Domestic pax not allowed to access Int'l Concourse in BWI?
May 16, 2010, 2:57 pm
#1
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Domestic pax not allowed to access Int'l Concourse in BWI?
I'm now in BWI and just had some arguments with the TSA staff.
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
Dear TSA
I’m now in BWI Airport and had a very unpleasant experience with your staff in Concourse E at 4:10PM, today (May 16th).
I obtained my boarding passes from American Airlines in Concourse C, but tried to go into Concourse E to visit the Chesapeake Club, which is the only Club in BWI. I have done that in December, 2009 and again in March. My parents have also done that in August, 2009. We had never experienced any difficulty. However, today I was told by your staff in Concourse E that only international passengers are allowed to enter Concourse E. Since most airports do not even separate domestic and international departure areas, and going through securities does not involve going through customs, what he said really puzzled me. I then ask him if he could show me where this rule came from, since I have done that before and was never told so, but he refused to show me where the rule came from. He then told me that every airport is different, and that this is a BWI-specific rule. Finally, I asked for his name, but he again refused, which in my understanding should not be acceptable. I did see on his name tag something that might spells “Gruz.”
Please clarify if BWI has this specific rule prohibiting domestic passengers from accessing Concourse E, and whether or not your staffs are allowed to refuse showing their names and rules when a passenger asked for them.
Thank you very much!
Sincerely yours,
(My full name)
I’m now in BWI Airport and had a very unpleasant experience with your staff in Concourse E at 4:10PM, today (May 16th).
I obtained my boarding passes from American Airlines in Concourse C, but tried to go into Concourse E to visit the Chesapeake Club, which is the only Club in BWI. I have done that in December, 2009 and again in March. My parents have also done that in August, 2009. We had never experienced any difficulty. However, today I was told by your staff in Concourse E that only international passengers are allowed to enter Concourse E. Since most airports do not even separate domestic and international departure areas, and going through securities does not involve going through customs, what he said really puzzled me. I then ask him if he could show me where this rule came from, since I have done that before and was never told so, but he refused to show me where the rule came from. He then told me that every airport is different, and that this is a BWI-specific rule. Finally, I asked for his name, but he again refused, which in my understanding should not be acceptable. I did see on his name tag something that might spells “Gruz.”
Please clarify if BWI has this specific rule prohibiting domestic passengers from accessing Concourse E, and whether or not your staffs are allowed to refuse showing their names and rules when a passenger asked for them.
Thank you very much!
Sincerely yours,
(My full name)
Thanks!
May 16, 2010, 3:43 pm
#2
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I'm now in BWI and just had some arguments with the TSA staff.
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
Send your complaint, questions and observations to:
* BWI Airport Contact
7062 Friendship Rd
Baltimore, MD 21240
United States
Phone: 4108597111
Email: [email protected]
Website for Baltimore Marshall Airport: http://www.bwiairport.com
Last edited by AngryMiller; May 16, 2010 at 3:50 pm Reason: added contact information
May 16, 2010, 3:56 pm
#3
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I'm now in BWI and just had some arguments with the TSA staff.
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
May 16, 2010, 5:48 pm
#4
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May 16, 2010, 6:08 pm
#5
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There is not easy answer to this. Almost every airport has difrerent layouts
as to what concessions are pre-security, or which ones are in different terminal areas and what access you have. The same applies to airline clubs too.
After 9-11, the hard rule was you must have a same-day to be screened to entered a secured area in a airport. You have a same day ticket but you want to entered a different terminal/concourse to visit a particular restaurant.
Some airports will let you, some won't. I can give you an example of something that happended today at CMH. The only airport Starbucks is on the A concourse. Someone with a ticket to a different concourse wanted to enter A to go to Starbucks and they let her get screened and go there. It was not very busy at the time so this may have helped.
as to what concessions are pre-security, or which ones are in different terminal areas and what access you have. The same applies to airline clubs too.
After 9-11, the hard rule was you must have a same-day to be screened to entered a secured area in a airport. You have a same day ticket but you want to entered a different terminal/concourse to visit a particular restaurant.
Some airports will let you, some won't. I can give you an example of something that happended today at CMH. The only airport Starbucks is on the A concourse. Someone with a ticket to a different concourse wanted to enter A to go to Starbucks and they let her get screened and go there. It was not very busy at the time so this may have helped.
May 16, 2010, 6:11 pm
#6
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There is not easy answer to this. Almost every airport has difrerent layouts
as to what concessions are pre-security, or which ones are in different terminal areas and what access you have. The same applies to airline clubs too.
After 9-11, the hard rule was you must have a same-day to be screened to entered a secured area in a airport. You have a same day ticket but you want to entered a different terminal/concourse to visit a particular restaurant.
