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-   Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/checkpoints-borders-policy-debate-687/)
-   -   Flex? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/checkpoints-borders-policy-debate/1351754-flex.html)

mahohmei May 31, 2012 8:49 am

Flex?
 
TLH is now getting Flex:

http://www.go-flex.com/

It appears to be nothing more than a way to pay your way to the front of the TDC line; nothing more, unlike TSA PreCheck.

I find it odd that TLH would even try to attract such a program, since there's never a line at the TDC. The line only builds up between the TDC and WTMD/NoS/bag X-ray, and that line is always small enough you can count the people on your fingers.

Anyone ever used Flex? I could imagine it being useful when you're not using a PreCheck airline and the pre-TDC line is hours long...

Ari May 31, 2012 2:30 pm

Another Clear.

:td:

Ysitincoach May 31, 2012 3:19 pm

This reads nothing like CLEAR or PreCheck.

This reads like a gimmick to scam people to buy access to the front of TDC. Nothing to do with TSA, more the airport authority selling access to the front of TDC.

Ever been to TLH or JAX? They have some of the most minimal lines I've ever experienced in all my travels. Seems very odd.

Folks would be better off getting an airline's credit card that offers premium security lane access. At least that way it could be used at more airports.

mahohmei May 31, 2012 3:59 pm

TLH is my home airport; I live 16 miles away. I've joked that the only thing missing from TLH is tumbleweeds. In April 2012, TLH had 56,656 passengers, down from 83,358 in April 2006. I have witnessed this firsthand--before 9/11, I remember TLH being pretty lively, and since then, I've watched it get more and more empty. Today, six of the 14 gates are mothballed, but that might have more to do with the fact that they're stairs down to the apron with no jet bridge.

While I place a lot of the blame on the TSA, you'll never hear that from the City of Tallahassee.

A common complaint about TLH is high airfares vs. JAX. Every time my wife and I take a flight, we check fares out of JAX, and using $0.50/mile for driving plus possibly a hotel the night before departure, it's never worth it.

But back to the Flex thing...yeah...I could not justify paying $20 to skip the line to the TDC, especially since there's no line to begin with. I can imagine most Flex clients being:

- Local self-proclaimed VIPs and DYKWIAs who use TLH frequently and want to feel important.

- The types of people who enjoy the rush of arriving at the airport 20 minutes before departure.

- People from out of down who are using the airport for the first time, and think there might be a long line. I haven't been to JAX since 1998, and I could imagine myself getting it if I was flying out of JAX, as I don't know how long the TDC lines are there.

JoeBas May 31, 2012 4:04 pm

Don't forget:

- Boosters who have lots of money and fly in/out every Football Weekend.

mahohmei May 31, 2012 4:07 pm


Originally Posted by JoeBas (Post 18675832)
Don't forget:

- Boosters who have lots of money and fly in/out every Football Weekend.

That falls under self-proclaimed VIPs and DYKWIAs. :-)

JoeBas May 31, 2012 4:09 pm

But if they're flying in from MIA/ATL/NEW every game weekend, they're not LOCAL, are they? ;)

mahohmei May 31, 2012 4:18 pm


Originally Posted by JoeBas (Post 18675859)
But if they're flying in from MIA/ATL/NEW every game weekend, they're not LOCAL, are they? ;)

Good point; got me on the technicality. :-D


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