Airport security is really just a joke that we can’t laugh about. With the goal to get through security as fast and as easy as possible, we have to keep our mouths shut. Don’t joke. Don’t use sarcasm. Don’t make comments about the process. Don’t address personnel unless they speak to you first. One wrong comment can mean that you are being screened and harassed for hours on end. In air travel, you lose most of any rights that you thought you had. They can hold you captive at the airport. They can hold you captive on the plane for hours on end without food, water or facilities. And we are still no more safe than before because anyone who is determined to do something can do it.

So here is a step by step of what I do when I travel:

Be very polite and use good manners. Say good morning or good afternoon. Say please and thank you when you can. You may be surprised at the reaction you get. Most of the staff immediately change their demeanor for the better towards you because a positive word at an airport is so rare these days.

Just prior to getting into the screening line, I take everything out of my pockets and off my person tuck it into a separate outside closing pocket on my carry-on bag. This way you don’t have to use those little trays and have all your items out in the open and visible. For those that you can do easily, it is best to take out any body piercing jewelry that you may have as well. Hold onto your ticket and passport/ID. Everything else goes. This includes my watch, my cell phone, ring, wallet, coins, pens and my hand sanitizer. Do the same with anything else that you carry in your pockets. You can then open this pocket on the other side of security and put it all back on your person for the rest of your travels.

Take off your belt and any other clothing accessories that could set something off.

Prevent theft at the security machines

You never want your stuff on one side of security while you are on the other. If I was a crook and based on what I witness all the time, this would be such a great place to hangout. People are vulnerable, distracted and the authorities really don’t give a darn about your stuff. Security can’t leave their post to run after someone who steals your valuables. So it’s totally up to you to prevent theft and stay safe.

• Put your carry-on bag on the belt. Don’t let it start moving through the machine yet.
• Take off your shoes and jacket and place them in the first bin.
• Take your laptop out and put it in a bin by itself as well.
• Watch the metal detectors and the persons ahead of you.
• Only after the person immediately ahead of you has cleared, let your bags start going through the machine. Watch to make sure they have disappeared into the device.
• Walk through the detector clean and quiet (unless you have metal inside your body or unusual clothing. But you already know you are in for a hassle). You should then be able to walk over and watch your items exit the machine in front of you.

Collect your stuff, put on your belt and shoes, empty that outside pocket of stuff back into your own pockets and get on your journey. You are probably past the biggest hassle of your entire trip…until you go the airport to come home again.

By Adam Longfellow

Remember to take time zones into consideration when you fly. The departing time for a flight is the local time at the airport. The arrival time is the local time at the airport you are flying too. That is why you can sometimes fly to another city and arrive around the same time that you depart. Although I do travel more than the average person, it seems fairly simple to me until I listen to other people talking at airports. You’ll hear stuff like, we don’t need to eat. We get in at 1pm so the flight from Dallas to Phoenix is only an hour. When they are actually changing time zones and it’s closer to two and a half hours. Then I look at the little kids they have with them and I’m hoping I’m not on their flight when they get hungry.

As someone who has now lived in all three continental US time zones, it is interesting to have noticed the differences. It does affect many things like business, relationships, sporting events and television. People on the east coast will commonly call you at what may be 6:30am where I am. Some of them will even acknowledge their city and my city and seem to know where they are yet wonder why I’m not answering the phone.

The basics

LA-NY 3 hours difference. You go three hours ahead when heading to NY and you get three hours back when going to LA. Chicago is one hour back from NY. Denver and Albuquerque are two hours back from NY. The most common mistaken time zone I had was related to Michigan. Although it’s far from it, it is on east coast time while Indiana to the south can be in two time zones. And I lived for years in Arizona where the time didn’t change at all. Everything else did. You just had to remember when your tv shows changed by an hour or a relative was now an hour off.

Traveling over a time change weekend is another fun one. It can be good if it brings you closer to your normal time zone but bad when it goes the other way. Why do we have daylight savings any more? Why not just pick one time and stick to it? It would solve a minor little problem. Then we just have to remember the various zones.

It will be interesting to watch future developments in the market. I think the first airlines to have good wifi and is reliably on all flights would get more business travelers. I know I would look for it. But do they charge for it or offer it as a perk to get those customers? Right now, it is only on certain airplanes with many different airlines. So you never know if you’ll have it until you are on the flight.

