First, there’s the winter storm, named Hernando, making its way along the east coast, especially in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, accompanied by blizzard warnings for many areas.
Airlines have already proactively canceled thousands of flights and offered passengers the option to cancel or change their flight plans with no fees.
Mid-afternoon on Sunday, flight tracking site, Flightaware, was showing more than 3,000 flights within, into or out of the United States canceled, as well as more than 4,000 delays.
More than 4,500 flights are currently canceled for tomorrow.
Airports and airlines are on the alert.
We are closely monitoring a major winter storm expected Sunday night into Monday that is forecast to bring heavy snowfall across the region. Both New York and New Jersey have declared states of emergency, and travel conditions are expected to be hazardous, with impacts likely at… pic.twitter.com/v7YeGmRwWp
We’re closely monitoring Winter Storm Hernando that will impact travel on the East Coast starting Sunday. If you’re scheduled to fly through an impacted airport, we encourage you to take advantage of our flexible options https://t.co/zvwkMQ954S and move your flight before or…
If you do have plans to fly in the next few days, make sure to prioritize your safety (and your sanity) and rearrange plans if you can.
The map below was shared by the National Weather Service early Sunday morning.
DHS shuts down Global Entry, but changes course & decides to keep TSA PreCheck open
At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public. As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly.
As if the travel woes from the winter storm aren’t enough, at 6 am on Sunday morning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shut down Global Entry, the Custom and Border Protection program that offers expedited entry into the United States at airports and at border crossings.
The reason? The DHS says it is due to the partial government shutdown.
TSA PreCheck was initially included in that announcement, but the agency has decided to keep PreCheck open.
For now.
Both PreCheck and Global Entry are paid programs designed to move vetted travelers through security lanes faster.
Despite an earlier announcement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that — at this time — TSA PreCheck remains operational. If staffing constraints arise, TSA will adjust operations accordingly. Guests are encouraged to arrive early and anticipate longer than… pic.twitter.com/5NFlRnuNa8
More airports will offer TSA’s PreCheck Touchless ID
Having TSA PreCheck cuts down on the time it takes to pass through the airport checkpoint.
But if your airport and airline participate in TSA’s PreCheck Touchless ID program, your trip through the security checkpoint could be a bit faster.
The program allows opt-in PreCheck travelers to use a shortcut lane where their identity is verified by a photo.
To opt-in, you’ll need to add your passport information to your you frequent flier accounts with participating airlines, which currently include Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest and United.
A PreCheck Touchless ID indicator should appear on your boarding pass and, if you are traveling through an airport that offers the shortcut, you can access a dedicted lane for the service.
Until now, there were just 15 airports offering the service. But TSA just announced that is expanding the program to 65 airports by the end of Spring.
See the map up above for the airports where PreCheck Touchless ID is currently offered and the airports that should have the option soon.
American Airlines is the newest carrier to offer free Wi-Fi
Slowly, but surely, free Wi-Fi is coming to your airplane.
The carrier announced on Tuesday that it plans to provide free Wi-Fi provided to all AAdvantage members.
The roll out begins with American’s narrowbody and dual-class regional fleets and the plan is to have free Wi-FI on all aircraft by early spring.
Stream, scroll, swipe and smile on board. All for free.*
Taking off this month: FREE Wi-Fi for AAdvantage® members, sponsored by @att on most flights, regardless of wireless carrier. Keep it 💯 in the sky. 😉🛜✈️
We know we can’t go everywhere. But we want to. Here are some ‘wants’ on our list:
Rochester, NY: MAG and the Eastman Museum
Yes, it’s likely to be really snowly and cold in Rochester, NY in January and February.
But we’d go there to visit the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG), where the exhibition Frontiers of Impressionism: Paintings from the Worcester Art Museum, featuring work by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent and Paul Signac (above) is on view through March 1, 2026.
We’d also be sure to visit the historic mansion at Rochester’s Eastman Museum.
The shrine to photography beckons in winter with its annual Dutch Connection installation featuring a display of thousands of tulips, hyanciths, daffodils, amaryllis, tropical orchids and other flowers.
The museum says that George Eastman ordered tens of thousands of bulbs from Holland every year between 1905 and 1932. Most were for the garden, but many were ‘tricked’ to blooming indoors during the winter.
The annual flower disiplay is a nod to those original orders. And as a nice touch, the museum offers free Bulb Kits for kids with with museum admission. Kits include a pot, soil, and a forced bulb to take home, plant, and watch grow and flower.
Are you a ‘hotel hopper’?
And we’re encouraged to learn that we’re not the only ones who lean into “hotel hopping” when visiting a city.
We’ll sometimes book a hotel near the airport, another in town near a few attractions we want to be sure to visit and then a third in a neighborhood we want to explore.
Hotels.com has declared this a trend, noting that more than 50% of travelers book mulitple hotels in a single destination so that they can explore different neighborhoods and maximize deals and discounts.
The Memorial Day weekend means longer than usual lines at airport security checkpoints. And if you don’t have TSA PreCheck it’s a good bet you’ll find yourself standing in those very long line.
