Now, PHX joins the list of airports where passengers may cut their TSA line wait time by booking ahead. The pilot program is called PHX RESERVE and it kicks off first in PHX Terminal 3.
Travelers may go online and book their reservations up to 72 hours ahead of their flight. When their reservation slot comes around, passengers then go through a dedicated entry TSA entry point.
Better yet: the program, which is an example of ‘virtual cueing’, is free.
Here is a bit more information about the program:
The dedicated PHX Reserve security entry point will be available daily between 4 a.m. and 3 p.m. Reservation times can be made for between 60 minutes and four hours before a passenger’s flight. Individuals can book a spot for themselves or for up to 10 people traveling as a group.
“We are proud Sky Harbor can offer another great service to our customers to make their travels easier and more flexible,” said Chad Makovsky, Director of Aviation Services for the City of Phoenix Aviation Department. “What’s good for our passengers and guests is good for the air travel industry as a whole.”
The ability to schedule a time to go through the airport security checkpoint line is a welcome amenity being offered at other airports too, under a variety of names. The list includes:
SEA Spot Saver at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
DFW Fast Pass at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
LAX Fast Lane at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
VirtuaLine in Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
If we missed the TSA reservation program at your airport, let us know and we’ll add it.
Changes at Denver International Airport Checkpoints
Denver International Airport (DEN) is making some big changes at several of its security checkpoint lanes this week, with the goal of making traveling through the airport easier.
You can read all the details about DEN’s TSA Checkpoint shuffle here, but one new feature that caught our attention is the Travel-Lite Lane that TSA will be offering at the North Security Checkpoint. This express lane is set aside for ravelers with only one item, such as a backpack, briefcase, or purse. A great idea for those who have checked their suitcases and/or are traveling light.
Zip it! Check out the Zipper Dress made by a Southwest Airlines Ramp Agent
Places We’d Go: John Soane’s Museum in London
Throughout the pandemic, Viking Cruises’ Viking.TV has been providing lectures and behind-the-scenes visits to wonderful places all over the world. We’re big fans of Museum Mondays and this week’s offering is a documentary about restoring one of our favorite places in London, Sir John Soane’s Museum, to its original state.
(This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News online)
Summer travel may cause some headaches
Memorial Day weekend and a unusual travel season are just around the corner.
Experts expect a summer travel tsunami fueled by a dip in Covid-19 infection rates, rising vaccination rates, and the reopening of attractions, resorts, and other tourist destinations.
AA predicts that 34 million Americans will take road trips 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday, May 27-31. That is a 52 percent increase compared to last summer — although still about 9 percent below the pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
More than three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) plan to take trips this summer, according to the latest results of a Harris Poll survey.
But with everyone rushing to go somewhere – anywhere – travelers may find their dream destinations hard to book or sold out already.
“Travelers should be aware that there is still limited supply, as airlines haven’t brought back fleets in full, there are hotels that haven’t opened or are at limited capacity, and car rental fleets are still reduced,” said Kelly Soderlund of travel management company TripActions. She advises travelers determined to hit the road this summer to book as arly as possible to avoid being disappointed by a lack of inventory or by high prices.
Here are some of the summer travel “hiccups” travelers may encounter — and some tips for how to handle them.
Gas prices were expected to flirt with $3 per gallon leading up to Memorial Day weekend. But last week’s shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline caused prices to spike weeks ahead of the holiday.
“Americans will still take their road trips,” says AAA spokesperson Jeanette McGee, “They just may not travel as far as originally planned and may spend a little less.”
To save money on gas, make sure your car is tuned up and your tires are properly inflated, join gas station rewards programs, and download one or more gas price apps to your smartphone so you can compare prices on the road.
Crowded planes, high ticket prices
Right now, flights are 77 percent full on average, compared to 85 percent to 90 percent pre-pandemic, said Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights. “But hidden under that topline average is the fact that popular leisure flights to places like Hawaii and Florida are regularly seeing completely full planes. With Memorial Day such a popular time to travel, expect airports to be crowded and planes filled to capacity.”
While the dirt-cheap fares airlines floated during the pandemic are long gone, there is some good news for air travelers.
“Two new budget airlines, Avelo and Breeze, will introduce more low-fare seats and increase competition,” said travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research. In addition, “United Airlines just announced it is adding more domestic flights, and Southwest is adding new flights between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii.”
Long lines at security checkpoints
Passenger volumes continue to rise at airports across the country. In many airports, that means the return of long lines at security checkpoints.
“We are encouraging people to arrive at their airports early, like they were asked to do prior to the pandemic,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
Expect longer lines at airports where the TSA is short-staffed and unable to open all checkpoints during the busiest times. Elsewhere, lines may stretch out because passengers who have not flown in the past year have rusty packing skills. In addition to finding a lot of oversize liquid containers in travelers’ carry-on bags, TSA officers are finding that many passengers are still forgetting to leave their firearms at home.
For a refresh on what can be put in carry-on bags, travelers can consult TSA’s “Can I Bring?” feature online and on the MyTSA app or tweet to @AskTSA.
High Hotel Rates
Have your heart set on a beach vacation? So does everyone else. So this summer is an especially good time to seek out hotels in secondary or alternative cities.
For example, Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper, a price comparison site, found that while hotels in Southeastern beach destinations, such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Galveston, Texas; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are booking up quickly, hotels in Florida towns with similar vibes — like Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Myers and Daytona Beach — are showing increased availability.