If you are a business person, productivity can actually be quite high without wifi. You can write up emails, memos, expense reports or articles ahead of time. Work on those spreadsheets or photos. Although the internet opens up things that you can do on your laptop, it also will lead to time wasted on all kinds of websites, email and social media services.

The essential story here is that if you book a less-than-minimum connection on websites like Travelocity, Priceline or even the airline website and don’t make it, the airline doesn’t owe you a fix and is no under obligation to do anything about it. It is considered an illegal flight or hot connection. Not exactly terms that sound like friendly skies? They really shouldn’t offer these flights but I see them displayed all the time.

You need to make sure you book at least the minimum connection between flights. And this information isn’t listed on those search results. You can easily just go by the price and book a flight with a connection that is too short for anyone but a magical wizard.

If you’ve ever booked your own flight, you’ve noticed that you are offered connections with times as low as 30 minutes to as long as 13 hours. You probably want something in between. I believe that 75-90 minutes is ideal for any major city airport to be fairly comfortable. Sixty minutes is pretty good for places like Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Cincinnati and many others. And I choose cities like these over the ones below whenever possible. The wild card is that you don’t know where the gates of your flights will be until the last minute. You could have gates right next to each other. So you have a short walk and lots of time to enjoy the ambiance. Or you could arrive at the far end of one terminal and have to go the far end of an entirely different terminal for the next flight. Maybe the moving walkway or tram link is working at full speed. Or maybe not.

So what are the minimum times? I’m glad you asked and I list them below for some of the largest connection airports. I personally recommend that the average person add a half hour to these times to be safe and comfortable. Add even more time with children or if you have trouble moving around quickly. Traffic delays, runway delays, storms and fellow passengers all cause problems about 20% of the time. Do you want to be biting your nails, watching the time nervously, running through the crowds and then board your next flight after all the carry-on space is taken? Do you want to wait hours for another flight? Do you want to sleep at the airport? Or would you rather just stroll the airport, use the restroom, get a drink, shop, read and check your messages for little bit of extra time?

Minimum connection times for some major airports in the United States. Again, I would add a minimum of 30 minutes to all these times for my choices and even more in storm seasons.

Atlanta

ATL – Hartsfield-Jackson (10 miles from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 55 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour
International to Domestic – 1 hour 30 minutes
International to International – 1 hour 30 minutes

Boston

BOS – Logan International (3 miles from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 40 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour
International to Domestic – 1 hour 30 minutes
International to International – 1 hour 15 minutes

Chicago

ORD – O’Hare (11 mile from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 50 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour 15 minutes
International to Domestic – 1 hour 30 minutes
International to International – 1 hour 30 minutes

MDW – Midway (18 miles from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 25 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour
International to Domestic – 1 hour
Inter-airport ORD to/from MDW – 2 hours 40 minutes

Dallas Fort Worth

DFW – Dallas/Ft Worth International (12 miles from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 50 minutes
Domestic to International – 50 minutes
Domestic to Canada – 50 minutes
International to Domestic – 1 hour 10 minutes
Canada to Domestic – 50 minutes
International to International – 1 hour 10 minutes

Denver

DEN – Denver International (23 miles from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 50 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour
International to Domestic – 1 hour
International to International – 1 hour

Houston

IAH – George Bush Intercontinental (20 miles from city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 45 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour
International to Domestic – 1 hour
International to International – 1 hour 15 minutes

Los Angeles

LAX – Los Angeles International (10 miles from Los Angeles city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 1 hour 10 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour 30 minutes
International to Domestic – 2 hours
International to International – 2 hours

Miami

MIA – Miami International (7 miles NW of Miami city center)
Domestic to Domestic – 55 minutes
Domestic to International – 1 hour
International to Domestic – 1 hour 30
International to International – 1 hour 30

This morning, I actually walked up to airport security area and all the lines were waiting for me. I didn’t wait for a single person. It was a somewhat early flight at 7:25 but I went out at the same time and day of the week earlier in the year and the line was fairly heavy. It may be a fluke but it was surprising.

So if you can travel, now is a even better time to take advantage of the market. Lower prices and easier travel. Who knows how long it will last.

