The MyTSA app has been around for about 8 years but it took a while for it to become, well, useful. But finally…FINALLY…it’s something you may want to consider downloading (if you hadn’t already), and actually start using. Here’s why:
Continue reading “HOORAY! The Newest Updates To The MyTSA App Makes It Actually USEFUL!”
More and more people are flying and the lines at the TSA checkpoint are not getting any shorter. In fact, at some busier airports, a wait of 30 to 45 minutes is more usual than not, and wait times over 60+ minutes during holidays is not unheard of. But there are some ways that may help you avoid those long waits.
Continue reading “Seven Ways To Avoid Long Lines At The TSA Checkpoint”
We’ve had access to TSA PreCheck lanes at the airport thru our Global Entry membership for over five years and it is one of the most wonderful things we’ve ever signed up for. It transforms the procedure of going through the security checkpoints from a cattle call to something closer to just a minor inconvenience. However we’ve noticed that while there never used to be any line at the PreCheck lanes, there now can be quite a wait just to get to the point to verify your ID. In Orlando, this is partially because of more people having PreCheck as well as people who don’t belong in the line (usually foreign tourists) waiting and then being told they’re in the wrong line and they have to go wait again in the standard line. At other airports, like LaGuardia in New York and O’Hare in Chicago, we’ve had to wait 10-15 minutes in the PreCheck line just because of the number of travelers and a limited number of check in lines available.
I’ve been going back and forth about enrolling in CLEAR. It’s a third party program that bypasses the normal check of your ID and Boarding Pass. You know, the part where you walk up to a TSA agent and hand them your ID and Boarding Pass and you awkwardly stand there while they look at the paper and look at you.
Continue reading “Our First Experience Using The CLEAR Checkpoint”
Ah, the good ol’ pre-9/11 days of air travel, when you could go through security with a baseball bat and without taking your shoes off. You could even stay with your loved ones before they got onto the plane or meet them at the gate when they arrived!
Well, the first one isn’t happening any time soon, and the second one won’t happen unless you pay for TSA Pre-Check. But the third and fourth ones COULD become a possibility in the not-too-distant future, if a certain TSA experiment works out well.
I’m finally willing to admit I’ve had an irrational attachment to certain travel credit cards. You know, the cards that I’ve had for a while and kept paying the annual fee even though the benefits aren’t worth what the card cost me every year. I tried to rationalize why paying for the card made sense. My arguments were convincing but eventually I took a step back and gave a long and hard look at the money I was spending. I realized that I was giving way too much value to the “possible uses” for the card instead of looking at the actual value I was getting.
I give the credit card companies credit; they were able to make me think I was winning at this game. I had all these perks, got statement credits for expenses and my out of pocket cost whittled down to almost nothing. It’s like they were paying me to keep the card. Wait, I know that’s not true. No bank is going to pay you to keep a card for the long term. They’d eventually go out of business.
So how’d the person who is so proud of not being loyal to any airline, hotel or rental car company end up in a unhealthy relationship with some credit cards? Here are just a few of the traps that I fell into that lead to making irrational decisions.
Continue reading “Stop Falling In Love With Travel Credit Cards!!”
