In case you missed it, my long time colleague in the travel biz, Laura Daily, wrote a terrific article for the Miami Herald on “How to Fly Through Airport Security”, tips for airport security screening. Here’s a combo of my pick of her tips and some comments of my own:
- Do not put on your jewelry, belts and other accessories that could trigger an alarm as you’re just going to have to take them off when you go through security. And while you’re at it, take everything out of the pockets of what you’ll be wearing for the same reason.
- Not flying business or first class and want to cut to the head of the security line? American’s Priority Access lets you do so and some other airlines sell a “fast pass” through security (e.g.United).
- Run, don’t walk to sign up for GlobalEntry if you do any amount of overseas travel. It’s a dream. You pass through immigrations and customs using automated kiosks that scan passports and fingerprints at U.S. and Canadian passports. On my last trip back the lines to pass through customs were horrible; I whizzed right through.
- Choose carefully whom you stand behind. Best bet are business travelers who know what they’re doing and zip through. Similarly, steer clear of families.
- Know how “insiders” do it with checkpoints. With American Airlines out of Miami, if checkpoint E is chock a block, you can use D and end up in the North Terminal. Similarly, you can use Checkpoint H, J Center or J South for the South Terminal.
- Bear left in the security line. Most people tend to go right.
And, for you new readers, not too long ago I did a post on How to Travel Comfortably.with some other tips that could be helpful.