Photo by fidophoto

People watching. Airports are great for this. You see people from all over the world in various states of consciousness and moods. You see joyful reunions and tearful departures. You see anger and frustration in between hangovers and mourners.

Wifi. The use of laptops and smart phones is rampant and a good way to pass the time. Hopefully you are not paying for it.

Free Magazines. It may be to launch a new product, get more readers or just deal with excess copies, but many times you can find stand alone racks of free magazine and newspapers in some airports.

TV. Many airports have tv screens. It may not be handy for most seats or it may not be something you want to watch but it’s there.

Playgrounds. Many airports have play areas for the kids. They are usually a bit more dirty and well-used than I would like. Make sure you enforce a policy of hand washing or hand sanitizers.

Shopping. If you want to pay extra for all kinds of things, you can do it at airports. From clothes to massages to medical services.

Photo by Lora Quinto

Drinking. Coffee is better than alcohol. At least if you are on my flight. Drinking and flying don’t mix well. It may even make a certain percentage of people mentally off balance at high altitude, yet airlines and airports like to promote it and make money from it.

Photo by hellochris

Pray. If you are religious, you can probably find a chapel at most airports. You can pray for family and friends. You can pray for yourself. You can pray that your flight lands safely and on time.

The second leg of my flight, which was from Phoenix to San Diego, brought an announcement. Because of our shorter flight today and number of passengers, we will not be providing the usual drink service. This brought a few thoughts to my head.

• Did San Diego move closer to Phoenix today?
• Was there an earthquake I didn’t know about?
• Did the plane grow in size today?
• I wasn’t given a discount for a shorter flight today and I didn’t make the schedule or select the plane. So why make it seem like we were special to not get service?

Okay. Now to be realistic. It was a short flight and it would have been difficult to roll that cart out for a large plane in the amount of travel time for this leg. And they did offer that you could ask an attendant for a drink if you really wanted one. But then I never saw a single flight attendant the entire flight. They never once walked down the aisle so you could even ask. Yes, I could have pushed the button but that just seemed pushy to me since I didn’t need anymore caffeine.

It is a better situation than Southwest Airlines. They are charging $10 for a similar practice of checking in online and getting on earlier. US Airways is still friendly to families and small children who need assistance. They let them board early where as Southwest now says to heck with them, they can board last.

1. Pack less. And then take half of that. There are many tips within this one all by itself. Use space bags or compression bags. You can get them online, travel stores and even stores like Target. They come in different sizes. Get the ones that you press and roll, not a vacuum bag. You don’t want to have to carry a vacuum with you. That would defeat the purpose. I use three or four of the compression bags, mixing up my clothes so I only have to open one of them at a time. I’ve been using them for years now and most people are surprised how much I fit into one carry-on bag with them. I wouldn’t be able to wander for two weeks on one bag without them. I even compress my favorite pillow down to almost nothing and include it.

Look at the material your clothes are made of  and the ability to mix and match everything for multiple outfits. I like specialty travel clothing made of material that I can rinse it out and then it dries within hours in the hotel room. Wear layers on the plane. This is easier in colder weather but wear your heaviest pieces of clothing on you while you are traveling. You can take them off, drape them over an arm, cram them in the over head compartment or whatever. But they are not taking up space in your bag. If you are really overflowing your bags past security, fill a empty fast food bag or airport store bag with your socks or hygiene products. No one objects to you looking like you spent money in the airport.

2. Carefully choose which airline is going to mistreat you. Southwest gives you two checked bags and JetBlue gives you one. Everyone else is charging now.

3. Chew the fine print. Some airlines are allowing it’s various club members/frequent fliers to go without the fees. If you are going overseas, you may not be charged fees. But a few airlines may charge you more.

4. See if your hotel or resort will cover it. Some are already offering money off the bill if you have the luggage receipt. This is yet another thing that complicates the search for a hotel. If one hotel is $20 more than another but they give you $30 back on luggage fees while this other hotel gives you a $20 gas card but charges a $15 resort fee….ugh…My head hurts just thinking about the complications ahead in finding the best deal.