But there’s a free, ‘secret’ way to bypass those lines at more than 20 airports in North America and Europe.
For travelers without paid memberships in TSA PreCheck or CLEAR, there’s a free virtual cueing program at select airports.
Passengers can go online before they get to the airport – or when they’re at the airport – and reserve a time slot to go through a dedicated lane at the airport.
It’s like a restaurant reservation. And it lets you bypass others waiting in line.
How – and where – to get a reservation to go through airport security and skip the lines
The free airport security line reservation programs are part of Clear RESERVE, which is managed by CLEAR, the company that also runs the paid Clear Plus program that uses fingerprints or eye scans to expedite your checkpoint journey. And to make it just a bit more confusing, the Clear RESERVE program is branded differently at participating airports.
As of May 2024, free timed security checkpoint reservations are being offered at these airports in North America and Europe.
United States
Denver International Airport (DEN)
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Orlando International Airport (MCO
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Canada
Calgary International Airport (YYC)
Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
Halifax International Airport (YHZ)
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
Toronto International Airport (YYZ)
Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
Europe
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
Hanover Airport (HAJ)
London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO
How to book your free security checkpoint reservation
If the security checkpoint reservation is offered at your departure airport, use the airport or Clear Reserve website to book your time.
Enter your flight and contact information, and if a reservation slot is available, you will receive a confirmation email with a QR code.
When you arrive at the airport, show your QR code at the designated TSA checkpoint lane.
Your reservation will have a 20-minute grace period. But if you have made a group reservation, everyone on the reservation must be there at the appointment time.
Unruly airline passengers may face fines and the wrath of crew members and other passengers.
Now, under a new partnership between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), unruly passengers may also end up kicked off the TSA PreCheck roster.
TSA PreCheck gives travelers access to expedited security screening. Precheck-qualified travelers don’t need to remove shoes, laptops, belts, light jackets, or take out their bag of lotions and liquids. The fee is $85 for five years and requires fingerprinting and a background check.
Under the new partnership, the FAA will share information with TSA about passengers facing fines for unruly behavior. And TSA may then remove those passengers from TSA PreCheck screening eligibility.
“If you act out of line, you will wait in line,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said. “Our partnership aims to promote safe and responsible passenger behavior. One unruly incident is one too many.”
“TSA has zero tolerance for the unruly behaviors, especially those involving physical assault occurring aboard aircraft,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “This partnership with FAA will help ensure the safety and security of all passengers and hold those who violate federal regulations accountable for their actions.”
Other ways to lose TSA PreCheck Status
On its website, TSA spells out other actions that might cause a traveler’s PreCheck status to be revoked ‘for a period of time.’
The list includes refusing to wear a mask, making a bomb threat, or bringing a firearm to an airport or onto an aircraft:
If you commit certain violations of federal security regulations, such as refusal to wear a mask in U.S. transportation systems covered by the January 31, 2021 Security Directive and subsequent amendments, assault, threat, intimidation, or interference with flight crew, physical or sexual assault or threat of physical or sexual assault of any individual on an aircraft, interference with security operations, access control violations, providing false or fraudulent documents, making a bomb threat, or bringing a firearm, explosive, or other prohibited item to an airport or onboard an aircraft, you are denied expedited screening for a period of time.
The list of airlines participating in the TSAPrecheck program, which gives travelers access to an expedited line at airport security lanes, is growing.
New on the list of participating airlines: Qatar Airways and Edelweiss Air. That brings the list of participating airlines up to 67.
Edelweiss operates at 5 U.S. airports; Qatar has flights in and out of 10 U.S. airports.
Another robot for Austin-Bergstrom Int’l Airport
Need coffee when you travel? Of course you do.
At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport there are now two places you can have a robot-machine brew you a cup 24 hours a day.
Austin-based Briggo is opening its second robotic Coffee Haus location at AUS in May inside the new nine-gate expansion space. The first machine is at Gate 17.
What we’re reading: working conditions at Miami International Airport
Working conditions at airports in the news
This disturbing CBS Miami story is about terrible working conditions for many employess at Miami International Airport. The story raises real concerns not just about some of the lowest paying workers at this airport, but about working conditions for employees at other airports.
The story describes low pay and terrible and dangerous working conditions for many people hired to clean airplanes, move baggage and do others tasks key to keeping your trip on track.
Here’s an excerpt:
A crew of four cabin cleaners can be given as little as ten minutes to clean a plane. They claim that is not enough time. Eulen disagrees, stating “…our workforce is sufficient to meet and face the demand.”
One cabin cleaner described what they can face on a plane: “You can find blankets with blood, people puke in the blankets, you can find Pampers on the floor.”
He said his supervisor has told him not to waste time cleaning too thoroughly. “Just make it look like it look nice and clean, just a rag and you are done.”
The contractor referenced is Eulen America, which provides a variety of services to Delta, American and likely other airlines not just at MIA, but at Fort Lauderdale, Washington DC and New York.
The Transportation Security Administration has added nine new domestic and international carriers to the pre-check expedited screening program.
