McGhee Tyson question

[SarahSal]

We love flying out of the Knoxville airport, which we do several times a year. Our destination is Mexico and we easily fly to Houston then one flight more to the Pacific coast. Tyson/McGhee folks are generally very friendly and helpful and it's such an attractive, almost homey airport! We normally spend the night at an airport hotel, get the shuttle in the morning and leave our car in the motel lot (left it there for up to a month w/ no charge). It's an almost effortless system and works really well for us.

We actually live only 30 minutes from the TRI, a nice airport, too BUT the only other way to get where we need to go from the TRI is through the dreaded Atlanta airport, which we have avoided since our last experience there. We dislike that airport *intensely* - rude people and just a whole array of holdups with customs and immigration when flying internationally. The last time we flew in with our two dogs from Mexico, it took us almost three hours to retrieve them; not to mention the arrogant Homeland Security guy who gave me an extremely hard time as I waited by the big cargo door for their cages to be unloaded. Lots of questions - why was I standing there (in a perfectly legal spot by baggage claim) when was the last time they had eaten - was their food brought in from Mexico (duh). When I got just a *little* concerned at why he was questioning me (obviously an older grandmother) he asked me if I really wanted to go to 'secondary' - the dreaded place where suspected illegals and drug people are sent! My husband saved the day by calmly explaining I was just worried about the health of our older dogs (it was June and hot). After escaping that situation we had to go through the agriculture (?) line, then immigration, then customs - then through another security checkpoint; shoes removed, baggage checked again just to get out of the airport to our rental car! At one point they said we had to give up the dogs again but we'd get them back in about 15 minutes. Well, an hour and a half later, after standing at the appropriate door waiting and occasionally asking where they were, we finally saw our dogs' cages when the door opened. But still had to wait 15 minutes more to get someone to even stop and listen to why we were waiting there! Atlanta - never again..

So, obviously from our point of view, we would highly recommend Knoxville to Houston for international flights -fewer worries about delays caused by winter weather and just a much smoother, friendly operation.

[ArcticPhoenix]

Originally Posted by SmokyMtnGal

Scratching head here Arctic, contradiction in bold above? Also, I had an experience with a TSA person at Boston and I had a purse, laptop bag and another shoulder bag. She said only one personal bag and one carry-on. So, I put my purse in my shoulder bag. However, if the TSA doesn't set those carry-on rules why would they care how many bags are carried through? If the airlines set the rules does TSA keep up with the rules? The agent I came across sure seemed to behave as if it was TSA's rule and the little signs in the airport at the TSA checkpoint kind of gave that same impression.

FYI, since I last posted: I was recently on American and they also charge the $15 per checked bag fee up to 50#.

I agree on Cincy, Charlotte and Atlanta. Of course, you have to go through Atlanta to get to heaven or hell so the saying goes.

Short answer: The airlines want us to help them out... and, depending on who comes down on us (our manager[s] or the airline managers), we may or may not enforce the airline's rule regarding carry-ons...

Our management, for example, had us enforcing that for about a week or two and I gave up on it and refused to enforce it, as it was not per our SOP. But I'm a rebel.