The Luggage Blog

The Transport Security Administration (TSA) has launched a new program called Secure Flight that aims to better protect you.

So what does this mean for you? When ever booking a flight traveling to, from or within the United States TSA will be double checking your information against your Official Government Issued ID or Passport. Basically this means that the full name, gender, and date of birth you use to book your flight must match your ID and or Passport.

The following Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) will be required when making a reservation:

• Name as it appears on government-issued I.D. when traveling
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Redress Number (if available)

Why are they doing this? SecureFlight serves to prevent individuals on the No Fly List from boarding an aircraft and to identify individuals on the Selectee List for enhanced screening. After matching passenger information against government watch lists, Secure Flight transmits the matching results back to airlines.

If your planning any upcoming flights, be sure to double check everything matches prior to booking to ensure a hassle-free flight.

Seasoned fliers know the drill: take off your shoes, dump the latte, and whip out that quart sized bag of liquids. Now, thanks to the TSA, those traveling with a laptop can keep it inside of their bag. In an effort to streamline the security process and reduce damage to and loss of laptops, the TSA called upon manufacturers to create bags that provide a clear and unobstructed view of the laptop for x-ray screening. Several producers of briefcases and travel goods answered that call and checkpoint friendly laptop bags have hit the market.

Tumi, the leader in luggage and briefcases, added a checkpoint friendly bag to their Alpha Series of business cases. The Tumi T-Pass Medium Capacity Laptop Brief features a split-opening panel along the back of the bag. It also includes foam blocks for accommodating smaller laptops. Briggs and Riley’s appropriately called, 17in. Speed Thru™ Case, uses a clam shell design to house the SpeedThru™ pocket. The laptop section features an orange lining, so you can easily tell that it is open. For a smaller version, look to Codi’s Checkpoint Friendly Laptop Case. Also making use of the clam shell design, one side is a dedicated compartment for the laptop; the other provides additional space for files and accessories.

While the TSA still reserves the right to ask passengers to remove their laptop from its case, any of these briefcases- with specially designed compartments-improves your chances of zipping through security lines.

Visit tsa.gov for more information regarding TSA’s laptop bag procedures.

Aside from airline fees, one of the top complaints traveler’s have lately is the amount of time it takes to get through security.  The TSA has tried to address this issue by implementing self-regulated lanes designed for different types of travelers.  The only downside to system where each passenger decides their level of expertise is that people may tend to chose whatever line they think will be quickest, regardless of how often they travel… leaving the people who actually DO travel often stuck waiting behind someone less prepared (as usual).

A few airlines are taking matters into their own hands and plan to provide special priority lines to their frequent travelers.  American Airlines announced last week that they’re starting their Priority Access, giving their top customers dedicated security and boarding lines to speed up their trip.  Today Southwest Airlines announced Fly By,  which will provide a priority security lane to Business Select and Rapid Reward A-List customers.  Both programs are said to begin sometime in late October.  This sounds like great news for frequent travelers who are sick of getting held up in long lines.  While we’re not sure how TSA policies play into this, we suspect you’ll still have to remove your shoes.  But at least the people in line with you know the drill and are probably wearing slip-ons.

Southwest Airlines Introduces Priority Security Lanes at Select Airports
American Airlines Adds Airport Perks for Top Travelers

Photo by Ingorr

Packing to Avoid Airline Fees & Stress

• Pre-Packing Tips
  
• Packing tips for guys
• When packing for two seasons, how can I avoid airline baggage fees?

Frequent Fliers

• Signs That You Travel Too Much
• What it’s like to be a Flight Attendant

Airport Security

• New TSA Uniforms cost taxpayers $12 million
• Congress questions why TSA agents are no longer screened
• US Develops Mind Reading Airport Screening Device

Photo by Andrew Currie

The road to hell is paved on MALINTENT

Our good friends from the Department for Homeland Security are developing a system that will monitor various responses from travelers and determine whether or not they may be suspicious or have criminal intent.  The TSA already employs methods of psychological and behavioral screening, which they claim to be quite successful… but it’s done by actual trained human beings.  The MALINTENT device has the ability to detect subtle facial movements as well as body temperature, heart rate and respiration.  While a human being may overlook slight changes in a persons physiology, the device will always detect it.  The makers of the device also claim that it can differentiate between a stressed passenger and a malicious terrorist.

Project leader Bob Burns said:

“If you focus on looking at the person, you don’t have to worry about detecting the device itself… It analyses you against baseline stats when you walk in the door, it measures reactions and variations when you approach and go through the portal.”

Personally, I find the implications of that statement rather unsettling.  Rather than looking for harmful devices and dangerous situations, we would be relying on the device to find people who are untrustworthy and up to no good… potentially arresting the nervous hoodlum teenager and missing the deranged sociopath who’s able to walk through without displaying any sign of “malintent”.  Perhaps that conclusion is a bit extreme, but isn’t the point of all of our aviation abuse to take zero risks and avoid every possible negative situation?

The goal of MALINTENT is to avoid long lines and abolish the dreaded liquid bans.  But there are less invasive means of dealing with the issue of liquids and bombs, such as using devices that test liquids for explosives.  Even the TSA is attempting to test different methods of detecting bombs hidden in shoes.

The intentions of the developers of this technology seem to be based on good notions, but can we afford to continue to let the government push the envelope on exploitative technology in order to keep us safe?  Especially when it becomes a replacement for training and common sense and the people doing the screening are exempt from their own rules? I’m reminded of a phrase that I think the creators of MALINTENT may have missed…

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Sky News

Removing your shoes is probably one of the worst parts of flying lately.  (Well, that is, assuming you don’t having any piercings, an underwire bra, homebrew batteries, a macbook air, or metal implants—you get the idea!)  As hard as it can be to take the TSA’s word for anything, they have stressed in the past that screening shoes is incredibly important because it’s effective in detecting explosives.  So like it or not taking off our shoes is something we have to deal with, but maybe not indefinitely.  The TSA is testing a new shoe scanner which was developed by L3 communications (the same company that developed the notorious full body scanning millemeter wave machine) at Los Angeles International Airport.  Whether or not the new scanner will prove to be an adequate means of detecting bombs is still up in the air.  This isn’t the first time that the TSA has tried technology like this before to no avail.  Hopefully this time we won’t be left with dashed hopes and bare feet.