Recently, I had the opportunity to pass through an airport security checkpoint through the TSA Pre✓ line even though I never signed up for it. I did not have to remove my bag of liquids or take off my shoes. The agents were friendly and polite. This was by far the quickest, easiest and most civilized passage through an airport security checkpoint for me since before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The experience at airport security checkpoints in the United States should always be similar to this particular experience for me.
However, I do not believe that frequent travelers should have to pay or register for this privilege. It should automatically be a benefit as part of elite membership status in a frequent flier loyalty program.
In general, I would say that with its inconsistent policies, the Transportation Security Administration has little effectiveness on the implementation of airport and airline security overall. It is a bloated federal agency which needs a significant reduction in agents, and those agents who remain should be qualified to perform proper security measures at airport security checkpoints which mitigate the inconvenience to passengers as much as possible.
I have other opinions and thoughts, but I will leave them for other FlyerTalk members to post in this discussion...
You DO realize that by posting that link here you have ended any possibility of it being an unbiased (and therefore accurate) survey, right?
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You DO realize that by posting that link here you have ended any possibility of it being an unbiased (and therefore accurate) survey, right?
The number of FlyerTalk members responding to the survey was small enoiugh so that it did not influence the final results (which will be published within the next few days).
The survey takers had to provide significant demographic info on themselves or the survey didn't count and the people who took the survey are definitely among the most frequent of frequent fliers.
This is in contrast to the Gallup poll, where half of the people taking the survey hadn't crossed through a TSA checkpoint in the past 12 months.
Please click here for the article and poll results. <-- This link will not be activated until the results are released.
...and — as promised — here are the results of the 1,852 people who participated in the survey — conducted by Frequent Business Traveler magazine in conjunction with FlyerTalk, the largest Internet travel community in the world.
Approximately 91 percent of the survey participants indicated that they believe the Transportation Security Administration is doing either a fair or poor job of managing security screenings at domestic airports in the United States.
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Interestingly anodyne.
The results might have been different if nationality was factored in.
We Brits invented queues/lines, you know
And we regard TSA, CBP and the rest as 'just one of those things the Americans do', without getting over-heated about the subject.
Anyway, I'm heading back there next week on vacation, so I haven't been put off yet.
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I have to agree with Travis and also add that it really shouldn't matter what we think of TSA just like it shouldn't matter if we like the police or firefighters. Their popularity is not at issue. And lay people really aren't qualified to make gut judgements on effectiveness. What we might deem to be security theater might very well be something else.
I received a parking ticket the other day from a motorcycle cop. You bet I would rate motorcycle cops ineffective in a survey. But that's not really relevant.
We have to stop treating everything like a popularity contest. Not everything gets to have constant public condemnation just because it's inconvenient. I don't like going trough TSA anymore then anyone else. I've experiences inconsistencies just as much as anyone else. But think of it another way - if you are a criminal and TSA is always doing everything the same way every single time, then it would be very easy to beat the system.
Nothing is perfect. Let's gives these men and women and break and focus on the management.
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Nonsense. Let's look at TSA's effectiveness. In over a decade, they have caught exactly zero terrorists. Sure, they've caught people carrying drugs and using fake IDs, but so what? Was TSA created to do that? And to spend $8 billion annually for that? Of course not!
The TSA is a colossal waste of our tax dollars. It's a huge collection of thugs and thieves who abuse the traveling public for no benefit at all. The agency is hopeless and needs to be abolished. Nothing less will do. It cannot be reformed.
I have to agree with Travis and also add that it really shouldn't matter what we think of TSA just like it shouldn't matter if we like the police or firefighters. Their popularity is not at issue. And lay people really aren't qualified to make gut judgements on effectiveness. What we might deem to be security theater might very well be something else.
Larry, many, many people on this board cannot be described as "lay people" - there are highly qualified specialists in many fields who post here.
The waste of time and money to test for non-existent substances is theater. Waving test strips over drinks in the "sterile area" is pure theater. The shoe carnival is theater. (I returned from Europe a couple of weeks ago ... three countries, never removed my shoes once. Haven't heard of any aircraft falling from the sky in Europe, have you?) The ID game is theater. To say nothing of the easily beaten body scanners, the dangers of BSXR and the inanity of the BDO program - which is ridiculed by the entire scientific community.
Quote:
Originally Posted by larry91403
We have to stop treating everything like a popularity contest. Not everything gets to have constant public condemnation just because it's inconvenient. I don't like going trough TSA anymore then anyone else. I've experiences inconsistencies just as much as anyone else. But think of it another way - if you are a criminal and TSA is always doing everything the same way every single time, then it would be very easy to beat the system.
It's already easy to beat the system; the more complex a system is (and heaven knows, the TSA system is needlessly and ludicrously complex), the easier it is to beat it. It isn't a question of popularity or convenience. I don't think anyone here objects to effective security checkpoints. In the case of TSA-run checkpoints, it's a question of ineffectiveness, a monumental waste of taxpayer dollars and the gradual erosion of the rights upon which this country was founded.
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
~~ Irish
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The TSA is a colossal waste of our tax dollars. It's a huge collection of thugs and thieves who abuse the traveling public for no benefit at all. The agency is hopeless and needs to be abolished. Nothing less will do. It cannot be reformed.
Bruce
True. I recently booked a multi sector trip through the US via a travel agent in part to avoid as much of the 9/11 security fee as possible. Paid only $10. Had I booked it online, I would have been forced to book it as 4 returns and pay $30.
Just flew from ATL in the "Expert Traveler" Lane. When I asked to opt out of the full body scan (per doctor's orders), TSA agent was visibly annoyed and at once proceeded to tell me all the horrors of what this entailed ("pat down", additional screening.. etc.) I told him I was familiar with this and waited for "female assist". Then about 10 people went through metal detector because full body scanner resets itself every 45 minutes. TSA agent informs me that if I had waited a few minutes, I wouldn't have had to go through pat down. After watching all the people go through and my computer, purse, wallet all at the end of the line now, I asked if I could keep my eye on my valuables. TSA agent said "NO! that's the price you pay to OPT OUT". So I suppose we are punished if we are medically unable to go through the body scan....not my best ATL/TSA experience.
