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Not every passenger. I don't feel like a criminal, and I've never had a problem with TSA employees.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kim in FL
Me either. I will agree that some airports have nicer TSA agents but they’re not rude
Same. They're like anyone else with a mix of personalities, some are friendlier than others. Some seem almost robotic repeating the same thing over and over, others take time to joke around bit with passengers, some do talk down to people a bit but I take that in perspective they are encountering people not following the rules on the signs above a thousand times per day.
I find the notion that TSA is only hiring rude and insensitive people absurd.
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Location: Great Britain
27,163 posts, read 13,449,232 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina
I fly to Europe frequently and in MY observation the pat-down there is way LESS intrusive than in the US, where every passenger pretty much feels like a criminal and it seems that the TSA is only hiring rude and insensitive people.
If you fly inland, like from one EU country to another - there is a very minimal security check, if any. Most checks are done when you fly to the US. There must be some sort of agreement to make the checks very strict.
Every time I arrive in the EU, I just go through a pass control, get my luggage and walk out the airport. No one cares what's in my luggage either.
I totally agree.
Europe tends to use scanners and they will only do further searches if they are not happy with the scan results.
I also agree that there's a big difference between short and medium haul flights in Europe and fights outside of Europe that are long haul such as transatlantic flight.
BTW, patdowns are not the same everywhere and just because you found yours to be not a big deal doesn't mean others would feel the same.
I'm a frequent traveler and have been through security in many (perhaps most?) of the major airports. I've not noticed a significant difference anywhere. All the patdowns (which I frequently got before precheck because something in my left knee was always flagged on the scan) were pretty much the same.
My wife and I fly domestic and international often and haven't had the pat down in years. TSA Precheck/ Global Entry eliminated them for us. We fly though U.S. security/customs without any problems and have never had a issue overseas, though realize we've been lucky.
I was just going to suggest this, too. It will help eliminate some of the hassle. Also, since OP has buckets of money, he can fly first class, which will make the experience better too.
OP mentioned a trip to Israel. I know they have an extra security checkpoint, after you get through ours, so I’m not sure what that is like.
The trend line of my flight activity has gone from a downward spiral to a flatline...no pulse.
I used to think flying was exciting and fun, but now I have not flown in 2 years, and do not have any plans to fly commercial again. I'm trying never to say never.
For now, if I can't drive there, I don't go.
My wife just returned from Europe, and she was horrified with her public pat down, and said next time she will take them up on their offer of a private room pat down. It was that tactile and humiliating right out in public. She said she felt publicly molested, and humiliated. She said it was MUCH more than a pat down.
She's flying to Israel in the Spring, so I told her to expect worse, but I think she'll still go.
I could not stand to see my wife treated that way. I would have to look away.
She travels with girlfriends now since I stopped flying. I drop her off outside the airport, I don't even want to step inside, or take her to the gate.
I can't get excited about cruises either, but perhaps when I'm older I'll change my mind. I feel like I'm to young for that. Are there cruises for middle aged travelers?
So, what the heck am I doing here? On a travel discussion forum? I guess I'd like to be convinced that its all worth it. The cost, the danger, the hassle, the wasted time, the humiliation, the horrible treatment, potentially being held hostage by an airline within an airplane on a tarmac somewhere w/o any rights whatsoever to deplane. Getting sick from breathing the same air as 200+ other people.
Why do you do it? Am I alone? Obviously, you think its worth it.
I'm 59, retired, top 2%'er. Plenty of money to go wherever I'd like, but I just can't get myself motivated enough by any destination to get onto a commerical airliner. This is the time when I'm supposed to be traveling the World.
I've looked into chartering a private jet, from a local small local airport, but even a short 2.5 hour trip was like $5,000 each way per person. I could afford $20,000 for my wife and I to fly private from Florida to Maine and back next Summer, but that's a lot of money, even for us. I realize we'd still need to go through security, but we've heard its NOTHING like what they put you through in a major airport.
I've been on a Greyhound bus before...never again. Takes forever and the people on busses are
Is there anyway to get the cost of a private jet down? Can you share the ride with others to reduce the cost a bit? If I could fly to Maine and back with my wife on a shared private jet from a small local airport for $10k, I'd likely pop for it. I don't have any affluent friends that would spend that kind of cash to avoid the commercial flying scene.
Are there smaller more intimate cruises with <100 people that depart from Florida?
Are there high-end express busses with sleeping bays, & wifi for domestic travel?
Any thoughts or ideas? Alternatives? Should I go tell this all to a travel agent?
TSA PreCheck or just enjoy the drive. Don't even have to take off your shoes. I have no needs to travel internationally, and would just stop traveling to those destinations.
