Getting to the airport at 5am on Monday mornings should be the least of our worries considering how hectic a traveling week can be. I was reminded of this after receiving an angry rant from a co-worker paraphrased as follows:
"I am *bleeep* fed up with taxis failing to show up on time. This morning I had to get my wife to drive me to the airport at 5am and I still ended up missing my flight. How hard is it to get decent *bleeep* taxi service in this city? Does anyone have a good referral for a RELIABLE car service?"
Car Service 1
Taxi Service 0
The truth is cab service can be unreliable, but there are better ways to remedy the situation than resorting to car service. I have nothing against car services, but I’ve met both good and bad cab drivers so I like to help them out as much as possible especially since many are struggling to make ends meet with gas prices so high.
Truth be known, I take a taxi to the airport every morning and I’ve been doing it for the past 2 years. It’s bad enough being stood up, but being stood up by a cabbie only to end up missing your flight and pro-longing a Monday morning commute, trapped in a crowded airport – that’s an experience I don’t wish upon any road warrior (even one who puts his carry-on AND his laptop bag into the overhead bin).
What I’ve done is found a good cab driver and given him the opportunity to make a steady weekly fare. All he needs to do is be at my front door at 5am every Monday morning without fail. I pay him the same fare every week and he always has my change ready to go. I don’t have to specifically arrange a ride for the morning – it’s a given unless I give him a call. A cab driver will go out of his way to be reliable if he/she can depend on a consistent stream of income. Most cab drivers know you will probably never meet again so being reliable is not essential to making money (although it usually helps with tips).
So my advice is find a cab driver with the following:
- A clean cab
- Doesn’t talk too much (I’m not a morning person)
- Is considerate with air conditioning and heating
- Always on time
- <Insert your personal requirements here>
Then offer the driver a steady fare and never have to worry about your Monday morning commute again. Just make sure you call your driver if you aren’t flying for the week - that’s just common courtesy.
Support the little guy and build up some good karma. May you always have a SAFE and QUICK morning commute.
There has been chatter about TSA and laptop manufacturers working together to create TSA-approved laptop bags for speeding up security checks. The idea is travelers could avoid removing laptop from TSA-approved laptop bags. The driving requirement is allowing clear access to the laptop as if it were separated in its own security bin. You can expect bags which roll-out flat to separate the laptop from the other items in your bag which may prevent an unobstructed view of the laptop. Targus and a few other vendors have already announced TSA-approved models which should be available in the coming months.
I don’t believe this will save time in the short run as travelers and TSA personnel get accustomed to an updated security process incorporating the new laptop bags. I can see inexperienced travelers taking a cue from travelers with TSA-approved bags and sending in their unapproved laptop bags. Expect additional questions from TSA personnel if a travelers fails to remove their laptop into a separate bin. In the long run things should speed things up if there are enough travelers who purchase TSA-approved bags and we work through a few iterations.
I plan to keep my Tumi. I’ve my security process down to an art. Have a happy Monday morning.
The DOT has released some figures regarding air travel delays during the busy summer travel season.
- John F Kennedy International (JFK) in New York was worst among North America’s 40 busiest airports, with les than 55% of flights arriving on-time
- LaGuardia (LGA), also in New York, was the 2nd worst with 58% on-time arrival rate
- Rounding out the NY trio was Newark International (EWR) with a 60% on-time arrival rate
- For reference, the average at all other major airports was 74%
- JetBlue was the worst performing airline in July with less than 70% on-time arrival rate
- American Airlines was worst in June, with only 58% on-time arrivals
So, if you plan your travel around avoiding delays, then next year consider flying to Salt Lake City (on Southwest Airlines). SLC had nearly an 86% on-time performance, and as usual Southwest was the major carrier with the best on-time performance. Here is the full report
In yet another round of travel issues with American Airlines this year (you may recall the issues with their MD-80 fleet), the world’s largest airline had to delay and cancel flights at New York’s JFK Airport due to malfunctioning software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt.
About 30 flights — of the 69 scheduled to depart from the airport Wednesday — have been delayed as of mid-afternoon by an hour to 90 minutes. The airline’s employees are sorting bags by hand and delivering them to the gates.
The airline is informing passengers that they can choose to fly without their bags and that it will deliver the delayed luggage "once the issue is resolved."
"We have brought in internal engineers and technicians from the system developer to conduct diagnostics," the Fort Worth-based carrier said in a statement. "We regret the inconvenience and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work through this issue. Though it is not our normal policy, we will be waiving first and second checked bag fees today."
This is what you’ll see today in American’s terminal at JFK:
American did say that it would waive the fees it charges to check a first and second bag on Wednesday. Perhaps now is time to consider saying goodbye to baggage claims and ship those bags direct to your destination.
For the 2nd time since the TSA implemented it’s "No-Fly" list, I found myself on the list of flyers prohibited from checking in because I present a potential threat to national security. True? Doubtful. Here are my travel credentials: 1K flier with United Mileage Plus, Gold Medallion status with Delta, Silver OnePass with Continental, Platinum with Marriott, etc. Have I painted a sufficient picture? Needless to say, the frequency of my travel should remove me from this list immediately.
The most interesting thing is that I was placed on the list within days of receiving clearance for the Fly Clear card. If you’re not familiar with this program, it requires a significant background check by the TSA, so you’d think it would be safe for me to get on an airplane. Needless to say, for about 2 months I was unable to check in online and had to be manually cleared for check-in before boarding every flight.
Want to avoid being on the list? Here are a few steps you can take
- Check Whether Your Name Appears on the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals List
- Check Your Credit Reports For OFAC Alerts
- Check Your Name for Terrorist Matches at S3 Matching Technologies’ TeraMatch
- Use the DHS TRIP Program to Resolve Appropriate Travel Related Issues
- Contact an Attorney, If You are Placed on a No Fly List in Error
- Get Up to Date Information
- Vote For Candidates Who Support Watchlist and Civil Rights Safeguards
My approach was to file a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security TRIP program (#4). This worked and now I’m free to check in online and fly the friendly(?) skies again.
Here are a few celebrities and unlikely terrorists that have also been detained: Nelson Mandela, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), US Rep. Don Young (D-AK), US Rep John Lewis (D-GA), singer Cat Stevens.
You can find the full text of the article here