My passport is blue. Guess I am not important enough to get a red one.

I guessing you are plenty important, you just haven't sold your soul to the devil.

 

MrAl,

There are many stories which have been shared on here. Don’t listen to them all. You’re addressing a large population, several of whom travel regularly. With so many experiences, there are bound to be problems.

I flew 8-12 times a year while I was working. Since I’ve retired, I fly 4-6 times a year. I’ve been pulled aside and scanned twice. I’ve had my carry-on checked once. And the two times I was scanned was my fault. I left my belt on once. And as described previously, my hat had a wire in the brim the second time. If both times I had put these items in the bin, I’d have been stopped ONCE. This is over about 75 flights. This is a 1.3% chance of something happening. And in all cases, nothing happened other than a minor inconvenience.

Do your research. Listen to the TSA agents. Look for the signs in the security line. Be calm. And it will go smooth.

This may be your first long flight. But thousands of other people go through security every day. There is NOTHING to worry about umless you are actually carrying a weapon of mass destruction.

 

MrAl,

There are many stories which have been shared on here. Don’t listen to them all. You’re addressing a large population, several of whom travel regularly. With so many experiences, there are bound to be problems.

I flew 8-12 times a year while I was working. Since I’ve retired, I fly 4-6 times a year. I’ve been pulled aside and scanned twice. I’ve had my carry-on checked once. And the two times I was scanned was my fault. I left my belt on once. And as described previously, my hat had a wire in the brim the second time. If both times I had put these items in the bin, I’d have been stopped ONCE. This is over about 75 flights. This is a 1.3% chance of something happening. And in all cases, nothing happened other than a minor inconvenience.

Do your research. Listen to the TSA agents. Look for the signs in the security line. Be calm. And it will go smooth.

This may be your first long flight. But thousands of other people go through security every day. There is NOTHING to worry about umless you are actually carrying a weapon of mass destruction.

Very good! I might add this too, empty the bladder and bowel before the trip to the airport and on a long flight, make a leisurely trip to the 'John' when things are idle even if you don't think you need to.

 

I guessing you are plenty important, you just haven't sold your soul to the devil.

OK so who gets a red passport in the US? Military? Politicians?

 

MrAl,

There are many stories which have been shared on here. Don’t listen to them all. You’re addressing a large population, several of whom travel regularly. With so many experiences, there are bound to be problems.

I flew 8-12 times a year while I was working. Since I’ve retired, I fly 4-6 times a year. I’ve been pulled aside and scanned twice. I’ve had my carry-on checked once. And the two times I was scanned was my fault. I left my belt on once. And as described previously, my hat had a wire in the brim the second time. If both times I had put these items in the bin, I’d have been stopped ONCE. This is over about 75 flights. This is a 1.3% chance of something happening. And in all cases, nothing happened other than a minor inconvenience.

Do your research. Listen to the TSA agents. Look for the signs in the security line. Be calm. And it will go smooth.

This may be your first long flight. But thousands of other people go through security every day. There is NOTHING to worry about umless you are actually carrying a weapon of mass destruction.

Cut your hair and shave. I came back from a business trip from Montreal. Never been bothered before. On this trip my hair was almost to my shoulders (it was a lot of years agao when I had hair) and I had not shaved in several days. Yeah I looked like a bum. I got called aside by immigration coming back in the US. Never happened before.

I now get my hair cut nice a tight just before a trip. A lot less hassle with nice short hair anyway.

 

OK so who gets a red passport in the US? Military? Politicians?

Where I worked mainly civilian contractors officially attached to military units that needed to travel to Israel and some Islamic countries. Blue was used for some and red was used for others.

 

MrAl,

There are many stories which have been shared on here. Don’t listen to them all. You’re addressing a large population, several of whom travel regularly. With so many experiences, there are bound to be problems.

I flew 8-12 times a year while I was working. Since I’ve retired, I fly 4-6 times a year. I’ve been pulled aside and scanned twice. I’ve had my carry-on checked once. And the two times I was scanned was my fault. I left my belt on once. And as described previously, my hat had a wire in the brim the second time. If both times I had put these items in the bin, I’d have been stopped ONCE. This is over about 75 flights. This is a 1.3% chance of something happening. And in all cases, nothing happened other than a minor inconvenience.

Do your research. Listen to the TSA agents. Look for the signs in the security line. Be calm. And it will go smooth.

This may be your first long flight. But thousands of other people go through security every day. There is NOTHING to worry about umless you are actually carrying a weapon of mass destruction.

I've tried to emphasize the idea that if you relax, prepare a little so you know what is expected, listen to the instructions, and treat the TSA agents as fellow humans, you are extremely unlikely to have any adverse experiences.

 

OK so who gets a red passport in the US? Military? Politicians?

I had a red passport as a Government employee (not Military or Politician or Diplomat). It was used only for Government-sponsored travel. They kept possession of it and if I had to go TDY under their orders (IOW travel for work) and the travel required a passport, I would call them up and ask for the passport and they would say..."sorry we lost it"....no, just kidding.

https://getawaytips.azcentral.com/red-passport-4000.html

 

I've tried to emphasize the idea that if you relax, prepare a little so you know what is expected, listen to the instructions, and treat the TSA agents as fellow humans, you are extremely unlikely to have any adverse experiences.

