TSA tips

After 15-plus years in existence, you’d think the TSA was pretty good at its job.

The AP reports that while travelers are currently enjoying a prolonged period of cheap fares, even for international flights, airlines are already taking steps that will result in steadily increasing airfares over the coming months. All good things must come to an end.

If “summer travel” triggers images of beachside idylls and Disney theme-park thrills, you likely drive rather than fly to your summertime vacation spots. Because summer air travel is a very different picture, indeed.

“Chaos at the airport!” You’ve seen those headlines and TV shots the last few days, and you know they’re accurate. You also know that, at least for now, the new immigration rules are under legal challenge, with an uncertain outcome.

Flying to the U.S. from abroad? Get ready for potentially longer check-in times and new security measures. Effective this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will increase scrutiny on electronic devices travelers bring onboard.

This coming August, all eyes will turn to the beaches and stadiums of Rio de Janeiro, where the 2016 Summer Olympics will be in full swing. The Games are expected to bring athletes and tourists from across the globe to Brazil, and now for Americans, a huge hurdle has been removed. In a move to stimulate the Brazilian economy, the Brazilian government announced that it will waive visa requirements for citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

It was only a few weeks ago that the TSA claimed victory over the scourge of long lines at airport security, but now it seems those long lines could return. “Could,” however, is the operative word, and it all comes down to Congress.

As reported last week, the U.S. is seeking to expand its current electronics ban on laptops and other devices on international flights. The current, controversial electronics ban covers flights to the U.S. from 10 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco. An expanded electronics ban would include flights from Europe as well.

Is this the “golden age of flying”? I’m in daily contact with many travelers, journalists, and industry analysts, and I don’t know anyone who would consider such an assertion to be anything but ludicrous. So my answer is an unqualified “No.”

Just hours after the Department of Homeland Security published its ban on electronic devices on flights to the U.S. from 10 Middle East and African airports, the U.K. followed suit, with its own ban on carry-on devices on flights to the United Kingdom from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

Airport horror stories are as much a staple of Thanksgiving dinner as turkey and stuffing. With the whole country rushing home for the holidays, airports—especially the major airports—are at their busiest. Is your home airport on the list of worst airports for Thanksgiving flights? It’s not too late to consider an alternative.

A new report from the House Homeland Security subcommittee reveals concerns over “inconsistent screening of airport employees,” according to CNN, along with “insufficient TSA access to intelligence information used to vet individuals and inadequate control of access to sensitive areas of airports.”

The TSA is usually a traveler’s worst nightmare, but thanks to the @AskTSA Twitter account, the TSA it turns out can actually be funny. The customer-service Twitter account answers travelers most absurd questions (no, you cannot travel with liquid mercury) about what they can and cannot carry onto a plane. And while this article is all in good fun, some questions and responses are actually useful, especially when it comes to holiday travel—it prefers if you don’t wrap your gifts, by the way—and traveling with food, liquids, and electronics.

One of the world’s largest passport printing companies is experimenting to see if passports, like boarding passes, concert tickets, and countless other documents, can be securely put on a smartphone. According to the Telegraph, the paperless passports would function much the same way, with travelers simply scanning their phone at customs.

Turns out the friendly skies are, well…the jokes sort of write themselves.

After more than one hundred incidents of the now-discontinued Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploding, popping, and generally being a fire hazard, the Department of Transportation has officially banned them from all flights.

The newest FAA reauthorization bills in the House and the Senate include several proposals that could improve air travel for consumers, as well as two terrible ideas and one that could be a blockbuster for travelers fed up with unreasonable airline fees.

If you’re packing coffee, spices, baby powder, or anything else that could be considered to be a “powder-like substance” in your carry-on, you’ll need to keep it to 12 ounces or less or be subjected to additional screening, according to a new rule from the TSA.

The TSA says it found a record number of guns in carry-on bags last week, August 12-18. The total number of confiscated firearms was 81. An alarming 70 of those guns were loaded, and 31 had a round chambered.

I was intrigued by a recent headline on CNN that made an interesting albeit not exactly bold claim: Airport security needs a 9/11 style upgrade. Following the Ft. Lauderdale attack last week, not to mention the Brussels and Ataturk airport attacks last year, people are understandably wondering what, if anything, can be done to make airports safer.

Ever waited near a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint for another traveler, raised your voice at a TSA employee, or brushed away an agent’s hand? You might be on a secret TSA watch list and not even know it.