Interesting article in USA Today this morning on security lines for elites. Not sure if this is the right place to post. (Did a search, and nothing came up) Moderator -- please move if not in the right spot!

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USA TODAY
August 29, 2006

Elite security lines bug some but not others
Link to USA Today Article
By Dan Reed

VIP security lines may violate the egalitarian sensibilities of some Americans, but they've become a permanent fixture of post-9/11 air travel. Now they're generating more debate as travelers fret about extended airport wait times after the thwarted London bomb plot.

The two-tiered treatment of passengers at the checkpoints is also an element in the debate over the government's pending expansion of the Registered Traveler program. That's the program in which travelers can pay a fee � about $100 � and submit to a background check to use separate, faster checkpoints.

The new home of this thread is the Travel Safety/Security forum, as it has nothing to do with Delta Air Lines or the SkyMiles frequent flier program.

Regards,

Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Delta forum

It drives me crazy when I read drivel like this:

Some facts:

1) Southwest placed in the top 5 for "elite program of the year" in the Freddies this past year; the main benefit is the Companion Pass
2) At PDX, members of Southwest's FF program can use the elite line, while non-members cannot
3) Passengers who buy full-fare tickets are allowed to fly standby, while those who do not are not allowed

Need I go on? There's nothing "single-class" about Southwest except the cabin itself.

Not to mention the drink coupons...

Last paragraph...

"But Smith thinks he has a better idea of how to organize the checkpoint lines: "If they just had different lines for people based on how soon their flight is leaving, it would work so much smoother."

So of course, everyone arrives just 30 minutes prior to departure and that line extends around the block

Man, I wonder if these people ever hear themselves talk

I guess it does work. I have seen my quota of young girls sobbing their way to the front of the queue.

I'm not denying it might work. But what if every person in front of the sobbing girls had the same tight flight to catch because we adopted Mr. Smith's brilliant idea of forming lines by time of departure?

"It's the travelers who don't fly often who take awhile to get through. They are bringing everything but the kitchen sink."

This in my view is the main reason for elite lines...The occasional traveler who can't read any of the signs or listen to any of the announcements about what can and cannot be brought through security. And has no ability to remove metal/laptop/shoes/jacket etc. in a timely fashion.

Your typical FF knows how to get through the checkpoint quickly and efficiently (except when some TSA employee decides to enforce some made up rule).

Meant it as a pun. The unwritten law states that the minute you start sobbing, a new set of rules open up.

It brings to mind this thread I started a few months ago:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ferrerid=16109

These are the same whiners who scowl at me in the check in line....

"why is he so special?"

My reply,

1st, my ticket was more than 79 bucks round trip to LAX from ATL
2nd, I spend more with these guys in a month than you will in a lifetime
3rd, I don't want to be here and they know it

The Registered Traveller Program is nothing but a big scam. So I give up a bunch of personal info, pay $100, and get to stand in a shorter line, but still have to take my shoes off, etc? What a crock.

I can stand in a shorter line as an elite at most of the airports I travel through. I don't need registered traveller.

Well said. The process does not seem to resolving the issue, rather trying to make money out of it year after year. $100 to be in a shorter queue and get into some private contractor's database for the rest of your life.

I'm anti-egalitarian.
Want to make lines go faster? Have all travelers who have not traveled in the last 24 months go through a single line. Whoosh. Make all of those who are not ready when they get to the x-ray transfer to that line, and......

Uh-huh! So let's see...the line for flights leaving in 6 hours is kinda short (as one would expect). My flight is leaving in 15 minutes, and that line is very long. I'll go down to that very short 6-hour line and go through sooner. I'm clever!

Pretty soon all the lines are the same length again!

Bruce