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Poll: 87 percent of frequent flyers unhappy with TSA (Flyertalk & FBTM Magazine poll)

Poll: 87 percent of frequent flyers unhappy with TSA (Flyertalk & FBTM Magazine poll)

Old Oct 8, 2015, 9:06 am
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Poll: 87 percent of frequent flyers unhappy with TSA (Flyertalk & FBTM Magazine poll)

The results of the FT 2015 Survey are out, but I have not seen it posted yet:

Eighty-seven percent of frequent flyers are unhappy with the performance of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), according to new poll released this week.

The poll, conducted by Frequent Business Traveler Magazine and the websites FlyerTalk.com and ExpertFlyer.com, found 87 percent of frequent flyers said the TSA does a "fair or poor job" with airport security.

By comparison, only 10.2 percent of the survey's respondents said TSA is doing a good job, and just 2.6 percent rated the agency's performance excellent.
Source:
Politico - Poll: 87 percent of frequent flyers unhappy with TSA (October 6, 2015)
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 10:01 am
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Only 62 percent of the poll's respondents were satisfactied with the PreCheck program, down from 80.3 percent in 2013.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 11:27 am
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All the "random" groping and scanning that goes on with precheck now has made it much more annoying.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 12:02 pm
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Originally Posted by Pesky Monkey
All the "random" groping and scanning that goes on with precheck now has made it much more annoying.
This.

Pay $85 for a chance - just a chance - that you get lucky and transit the checkpoint without getting your crotch probed and your buttocks stroked because you have been 'randomly' chosen - and that's assuming you are lucky enough to be flying through an airport with operating Pre lanes and not just 'Pre-lite'.

Nothing says 'TSA' like a big, bold, taxpayer-funded sign advertising the benefits of Pre - right next to a closed Pre lane during peak travel hours.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 6:05 pm
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Infrequent flyers seem more supportive of TSA theatrics.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 8:40 pm
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
Infrequent flyers seem more supportive of TSA theatrics.
They just don't realize its more theater than security. Not their fault.

A few years ago I went to a David Copperfield show. Had seen him on tv and since I enjoy illusionist was really excited. Not sure if it was my seating, the shows timing, or what but I was very dissapointed in the performance. Saw things meant not to be seen and there just wasn't any spark that night.

And it's the same with TSA. Once you see beyond the smoke and mirrors you realize that it is just theater.
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Old Oct 8, 2015, 11:36 pm
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Originally Posted by RatherBeOnATrain
The results of the FT 2015 Survey are out, but I have not seen it posted yet:
Source:
Politico - Poll: 87 percent of frequent flyers unhappy with TSA (October 6, 2015)
So my first question: what the heck is wrong with the other 13% of FFs?
By comparison, only 10.2 percent of the survey's respondents said TSA is doing a good job, and just 2.6 percent rated the agency's performance excellent.
Do CO and WA account for 2.6% of FFs?
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Old Oct 9, 2015, 2:18 am
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It's not just TSA, it's the whole "security theater" bubble that
people are disgusted by. Do you really think DHS spends most
of their time busting terrorists? Do you really think cops
who run DUI checkpoints or pull you over for an expired tag have your safety as their first priority?
Do you really think the CIA are the "good guys" vis-a-vis international
affairs?
Do you really think the DEA is challenging the drug trade effectively?
Of course not. TSA is just part of the grand facade. Gov't in general
is bloated, greedy and ineffective and people have had enough of the BS.
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Old Oct 9, 2015, 6:44 am
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Originally Posted by Boggie Dog
They just don't realize its more theater than security. Not their fault.
It's also their experience of the tradeoff. If you just fly once a year, the difference between TSA silliness and reasonable airport security costs you maybe 30 minutes, so you could well think "hey, it's a reasonable price that we're paying for security." If you're going through security 3x a week, that difference really adds up.
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Old Oct 9, 2015, 5:48 pm
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Originally Posted by chollie
This.

Pay $85 for a chance - just a chance - that you get lucky and transit the checkpoint without getting your crotch probed and your buttocks stroked because you have been 'randomly' chosen - and that's assuming you are lucky enough to be flying through an airport with operating Pre lanes and not just 'Pre-lite'.

Nothing says 'TSA' like a big, bold, taxpayer-funded sign advertising the benefits of Pre - right next to a closed Pre lane during peak travel hours.
...and people rip me a new one when I call it "ExtortionCheck" of "Apparatchik."
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Old Oct 10, 2015, 2:08 pm
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Originally Posted by RadioGirl
So my first question: what the heck is wrong with the other 13% of FFs?

Do CO and WA account for 2.6% of FFs?
Nah, Sideshow Bob was just spending a lot of time over the past few months voting on internet polls.

Mike
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Old Oct 17, 2015, 12:06 pm
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Originally Posted by chollie
Nothing says 'TSA' like a big, bold, taxpayer-funded sign advertising the benefits of Pre - right next to a closed Pre lane during peak travel hours.
I see you've been to PHX T4 where such sightings are the norm
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Old Oct 17, 2015, 12:14 pm
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Originally Posted by txrus
I see you've been to PHX T4 where such sightings are the norm
Yup, another example of TSA's consistent inconsistency - and the complete lack of control at HQ.

How else to explain HQ rolling out and marketing a program that individual airports and checkpoints may or may not choose to support?

In any private business, that would be false and misleading advertising and the customer would be entitled to demand his/her money back because the paid-for services were not delivered.

Note: this is the same issue the former TSA employee Ross Feinstein encountered when he tried to address the 'please say your name' issue. He was sitting at HQ and hearing that the practice had been discontinued - except he seemed unaware (and he shouldn't have been) that FSDs are free to disregard HQ if they so choose. IIRC, another TSO once posted here that an FSD can exceed HQ demands, s/he just can't relax the rules - and HQ can't (or won't) do anything about it.

Back to the OP: I don't care any more if TSA makes me safer or not. I just would like to see the checkpoints handled more like they are in most of the rest of the world: keep your hands out of my clothes, don't steal from me, don't shout and insult me, and please keep your face and hands out of my crotch and buttocks.

Last edited by chollie; Oct 17, 2015 at 12:19 pm
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 2:02 am
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
Infrequent flyers seem more supportive of TSA theatrics.
I work with a lot of people who travel a lot. I don't hear the complaints about it. We have real jobs and important things to do.

The tin foil hat wearing anti-government types seem to be bothered by TSA though many don't even fly.

Frequent flyers get to skip a lot of what happens with security.
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Old Oct 27, 2015, 9:27 am
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Originally Posted by ou81two
I work with a lot of people who travel a lot. I don't hear the complaints about it. We have real jobs and important things to do.

The tin foil hat wearing anti-government types seem to be bothered by TSA though many don't even fly.

Frequent flyers get to skip a lot of what happens with security.

(bolding mine)

You have a 'real job' and 'important things to do' - so you don't work for TSA.

What exactly does that have to do with TSA checkpoints? Are you suggesting that anyone who has a bad checkpoint experience doesn't have a 'real job'? Or doesn't have 'important things to do'?

???

I am a frequent flyer. What do I get to skip? I am physically incapable of assuming and holding the position necessary for a good scan, so the majority of times that I transit the checkpoint, I am forced to undergo a full-body grope, generally out of sight of my belongings. Unlike you, I am not willing to be confrontational with government agencies (like telling CBP that the photo they just took might not satisfy TSA).
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