Travel
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Really silly travel questions
I don't travel much, although I've traveled in the past.
I am flying half way across the country on Delta. My layover is in Detroit. My first plane leaves at 6:50 am on a Monday morning.
I haven't flown since all of the scans and the checked baggage fees. How early do I need to be at the airport? I'd like to pack all of my things in my carry on because my back cannot be huge (we're driving back at the end of the week).
Is it going to be a nightmare? Are they going to make me unpack my bag? Can I take my mousse? What is best to wear, jeans and a hoodie or a dress and leggings?
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Re: Really silly travel questions
They don't make you unpack your carry on bags, but you will need to have all your liquids/gels (including mousse) in 3 oz containers or less, and they all need to fit into a QUART sized ziploc bag. You take the baggie out of your bag when you send your stuff through the X-ray machine. You should probably visit tsa.gov to familiarize yourself with packing rules.
Wear whatever you want / feel the most comfortable in. For short flights I wear jeans, for longer flights I tend to wear cargo pants.
Decide in advance if you are willing to subject yourself to a full body scan. You DO have the right to opt out (just tell them you are opting out if they try to send you through) but you will be subjected to a full body patdown if you opt out. I personally will not go through the scanners -- I don't think they are safe and I think they are unconstitutional, but so far I've been lucky and it hasn't come up. (The metal detector isn't optional.)
For domestic flights I think they suggest getting to the airport 2 hours early. I always do, but for early morning flights out of SEA (my home airport) that's actually pretty excessive, but 2 hours will probably give you peace of mind since you seem kind of unsure/nervous.
For a 6:50 am flight flying carry-on only I'd check in online, print my boarding pass and show up at the airport at 6:00.
Unless your airport is one with a reputation for really bad security lines.
To prepare for security try to dress in as few layers as possible. I usually skip a belt as that's one more thing to remove. Wear slip on shoes so they are easy to remove.
Have all of your liquids in the ziploc bag in your purse so you can easily pull it out. If you are traveling with a laptop or another electronic devise that requires screening have it in a sleeve that you can easily pull out of your bag. The more prepared you are logisitically the easier and faster it will be. You can always shift things around/put on more clothes after security. I usually pack my bags with security in mind and then move things around later if need be.
I usually leave all of my jewelry in my purse because I've had even small earrings set off metal detectors.
Remember that you have the right to opt out of the porno scan. Do not let them intimidate you if that's your preference. And ensure that while you are screened all of your carry on items are within your line of sight. If they aren't don't be afraid to speak up.
Totally agree with this. I always re-pack/arrange my things after going through security.
If you decide to wear a hoodie, be sure to wear a layer underneath. Most of the time, they will either have you remove it and put it through the x-ray, or you will have to do a pat down.
For a 6:50 flight, I would check in online and then show up at the airport around 5:45. You'll probably get through everything quickly that early in the morning, but that should give you a cushion to be sure you're not rushed.
Ditto all of the other posters on what to wear and when to be there.
I'm curious about your comment Nonny-- I understand your comment about the scanners being unconstitutional in your perspective, but what do you mean about them being unsafe? Do you mean security of the images being destroyed etc. or is there some sort of radiation that is involved?
So far, I've personally been doing the scans when asked... but I'm curious about your concerns.
Remember that in addition to whatever toiletries you're packing for the trip, whatever you normally would have in your purse also needs to be in your quart bag (for example, I always have lotion and hand sanitizer in my purse, so that has to go into my quart bag). Like the pp's have said, I always keep my quart bag handy so it's easy to pull out for screening, then after I get through the security line, I reorganize it, and put the stuff that belongs in my purse in there loose as I'd normally have it and then put the quart bag in my carry on.
I tend to find khakis more comfortable than jeans, so that's what I wear. I also wear a slip-on shoe, but one that I can wear with socks so that I'm not walking on the airport floor in bare feet.
I haven't flown since they introduced the full-body scanners so I'm not sure how I feel about them.
Well both actually, but I was specifically talking about physical safety not digital safety. They've claimed the images aren't stored, which I don't believe, because there have been reports of them being printed out, and frankly any kind of digital data that is deleted is never truly gone unless the storage device is completely wiped. I'm not OK with that either, but I'm extra not OK with irradiating myself under the guise of national security. (Something like >30% of the body scans result in a pat down anyway, so I'd personally rather just skip something not proven to be safe and jump straight to the freedom grope.)
There are two kinds of scanners, millimeter wave and backscatter. Millimeter wave as I understand it are less of a concern because they use radio waves, but backscatter uses radiation and I don't really know how you are supposed to tell them apart. In the EU they've actually said airports who deploy the scanners aren't allowed to use the backscatter kind because they aren't safe -- http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1343&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en -- and in the US their safety has been repeatedly questioned and those doing the questioning are kind of blown off.
I'm not OK with subjecting myself to additional voluntary and unnecessary radiation, particularly when there is also no process in place for protecting the workers who run them. The TSA agents aren't issued radiation badges like people in the medical profession would be (to warn of unsafe levels) and from what research I've done there doesn't appear to be any sort of testing done on a regular basis to make sure the machines aren't leaking radiation or to ensure they are always properly calibrated.
There is absolutely NOTHING about these scanners that I am OK with, but out of all of my reasons the radiation concerns are the one that most impact me directly in a way that I can actually control.
I wear nothing but underwire bras and have never, ever had it set off a metal detector. For some of us more blessed in the chest going without an underwire isn't really an option. :-P I wouldn't worry about that, OP.
Ditto that. Never have set off an metal detector with my underwires.
The airport you are flying from makes a bigger difference in when you should arrive at the airport.
Cedar Falls, Iowa? 30 minutes should be fine (the same TSA agents check your bags, then after the bags are checked, run everyone through the security while boarding).
BWI? I usually push this to 45 minutes with a carry on (as long as I'm not on southwest). Actually, i've checked at 45 minutes and the alarm goes off telling me my bag won't make it, it always does.
Denver, SeaTac, or any of the other ones with one security line for all gates - I'd go with 90 minutes. I HATE those. Ugh!
Most airline should tell you the arrival time for your airport. Most will say 60-90 minutes, which is far safer than 45.
eta: on a 6:50 am flight, you probably won't see many security lanes open before 5:30. I use to take the 6:05am out of BWI and people would freak out around 5:35 and try to push through because they had just opened the rest of the lanes. "My flight is boarding!" *panic* "Yup. So is mine. Oh look, we are on the same flight. I take this all the time and no worries, we will make it."