LOL

In other words "body cavity searches"

 

I've tried to emphasize the idea that if you relax, prepare a little so you know what is expected, listen to the instructions, and treat the TSA agents as fellow humans, you are extremely unlikely to have any adverse experiences.

@MrAl I think we have you too relaxed - airports and security lines are incubators for germs....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tran...oilets-scientists-say/?utm_term=.0e8e3062eb2f
and after you read that, you will want to carry a bottle of sanitizer...and it will be to big..and now you are really screwed and we will never hear from you again.....ah Mr Al, I remember him...nice guy...whatever happened to him?

 

@MrAl I think we have you too relaxed - airports and security lines are incubators for germs....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tran...oilets-scientists-say/?utm_term=.0e8e3062eb2f
and after you read that, you will want to carry a bottle of sanitizer...and it will be to big..and now you are really screwed and we will never hear from you again.....ah Mr Al, I remember him...nice guy...whatever happened to him?

They want a buck to read that?

 

They want a buck to read that?

Not on my screen - could be an anti-Steeler's thing

 

I had a red passport as a Government employee (not Military or Politician or Diplomat). It was used only for Government-sponsored travel. They kept possession of it and if I had to go TDY under their orders (IOW travel for work) and the travel required a passport, I would call them up and ask for the passport and they would say..."sorry we lost it"....no, just kidding.

https://getawaytips.azcentral.com/red-passport-4000.html

We normally kept ours in the travel desk for 'official' Government-sponsored travel, for other times we used blue with Embassy stamps.

 

@MrAl I think we have you too relaxed - airports and security lines are incubators for germs....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tran...oilets-scientists-say/?utm_term=.0e8e3062eb2f
and after you read that, you will want to carry a bottle of sanitizer...and it will be to big..and now you are really screwed and we will never hear from you again.....ah Mr Al, I remember him...nice guy...whatever happened to him?

Ha ha, i certainly hope that doesnt happen
Yeah i wonder if hand sanitizer is allowed. Some of that could be very flammable.

 

MrAl,

There are many stories which have been shared on here. Don’t listen to them all. You’re addressing a large population, several of whom travel regularly. With so many experiences, there are bound to be problems.

I flew 8-12 times a year while I was working. Since I’ve retired, I fly 4-6 times a year. I’ve been pulled aside and scanned twice. I’ve had my carry-on checked once. And the two times I was scanned was my fault. I left my belt on once. And as described previously, my hat had a wire in the brim the second time. If both times I had put these items in the bin, I’d have been stopped ONCE. This is over about 75 flights. This is a 1.3% chance of something happening. And in all cases, nothing happened other than a minor inconvenience.

Do your research. Listen to the TSA agents. Look for the signs in the security line. Be calm. And it will go smooth.

This may be your first long flight. But thousands of other people go through security every day. There is NOTHING to worry about umless you are actually carrying a weapon of mass destruction.

Hi again,

Yeah you are right, once i do one flight i might be ok after that. It will be the first one in a very very very long time, before the days of 911, so i am extremely apprehensive.
Maybe i should have them do with they did to Mr T on an episode of "The A Team". They knocked him out and then put him on a plane. He was afraid of flying.

 

Ha ha, i certainly hope that doesnt happen
Yeah i wonder if hand sanitizer is allowed. Some of that could be very flammable.

Very small bottles are allowed. The link I gave you probably has the specific size. 2-4 oz as I recall. Of course, I brought on a pint and wasn’t stopped.

 

Hi again,

One more LITTLE problem came up.

I went to find out some schedules and pricing for flights and found out two things, one very important and the other silly.

First a little silly but seems to be true, i think travel agents are more of a pain then anything.

Second, and very important to me, when i go to get a flight of course i want round trip because that is the cheapest. But the requirements for that are so strict it's frightening.
First, you MUST specify your take off date and time (no brainer there) but then you MUST also specify your return date and time.
Now of course i have no problem with the take off date and time, but how do i know exactly what day i want to return?
AND if you miss that return day (day before or day after let's say) then you might have to pay almost the same fee as you did for the ticket in the first place. That's nuts. So if i chose 1 week stay i MUST return after 1 week, and if 2 weeks stay, same thing, and if 3 weeks and i decide to return early well that's going to cost me.

Any way to deal with this?

Thanks.

 

Welcome to air travel in 2019.

Actually it has been this way for years. Buy a business class ticket and you can change at will. But you will pay a LOT more.

 

I still say you should consider the train with the amount of time that you have. They sell a rail pass that lasts something like 30 days. Ride all you want for 30 days. The only reason to make reservations is to get a room on the days you want. and I highly recommend a room for over night trips.

 

I still say you should consider the train with the amount of time that you have. They sell a rail pass that lasts something like 30 days. Ride all you want for 30 days. The only reason to make reservations is to get a room on the days you want. and I highly recommend a room for over night trips.

Hi,

Yeah i might have to do that. I thought all train rides that took that long must have rooms or at least sleeping quarters associated with them. Was i wrong? Would they make you sit in a seat for 5 days?

Thanks.