5. What’s your size? If you have close friends in your destination city and they are close to your size, maybe you can ask to borrow a jacket, a shirt, a dress, some shoes, socks, makeup… Okay that’s enough. But maybe someone does have a child’s car seat they could loan you instead of you paying to check it. The morally off center folks could buy clothes at their destination, wear them with tags and give them as gifts (or return them) before hitting the airport again. Do you have clothes you are about ready to trash or donate? Holes in socks and underwear? Take them with you, unload them before the other end of the trip and save the luggage fee one-way. I’ve left socks all over Europe and my bag got lighter as I went.

6. Taxi, take me to the nearest garage sale. $30 can usually buy a lot of clothes at a garage sale. You may look like crap but hey, you’re from someplace else so you’ll probably stand out no matter what you wear. Donate them at the end of the trip or convince your family to have a garage sale on the last day of your visit. You’ll bond and get your money back.

6. Carry the kitchen sink too. They may gate check your bag for free today. But I suspect it won’t be long before they have portable charge machines on them to make you pay. Maybe they’ll setup of a register and counter right there on the ramp. All of this holds up the boarding process and makes you unpopular with other passengers however. It may work but please don’t do it in front of me. I’ll be wearing the Allstays.com hat.

7. Get cozy in the middle or window seat. If you are inside and not blocking anyone else or infringing on their space, you may get away with a slightly larger bag on the floor in front of you. As long as you are only making yourself uncomfortable. If you are in the aisle seat and their is not enough room for the bag to be completely out of the way, they’ll take your bag away from you. I don’t usually like the middle seat myself as I prefer to only have a sick person on one side of me instead of on both sides but the middle seat actually has more full space under the seat. The curved wall takes a bit of space away from the window seat. Check seatguru.com for your specific plane and seat map however as you could wind up with a seat with a airplane component box under it and no room for your stuff.

8. Look at the airlines code-sharing the flight. More and more often, flights are branded with more than one airline. This is called code-sharing. Many times, you can get a cheaper ticket on one airline even though it’s the same exact seat and airplane as on another. In fact, the prices on one can be half the price of the other. The same goes for fees. Maybe you can start with a small regional brand that doesn’t charge fees and ride that little perk all the way to your destination. Book the airline with the cheaper overall ticket and baggage fees.

9. Mail your bags. This may or may not work depending on what you are sending, your schedule and so on. This could work for family and residences but many hotels and resorts now charge a hefty fee just to accept a package for you. That would bury any savings. If it’s just clothes, it could be cheaper to send by UPS or Fedex. Fill a compression bag and pack it in a postal service flat rate priority box until it’s ready to burst and you’ll ship it for less than $10.

10. Going forward: Watch out for deals and rewards programs. I suspect we’ll see some new ideas come out of this. Maybe certain memberships will have free baggage deals with an airline. Perhaps if one was willing to pay a fee, they could get unlimited baggage checks for a year and a speedier security line. Maybe we’ll have free baggage days or routes. Buy ten lattes and get a free baggage coupon. Who knows what is next.

By Adam Longfellow

If you just do carry-on, you’re okay and it won’t (yet) cost any more cash.

The negative is that it may cost you more and in other ways. Also, more people will be trying to take more stuff onto the airplane to avoid the fees. This means the on board compartments will be even more full and you’ll have to wait longer for people to deal with all their stuff. More items will probably be taken away from you as you board the plane as well if you don’t board early. I’m not sure how they will charge for these gate checks or if they’ll just leave your stuff on the tarmac if you don’t have money on you. Now that you are paying specifically for each bag to come with you on the plane, I think airlines will hear more valid complaints and charge backs when it doesn’t make it. This extra hassle may even eat up some of the profit that they make from it.

The transactions are separate from your ticket, either online or at the airport, so it probably messes up your rewards calculations as well. No longer will you have a completely free ticket unless you just do carry-on.

Fees are each way so double them for your round-trip. The airline name goes to the main page of their official website while the last line for each brand goes to their baggage policy page so you can read more and get the latest details.

