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]
airports
Nintendo 3DS Gets Free WiFi At 42 Airports
By 12.13.11
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 12.5.11
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 10.4.11
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 10.3.11
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 9.13.11
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 9.8.11
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 9.6.11
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 8.4.11
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]
TSA Rolling Out Israeli-Style Behavior Detection
By 7.29.11
The TSA might be asking you more questions when you go through security starting in August, and that’s a good thing. [More]
United Says Photographing Staff Could Get You On 'No Fly' List, Continental Says You Deserve An Apology
By 7.28.11
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 7.11.11
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]
You Can Carry-On More Than 3oz Of Contact Solution
By 6.22.11
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]
Walk Your Family To The Airplane With A Gate Pass
By 6.8.11
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 6.7.11
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 5.13.11
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 3.29.11
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 3.9.11
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]