Elusive rental cars
During the pandemic, many car rental companies sold off big chunks of their fleets. Now, many Americans who hope to rent cars for summer road trips are finding cars unavailable or renting at a premium.
To increase your chances of finding a rental car for this summer’s vacation, Priceline and others suggest booking your car at the same time as, or even before, you book your flights, booking a travel bundle that includes a car rental, checking for cars at off-airport locations and exploring services such as Zipcar and peer-to-peer car-sharing programs.
Shifting protocols
This summer, “travelers researching a destination will need to pay attention to how that location is handling Covid protocols and what might be expected of you as a visitor to the community,” said Tori Middelstadt of Oregon’s Willamette Valley Visitors Association.
That includes noting and adhering to the rules about masking. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people can forgo wearing masks indoors and travel in the U.S. without getting tested before or after they travel.
But a federal rule not set to expire until Sept. 14 requires that masks be worn when traveling by air, rail, or bus. Cities, states, and individual businesses are still able to set their own rules.
The current unknowns of travel and the pressures around booking that first vacation in over a year understandably make many travelers anxious.
“There are just too many variables in play right now, from the basics, like availability, to the more complicated, like Covid-19 protocols. If you’re thinking about a summer trip, you need to move past the thinking part and swiftly get yourself to the booking process,” said Erika Richter of the American Society of Travel Advisors.
Now you can reserve your time on the TSA line at SEA Airport
(This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for USA TODAY)
The good news: air travel is picking up.
On Sunday May 2, TSA screened more than 1.6 million passengers, the most since March 12, 2020.
The bad news: long wait times at security checkpoints may be back coming back too.
At times during spring break, the lines to go through the security checkpoint stretched into the food court at Orlando International Airport (MCO). At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, lines snaked across the sky bridge and into the parking garage.
TSA is in the process of hiring 6,000 new screening officers ahead of the predicted summer travel surge. And that should help move things along.
So too could a new pilot program that debuts Tuesday at SEA airport.
The program, called SEA Spot Saver, will attempt to streamline wait times by offering digital reservations, or “virtual queuing” for passengers to go through the screening process.
Here’s how it works
The program will operate daily through August 31, 2021, from 4 a.m. to noon (the airport’s peak travel period) at two checkpoints (2 and 5) and offer expedited screening to general screening passengers for free. No membership or account sign-up is required.
Expedited, non-reserved screening remains available to passengers enrolled in Trusted Traveler programs such as TSA PreCheck and CLEAR.
SEA Spot Saver will be testing two options.
Alaska Airlines passengers can sign up for a security checkpoint appointment online up to 24 hours before their scheduled departure time or once they are in the terminal.
Passengers will receive a QR code to use at checkpoint 5 at their reservation time. This option is offered by Pangiam, and powered by WhyLine and Copenhagen Optimization.
The second option, operated by VHT, is for passengers flying on Delta Air Lines and all other carriers. This option allows passengers to begin booking a checkpoint appointment time by scanning a QR code once they are in the terminal. Passengers will show their emailed reservation appointment at checkpoint 2.
Both options give passengers a 15 minute window for their appointment times. The Alaska Airlines option lets you book up to 12 passengers in a group. The Delta/other airlines option lets you book a group of up to 10.
SEA will be the only airport in the United States currently testing a “virtual queuing” system as a solution for crowded general screening lines.
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) has offered screening reservations since 2014 through SecureXpress, but that program is currently on hold due to the pandemic.
“The pandemic has left very few passengers coming and going through YUL,” said YUL spokeswoman Anne-Sophie Hamel via email, “As such, there is no line-up to get through security, and the service is simply not useful right now.”
From October 2020 through April 30, 2021, Denver International Airport (DEN) piloted the VeriFLY app and program. Passengers could book a timed checkpoint appointment, but they also had to file health data information before arrival and get temperature checks on site.
Port of Seattle officials say that after the pilot program is completed late this summer, they will evaluate usage, customer feedback, and line efficiency and, if successful, launch a broader program.
“These are the innovations and ideas that we love to make our guest experiences more convenient and stress-free, especially as more people get back flying again,” said Charu Jain, Alaska’s senior vice president of merchandising and innovation. “With very little effort, guests can lean on technology to get them through the security process quicker.”
Have you been through an airport security checkpoint recently?
We have. And it has us worrying that as passenger numbers increase TSOs and travelers will too easily revert to the pre-COVID checkpoint mentality and not pay attention to social distancing and safety.
That’s why we’re not even waiting until Friday to declare the ‘Airport Amenity of the Week.’
We’re giving the nod to Denver International Airport (DEN), which is the first airport in the U.S. to begin using the VeriFLY app to let passengers reserve a checkpoint time and then travel to the gates in a reserved train car.
Here’s how it works:
Travelers download the VeriFLY app (only available for iPhone for now), create an account, and then reserve a time to through the checkpoint on their travel date. There’s a 15-minute show-up window and there are a limited number of reservations per hour.
Passengers must fill out a health survey within 24 hours of their flight. Then, on the day of their flight, they go to the designated VeriFLY lane at the south screening checkpoint at their reserved time.
A touch-less, electronic gate will scan the access code on the app. And temperatures will be taken before passengers move to either a standard or Precheck TSA screening lane.
Once through security, passengers using the VeriFLY system will travel to their respective concourses in a reserved train car. For social distancing, only 12 VeriFLY travelers will be allowed in the train car at a time.
Face masks/covering are, of course, required for all travelers.
We hope – and expect – more airports will begin using this system.