AirTran Airways

First bag: $15
Second bag: $25
Additional bags: $50
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $39 or 71-99lbs: $79
Oversized bags: 62-70 linear inches: $39 or 71-80 inches: $79
AirTrain Airways Baggage Fee Policy

Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air

First bag: $15
Second bag: $25
Additional bags: $100, 7th bag and more is $150
Overweight bags: 51-100lbs $50
Oversize bags: 63-80 linear inches: $50 or 81-115 inches: $75
Alaska Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

American Airlines

First bag: $20
Second bag: $30
Additional bags: $100, 6th bag and more is $200
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $50 or 71-100lbs: $100
Oversize bags: 63 linear inches and over: $150
American Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

Continental Airlines

First bag: $20 ($15 if paid online)
Second bag: $30 ($25 if paid online)
Additional bags: $75 for nonstop, $100 for connecting
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $50
Oversize bags: 63 linear inches and over: $100
Continental Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

Delta Airlines

First bag: $20 ($15 if paid online)
Second bag: $30 ($25 if paid online, $50 for overseas travel)
Additional bags: $125, 4th bag to 10th bag is $200 each
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $90 or 71-100lbs: $175 ($150/$300 outside US)
Oversize bags: 63-80 linear inches: $175
Delta Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

Frontier Airlines

First bag: $15
Second bag: $25
Additional bags: $50
Overweight bags: 51-100lbs $75
Oversize bags: 63-80 linear inches: $75
Frontier Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

JetBlue Airline

First bag: $0
Second bag: $20
Additional bags: $75
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $50 or 71-99lbs: $100
Oversize bags: 63-80 linear inches: $75
JetBlue Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

Northwest Airlines

First bag: $20 ($15 if paid online)
Second bag: $30 ($25 if paid online, $50 for overseas travel)
Additional bags: $125, 4th bag to 10th bag is $200 each
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $90 or 71-100lbs: $175 ($150/$300 outside US)
Oversize bags: 63-80 linear inches: $175
Northwest Airlines Baggage Policy

Spirit Airlines

First bag: $19
Second bag: $25
Additional bags up to 5: $100
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $50 or 71-99lbs: $100
Oversize bags: 62-79 linear inches: $100 or 80 and over inches: $150
Spirit Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

Southwest Airlines

First bag: $0
Second bag: $0
Additional bags: $25, bags 4-9:$50, 10 and over:$110
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $25 or 71-100lbs: $50
Oversize bags: 62-80 linear inches: $50
Southwest Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

United Airlines

First bag: $20 ($15 if paid online)
Second bag: $30 ($25 if paid online)
Additional bags: $125, 5th bag and more: $250
Overweight bags: $100
Oversize bags: 63-115 linear inches: $125
United Airlines Baggage Fee Policy

US Airways

First bag: $20 ($15 if paid online)
Second bag: $30 ($25 if paid online)
Additional bags: $100
Overweight bags: 51-70lbs $70 or 71-99lbs: $120
Oversize bags: 62-80 linear inches: $100
US Airways Baggage Fee Policy

I also should mention my Travel Contacts and Resources page where I list all official websites and phone numbers for all forms of travel companies.

What do you think about the added fees? Tell everyone about any experiences you’ve had with them as well, lost luggage, etc.

What is the deal with these companies? Here is how crazy they are getting. And remember, fees usually start with one or two airlines and then the others follow if the outrage isn’t too high. They test the waters to make extra millions.

Check in your bags at the counter in the airport: $5 on top of whatever bag fee already exists, like $15 – Instigators: United and US Airways

Want an exit row seat for more legroom? $20 – Instigator: AirTran

Instead of encouraging your purchase online, which saves them money, some airlines may want to charge you a fee for buying your ticket online  – Instigator: Allegiant Air

Want to check in and use the ticket you already paid for? How about another $5 to $10 to do so. No way to avoid this ridiculous fee – Instigator: Ryanair

Want to choose a seat? How about paying to do so? We’re not sure what happens if you don’t pick a seat. Perhaps you stand up for the flight? – Instigator: Vueling

Want to get through security faster? $25. Instigator: United. I did this once thinking the lines would be long when I got to the airport and I could get through and do some work on the other side. I’m sure this will vary by time and place, but the problem is that United can only do this in certain airports where they have large volume. So when I did it in San Francisco, United’s “Premier Line” was longer than the normal security line. It did also allow me to board ahead of some other passengers however.

Want to use the lavatory or get sick and use a bag? Ryanair wants to charge for it but they haven’t started these last two yet. I wouldn’t want to sit next to the person who doesn’t have the correct change on them. Maybe they should charge for seat belts too.

We’ve already seen fees lately for checking a third bag. Sending a child on  plane without an adult. Fuel surcharges. Blankets. Headphones. Crappy food. Magazines and newspapers. Oversize passengers.