New airlines joining the program are: Air India, Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, Eastern Airlines, Elite Airways, EVA Airways, Japan Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and Volaris.
This brings the total number of airlines participating in TSA Precheck program to 65 domestic and international carriers. (The full list of participating airlines is below.)
Whether you’re enrolled in TSA Precheck or not, it’s helpful to know how long you’ll be waiting in line.
That’s now easier at John F. Kennedy International (JFK), Newark Liberty International (EWR), LaGuardia (LGA), and New York Stewart International (SWF) airports, where the respective websites now show up-to-date TSA wait times, as well as taxi wait times. The wait times are also shown on monitors inside the terminals.
According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the real-time tracking information is part of the agency’s “aggressive efforts to deliver an enhanced customer experience” for passengers using its airports.
Here are all the airlines currently participating in TSA’s PreCheck program:
Just in time for summer, we learn that the latest airline to join TSA’s pre-check program is British Airways, bringing to 53 the number of airlines participating in the program.
And Miami International Airport has some new, high-flying art:
The new work is called ‘Ando Volando’ (I’m Flying) and is by Miami-based artist Emilio Adán Martínez. Look for it in the Concourse E satellite. The new kite-like artwork has a companion display, ‘Andan Volando’ (They are flying), located inside Concourse D.
Both installations are constructed with paper, string and Australian pine branches and are meant to resemble kites and boats and suggest the idea of flight.
Summer is coming and checkpoint security lines at airports around the country are going to get longer.
So if you haven’t signed up for TSA’s PreCheck program yet, now would be a good time.
Don’t want to take an extra trip to the airport to do that? You may not have to if you’ve got a Staples office supply story nearby.
Staples office supply company and Idemia, the company that has the TSA contract to enroll people in the PreCheck program, have teamed up to set up IdentoGO enrollment centers in 50 Staples stores.
The cost of enrollment in the TSA PreCheck program is $85 and is good for five years at $17 per year.
Need to get new passport photo or a certified birth certificate? Those IdentoGO Centers at Staples will help with those too.
And if Staples isn’t in your community, check this site for another place to sign-up for TSA PreCheck.
Football fans fumbling over where to sign-up for the Transportation Security Administration’s security checkpoint shortcut program – called TSA PreCheck – can now take care of that task during NY Jets and San Francisco 49ers home games at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, respectively.
The NY Jets and the San Francisco 49ers are the first to partner with identity-verification company Idemia to bring the IdentoGO technology and the PreCheck verification program to sports stadiums.
In the next few weeks, more sports teams are expected to join the program, which also provides some biometric-based technology that can enable ‘trusted fan’ programs to be deployed at some stadiums.
For now, Jets fans (ticketed or just tailgating) seeking to enroll in PreCheck will find a branded IdentoGo recreational vehicle parked at the MetLife entrance (between parking Lots E and F) on game days.
San Francisco 49ers fans on the west coast will need to be ticketed for the day’s home game to access the IdentoGoRV, which will be parked along the vendor-rich “Faithful Mile” (at the Green Parking Lot 1- Gate C).
Applying for TSA PreCheck costs $85 (and is good for 5 years) and the in-person ID verification process can take place at 44 airports, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle offices or at a wide out-of-airport IdentoGo locations
But signing up at these football stadiums will come with a small bonus.
In addition to the time-savings for sports fans, those who sign up at New York Jets home games will receive a $20 gift certificate that can be used inside the stadium towards beer, food and merchandise. Fans who sign up at either stadium will also get an approved clear plastic bag that can be used to take items in the stadium.
The San Francisco 49ers PreCheck sign-up program kicked this past this weekend, but response to the program at NY Jets home games has been so positive that IdentoGo had to scramble to double on-site enrollment capacity after the first game.
Who gets your $85 and can you skip that fee?
According to TSA, the $85 fee a traveler pays to apply for the PreCheck program breaks down this way:
The vendor – IdentoGo is currently the exclusive provider of TSA PreCheck – gets $34.50, which TSA says, is used for staffing, leases, infrastructure, web, network, materials, equipment, mobile events, call centers and other services for the all the application sites around the country.
Later this year or next, TSA says it plans to issue a request for proposals from other companies that want to bid to provide this service.
$12.50 is the FBI’s Fee.
The balance of the fee goes to TSA, which uses its portion for administration of the application program.
For those who would like to avoid paying the fee, there are about a dozen credit cards (including selected brands of American Express, MasterCard, Visa and Diners Club) that offer a fee credit for the TSA PreCheck (and Global Entry) program and several airlines and hotel brands, including United Airlines, Hilton, IHG, Marriott and Carlson Rezidor, that allow members to pay for the program with mile or points.
(A slighty different version of my story about sign-ups for TSA Precheck extending to NFL stadiums first appeared on CNBC.)
Football fans take note: If you keep meaning to sign up for TSA Precheck but can’t make the time to go to the airport for the in-person interview part of the application, you now have the option of taking care of that task at NY Jets home games at MetLife Stadium.
An IdentoGO processing station will be set up between lots E and F outside of the MetLife gate during home games throughout the 2017 season.
