newark
By Chris Morran on August 4, 2011 1:15 PM
29 Comments
If you're reading this story on your laptop or smartphone while waiting for a flight to or from Newark International Airport, we have some good and bad news. On one hand, there's a decent chance your flight will be delayed. On the other, you'll have plenty of time to file a complaint with the airline, airport and FAA. More »
(redjar)
TSA Rolling Out Israeli-Style Behavior Detection
By Ben Popken on July 29, 2011 12:00 PM
128 Comments
The TSA might be asking you more questions when you go through security starting in August, and that's a good thing. More »
(afagen)
United Says Photographing Staff Could Get You On 'No Fly' List, Continental Says You Deserve An Apology
By Chris Morran on July 28, 2011 1:30 PM
76 Comments
Though United Airlines and Continental have been married for the better part of a year, the newlyweds haven't begun to see eye-to-eye on everything. Take, for instance, a customer's right to photograph a staffer's name tag. United says it could get you banned from the airline and put on a "no fly" list, while Continental says that's just not so. More »
Travel With Your Own Scale To Avoid Baggage Weight Overcharges
By Ben Popken on July 11, 2011 5:00 PM
56 Comments
The scales at airport check-ins take a beating. Bag after bag, rollies, Louis Vuitons, and duffles filled with too many clothes get put on and off, all day long. Usually the magic number is 50 lbs, and after that, you have to pay a fee. Rules are rules, but in order to fairly enforce them, the scales have to be accurate. Oftentimes, they're not, the result of lax maintenance. More »
(nikozz)
You Can Carry-On More Than 3oz Of Contact Solution
By Ben Popken on June 22, 2011 5:00 PM
86 Comments
If you don't have time to buy a travel-sized version instead of your mondo bottle of saline solution before the next time you fly, don't sweat it. It's totally cool to fly with more than 3oz of contact solution, as it is covered under the TSA "liquid medication" provision. More »
(hoyasmeg)
Walk Your Family To The Airplane With A Gate Pass
By Ben Popken on June 8, 2011 4:00 PM
25 Comments
A lot of big dramatic scenes in movies where there's a last ditch effort by one lover to make it right with another lover by grabbing them just before they get on the plane don't seem like they could happen these days with new restrictions that make it so you have to buy a ticket in order to go past security. But it turns out they could still happen, we would just have to have an explanatory side-scene where they ask the ticket counter for what's called a "gate pass." More »
To Avoid Airport Security Hassle, Don't Flinch From Eye Contact
By Ben Popken on June 7, 2011 2:00 PM
87 Comments
As someone who travels red eyes coast to coast for weeks for business meetings, Jeanniey knows a thing or two about getting through security with the least friction. She tells NYT that one thing she discovered, the hard way, was that you don't want to dodge from eye contact with the security workers. More »
Texas House Passes Bill To Outlaw TSA Pat-Downs That Make Contact With Your Most Personal Parts
By Chris Morran on May 13, 2011 2:15 PM
124 Comments
As we reported in March, a handful of Texas politicians were fed up with being felt-up and were considering a way to ban the TSA's invasive pat-down procedures. Last night, that ban got closer to reality — or at least closer to becoming a courtroom battle — when the Lone Star State's House of Representatives voted to approve legislation that would keep hands off travelers' most personal areas. More »
Study: Radiation From TSA's Full-Body Scanners Poses "No Significant Threat"
By Chris Morran on March 29, 2011 9:15 AM
104 Comments
In a new study that will surely be argued and dissected by both sides of the full-body scanner debate, researchers claim that the risk from the ionizing radiation to which travelers are exposed in these scanners "would be extremely small, even among frequent flyers" and that there "is no significant threat of radiation from the scans." More »
Texas Pols Want To Outlaw Full-Body Scans & Pat-Downs By TSA
By Chris Morran on March 9, 2011 3:35 PM
115 Comments
Politicians in the Texas state legislature have authored a pair of bills they hope would keep the TSA from using full-body scanners and enhanced pat-downs at airports in the Lone Star State. More »
(EIZO)
10 Ways To Make The TSA Crotch Grabbers Profitable
By Ben Popken on March 7, 2011 12:00 PM
66 Comments
Last week, the the Director of Homeland Security suggested to Congress that the TSA get a cut of airline baggage fees. The fees encourage travelers to carry on their bags, and this in turn leads to more bags that have to be inspected by hand at security checkpoints. Should taxpayers keep picking up the tab, or should airlines give the TSA a piece of the baggage fees? How about neither? What if instead the TSA looked for more creative ways to offset costs and even increase revenue? Here are 10 modest proposals: More »
TSA Wants To Increase Airport Fees Because You're Not Checking Your Bags
By Ben Popken on March 4, 2011 2:00 PM
142 Comments
To avoid bag check fees, travelers are routinely opting to carry on their bags, but the TSA says that the cost is just getting shifted to tax payers, to the tune of $260 million a year. That's because the more bags that don't get checked, the more bags the TSA has to inspect by hand at security checkpoints. Now the TSA is looking to get a cut of some of the checked baggage fees the airlines collect. More »