After all those years of flying most weeks for business, the 4 or 5 leisure trips I take per year are pretty painless. I did get pretty cranky a couple weeks ago at the huge line for passport control at Boston/Logan after a delayed connection in Munich and the 8 hour transatlantic flight. Probably 500 people ahead of us for the kiosks and then a 15 minute queue to talk to one of the few customs/boarder patrol guys who hadn't been shipped out to guard Trump's Wall. Welcome home.
I don't get it. A 2%er can buy a first class seat and avoid the worst of it. If you're getting a pat-down, you're a moron who isn't TSA Pre and you probably had something in your pockets that kicked you out of the scanner. I can't remember the last time I had a pat-down. I don't wear anything when I travel with metal in it.
The trend line of my flight activity has gone from a downward spiral to a flatline...no pulse.
I used to think flying was exciting and fun, but now I have not flown in 2 years, and do not have any plans to fly commercial again. I'm trying never to say never.
For now, if I can't drive there, I don't go.
My wife just returned from Europe, and she was horrified with her public pat down, and said next time she will take them up on their offer of a private room pat down. It was that tactile and humiliating right out in public. She said she felt publicly molested, and humiliated. She said it was MUCH more than a pat down.
She's flying to Israel in the Spring, so I told her to expect worse, but I think she'll still go.
I could not stand to see my wife treated that way. I would have to look away.
She travels with girlfriends now since I stopped flying. I drop her off outside the airport, I don't even want to step inside, or take her to the gate.
I can't get excited about cruises either, but perhaps when I'm older I'll change my mind. I feel like I'm to young for that. Are there cruises for middle aged travelers?
So, what the heck am I doing here? On a travel discussion forum? I guess I'd like to be convinced that its all worth it. The cost, the danger, the hassle, the wasted time, the humiliation, the horrible treatment, potentially being held hostage by an airline within an airplane on a tarmac somewhere w/o any rights whatsoever to deplane. Getting sick from breathing the same air as 200+ other people.
Why do you do it? Am I alone? Obviously, you think its worth it.
I'm 59, retired, top 2%'er. Plenty of money to go wherever I'd like, but I just can't get myself motivated enough by any destination to get onto a commerical airliner. This is the time when I'm supposed to be traveling the World.
I've looked into chartering a private jet, from a local small local airport, but even a short 2.5 hour trip was like $5,000 each way per person. I could afford $20,000 for my wife and I to fly private from Florida to Maine and back next Summer, but that's a lot of money, even for us. I realize we'd still need to go through security, but we've heard its NOTHING like what they put you through in a major airport.
I've been on a Greyhound bus before...never again. Takes forever and the people on busses are
Is there anyway to get the cost of a private jet down? Can you share the ride with others to reduce the cost a bit? If I could fly to Maine and back with my wife on a shared private jet from a small local airport for $10k, I'd likely pop for it. I don't have any affluent friends that would spend that kind of cash to avoid the commercial flying scene.
Are there smaller more intimate cruises with <100 people that depart from Florida?
Are there high-end express busses with sleeping bays, & wifi for domestic travel?
Any thoughts or ideas? Alternatives? Should I go tell this all to a travel agent?
During my younger years while in the Army, preparing to return home from Korea, I had what is known in the service as a short arm inspection twice, once in a barracks with 50 other GI’s standing by their bunks, with pants and underwear down. Once While boarding the troop ship in a line of a few hundred men. Airport searches, nothing to it, I’ve been searched by the best.
I sincerely appreciate when everything and anything possible to keep me safe is enforced. And I say thank you to TSA.
There is so much written about, that by now you should know better than believe that TSA is keeping us safe and secure
A series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system. The secret teams from the DHS found that the TSA failed 95% of the time to stop inspectors from smuggling weapons or explosive materials through screening.
Also, in 2015, the ACLU filed a lawsuit revealing the TSA's "SPOT" program , which involves training agents on how to identify potential threats by observing certain behaviors was ineffective. According to lawsuit documents, TSA implemented the program without any studies showing it worked and when they finally did the studies it showed it was no better at identifying threats than randomly picking people from a crowd.
Any thoughts or ideas? Alternatives? Should I go tell this all to a travel agent?
It is not that bad. I work in a very busy airport. Average Passenger Count per day is about 74,000. The airline I work for has about 66% of that number.
Yes, once in awhile I hear about a jerky TSA experience from a Passenger. Yes, during the Summer and Holidays the TSA line is out the door in the early morning hours.
I fly about once every eight weeks for fun. I haven't had a bad experience yet. Yes, sometimes they have to search my bag--big deal, a 5-10 minute interruption. Once in Copenhagen they took me in a small room and search all my bags and had me turn on all my electronics. Germany I was padded down once. So what!
Tell it to a travel agent??? What are they going to do about it??!!!
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