Some airports will let you, some won't. I can give you an example of something that happended today at CMH. The only airport Starbucks is on the A concourse. Someone with a ticket to a different concourse wanted to enter A to go to Starbucks and they let her get screened and go there. It was not very busy at the time so this may have helped.
as to what concessions are pre-security, or which ones are in different terminal areas and what access you have. The same applies to airline clubs too.
After 9-11, the hard rule was you must have a same-day to be screened to entered a secured area in a airport. You have a same day ticket but you want to entered a different terminal/concourse to visit a particular restaurant.
Some airports will let you, some won't. I can give you an example of something that happended today at CMH. The only airport Starbucks is on the A concourse. Someone with a ticket to a different concourse wanted to enter A to go to Starbucks and they let her get screened and go there. It was not very busy at the time so this may have helped.
May 16, 2010, 9:12 pm
#7
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Don't waste time with the TSA - and this should have been escalated on the spot by demanding a supervisor, and escalating above the supervisor if they refused as well.
Contact the Airport Director's Office yourself, clarify the AIRPORT policy (no one cares what the TSA policy is because they shouldn't have one on this issue), and if the Airport policy allows you to access that concourse, ask they instruct the FSD to make sure their screening staff are aware of this.
Contact the Airport Director's Office yourself, clarify the AIRPORT policy (no one cares what the TSA policy is because they shouldn't have one on this issue), and if the Airport policy allows you to access that concourse, ask they instruct the FSD to make sure their screening staff are aware of this.
May 16, 2010, 10:12 pm
#8
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Don't waste time with the TSA - and this should have been escalated on the spot by demanding a supervisor, and escalating above the supervisor if they refused as well.
Contact the Airport Director's Office yourself, clarify the AIRPORT policy (no one cares what the TSA policy is because they shouldn't have one on this issue), and if the Airport policy allows you to access that concourse, ask they instruct the FSD to make sure their screening staff are aware of this.
Contact the Airport Director's Office yourself, clarify the AIRPORT policy (no one cares what the TSA policy is because they shouldn't have one on this issue), and if the Airport policy allows you to access that concourse, ask they instruct the FSD to make sure their screening staff are aware of this.
May 17, 2010, 9:04 am
#10
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The quote is accurate too; I got to the DL Sky Club at MCO with a UA boarding pass. The official TSA Travel document checker asked if I was going to meet someone at that airside, when I said, no, I was going to the Crown Room, she said, much like the bridge checker in Monty Python and The Holy Grail; "You may Paaaaassss" 
May 17, 2010, 9:59 am
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May 17, 2010, 10:14 am
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May 17, 2010, 10:37 am
#13
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My response to the TSO's question would have been to suggest that it was none of her business what I was going to do. TSA's requirements are same-day ticket, and those were fulfilled. It's bad enough that they feel justified in checking ID and boarding pass to begin with.
May 17, 2010, 10:52 am
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I'm now in BWI and just had some arguments with the TSA staff.
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
I sent an email to [email protected]. While waiting for their reply, I'd also like to know how you guys think?
Below is the email sent to TSA:
By the way, does anyone know how long it takes TSA to reply this kind of message. Their website says "prompt" but I don't know how quickly "prompt" is.
Thanks!
Don't expect a response - ever. Not from TSA, not from the airport. BTDT.
My complaint was treatment going through the C concourse checkpoint - at that checkpoint, they ripped my bag (refused to let me tell them how to open it), the screener and the supe refused to provide the screeners name, and the supe refused to provide the name of the FSD or a complaint form.
Made it clear that TSA line personnel are "Gods".
I found the name of the FSD and the airport manager - wrote to both along with the TSA customer service.
No response was ever received from any of them.
May 17, 2010, 10:58 am
#15
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That sounds like the typical BWI power trip.
Don't expect a response - ever. Not from TSA, not from the airport. BTDT.
My complaint was treatment going through the C concourse checkpoint - at that checkpoint, they ripped my bag (refused to let me tell them how to open it), the screener and the supe refused to provide the screeners name, and the supe refused to provide the name of the FSD or a complaint form.
Made it clear that TSA line personnel are "Gods".
I found the name of the FSD and the airport manager - wrote to both along with the TSA customer service.
No response was ever received from any of them.
Don't expect a response - ever. Not from TSA, not from the airport. BTDT.
My complaint was treatment going through the C concourse checkpoint - at that checkpoint, they ripped my bag (refused to let me tell them how to open it), the screener and the supe refused to provide the screeners name, and the supe refused to provide the name of the FSD or a complaint form.
Made it clear that TSA line personnel are "Gods".
I found the name of the FSD and the airport manager - wrote to both along with the TSA customer service.
No response was ever received from any of them.
Not sure what small claims costs there, but assuming it's about $50+serving costs, that would have been money well spent just to get their attention, force a response and make the screener wet their pants when the process server knocked on their door.