In the airport in a locale in South Asia, I was told that no passenger is allowed to leave the terminal once allowed in, unless the flight is cancelled after entering. There have to be a lot of other exceptions, imaginably.

I have been thinking about this topic for a few weeks. For those who are familiar with me you know that I have a 5 year old son who loves to go to Newark Airport and spend the day plane spotting. We would ride the monorail, watch the planes, shop in the stores (toys, candy etc), eat lunch in the restaurants (esp. in Terminal C) and have snack in the CO Presdints Club.

We did this every other month or so and had a lot of fun. We always tried to combine this with another activity such as visiting the Statue of Liberty, going to my office to pick up something or see a client, or when I had to pick up grandma at the airport. We paid for parking, paid for meals and toys, tipped the bartender at the Pres Club and contributed to the airport's financial well being in a very positive way. In addition, by taking my son out I gave my wife a break so she could do other things. I have another son who is about to turn 2 next month and would probably start joining us soon on our airport runs. However, I have not gone to the airport since 9/11 but have thought about buying refundable tickets so we could visit but it is not worth the effort or hassle. I just feel bad for all the merchants who are losing lots of business because we can't get through security. And I feel bad my son can't plane watch because of the terrorists actions.

Which brings up an interesting idea. Wouldn't it be nice if the airport (or an airline for whom the airport is a hub) could sponsor "visits" like these? They can check you against any lists they have in advance. You can get a pass in advance so they will expect you to have no luggage. You'll be advised to leave anything metallic home. (You'll breeze through security.)

You can go to the airport and show that you still love planes. (I do. So do my son and daughter.)

I hear that airports are really suffering. Just like the efforts to visit NYC, this can be seen as patriotic.

Doppy -

if you use an AMEX card for your airline tickets, and for any reason get a refund, just call AMEX and tell them that you are "disputing the change pending a refund". AMEX will put a hold on that money, and not make you pay it. It also speeds up the process of getting your money back. Personally, I think they should have to refund the money within 24 hours, or the amount automatically goes up, just like res!

The purpose of the exercise is so that everyone has a ticket, and is therefore run through the computer and against the FBI "no-fly" list.

Even if you don't fly on the ticket, you're in the computer, which is what they want.

Assuming you buy an e-ticket, it's much easier to process the refund at home by phone than at the airport before the flight leaves.

Besides, people no-show on flights all the time. Airlines don't evacuate the plane and cargo hold because of no-shows.

I too would like to meet my rather fragile mother at the gate in DFW in a few weeks when she comes to visit me.
I read that there is an official way to be allowed in to meet a passenger (presumably with a good reason). Will comb the AA and Delta sites to see if there is anyhting offical on the topic.
My guess is that parents are somehow allowed in to pick up unaccompanied minors?

amazing nj, I enjoyed your post. Have you contacted CO or EWR officials to suggest this? I think this is a great idea, especially for school age kids who may have been (or still are) very frightened by what happened on September 11. People may say "yeah, right, that's all we need right now is a bunch of non passenger kids adding to the mess at the airports, etc etc".

Well, OK. But I still think this is a great thing to do with your kids or your students in cooperation with airport officials and perhaps the airlines. I would have loved a field trip to the airport as a little kid. It's never too early to learn about travel, security, airplanes, and all sorts of interesting stuff (including MILES!).

Get the airlines to do some clever marketing here to sponsor these sorts of visits - if they can't get the adults to fly again, maybe interested kids can. Good luck with this, amazing nj. I know your sons will appreciate this now and especially when they're older.

Back on topic: BooBooKitty, what airline is your mother flying? Why can't you ask the airline if they can facilitate you? Or the airport? Have you tried calling? Has anyone called about this? It seems like this would be the most straightforward way to get information on the topic before buying a ticket that won't be used and then hassling about the refund.

[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 11-11-2001).]

I have been contemplating this same idea for when my wife's parents come to visit us at Christmas. They are both in their 80's and very frail. I have been waiting for the airlines and the FAA to make a reasonable accommodation for this situation. Would certainly be willing to pay a $10 fee and have my identity checked to do it.

Interview with Ron Wilson, spokesman for SFO, on KCBS radio this morning. He said that airport revenues were expected to be down $100 million for the year ending 6/30/02. Also that concessions were down 40% compared to this time last year.

Seems to me that we've created a downward spiral for airport revenues by closing the concourses to visitors. Less parking revenue from meeters and greeters and less concession revenues mean less to spend on security improvments. Also an employee who could be screening bags or helping customers is stuck at the front of the line checking boarding passes.

The new International Terminal at SFO was designed for visitor access with many shops and restaurants located in the concourse area. Many were on thin ice before, I can't see them hanging on for much longer with many potential customers on the worng side of the checkpoint.

If we screen everyone, why restrict access?

Ted,

The problem now is probably not security - its getting people through the lines. The lines are already far too long now with the extra screening, so letting the visitors also join in could dramatically lengthen the time it takes to get through.

ff

People keep saying you can/should not put a price on security, but $100m here, $100m there and we are into the billions. Then you add in the loss of income and jobs by those that used to work at the airport, and then they can not pay the rent, then they are homeless, and yes there is a cost.

Why are we doing this? Why?

I flew out of LAX yesteday and my paperwork was studied by a DL agent before going up the escalator that goes to the security gate checkpoint. I am sure that she would have caught on to this trick as she took her time to examine everything.

The online itineraries at delta.com are ABSOLUTELY IDENTICAL whether or not you have actually purchased the ticket. And I know at least TWO people who have used this exact trick to get past security at LAX, so it obviously passes their scrutiny. However, as was pointed out, the purpose of the entire charade is to *screen* the names of the potential passengers against a watch list. This is accomplished whether or not you actually fly or even ticket your itinerary.

And you are not breaking any rules. The rule states that "ONLY TICKETED PERSONS" are allowed past security. Well, you bought a ticket, didn't you? That makes you ticketed.

To get past security at LAX you just need a copy of your e-receipt. The e-receipt needs to have a ticket number.