Spud Hilton, the travel editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, asked me, “With so many people complaining about airport security lately, what would you suggest to make it better?” Here’s what I told him:
Hi Spud,
1. If my toothpaste is over 3 ounces, let me squirt it down to the maximum allowable “liquid” amount and carry it on rather than making me toss the entire tube. (I asked and was told it’s not allowed.)
2. When there’s a lull in the crowds, and with what seems like “thousands standing around” (TSA), one of those agents should be able to open a break in the stanchion maze so we don’t need to feel like silly mice needlessly zigging and zagging for five or six rows in order to meet a security agent. (I asked and was told it’s not allowed.)
3. When being patted down I always stick out my wings and tell them, “Nothing hurts, you can touch me anywhere, front or back of your hands…I don’t care.” Then they ask me, “Does anything hurt?” and say, “I’m going to touch your buttocks with the back of my hands.” (I leave them a few coins in the tray.)
4. If I’m talkative, they always ask me if I’d like a “private screening.” While it sounds nice, I’ve never taken them up on the offer. (But I leave even a few more coins in the tray.)
5. Actually, rather than complain, I think it’s most constructive to use the waiting time at airport security to meditate on the reasons we have so many enemies, and what we might do so that fewer people from far away become really angry at us.
-Rick Steves
Do you have any other suggestions of our TSA that I might relay to Spud?
Rather than seeing TSA agents in a negative light, treat them with respect and thank them.
If you are in line and suddenly discover that you haven’t quite emptied your water bottle, you can either drink it while you wait or dump it in a nearby trash can. I’ve even emptied a few ounces under the table where you start putting your things in the tubs to be xrayed.
Join Global Entry. That’s one less person that they need to give the full screening to.
You could always just say “thank you” and don’t resent them for doing their job. You know you can’t have liquids, don’t bring them. You know you can’t have more than three ounces, don’t pack it! I think we should all just have a checked bag and forget the carry on bags anyway. People are such s pain when reaching over everyone to be first to put their bags overhead and first to get them down. Reminds me of first grade when most of us learned to wait our turn but there was always those few who didn’t listen enough to learn!!
After reading the comments, I am assuming most of the people do not travel very frequently, or have never experienced a European airport security situation, where they tend to behave in the exact opposite way of the typical US TSA agent. Why would I thank these people? They are outsourced. They are not defending our county any more than myself or Mr. Steves. They tend to be rude, belligerent and take their jobs waaaayy too seriously. I travel about 2-3 times a month, mostly to Europe, and the only place the TSA agents are nearing the brink of pleasant are at the DFW airport.
Well said, Mr. Steves. You are right on target.
Katie, have you thought about why TSA officers are rude as you out it? They are considered federal employees with not one beneficial aspect of being a federal employee. Fair pay? No. Fair appeals process? No. Fair leave compensation? No.
On top of that they deal with over 1000s of people daily who think they are the scum of the earth and treat them so.
Basically they are berated by the agency they work for and the people they are charged to protect. Personally id be pissed all the time lol
Blame America first is not worth considering. How many human beings on this planet have some sort of freedom as a result of the USA? Certainly more than Cuba or most of the European nations you hold up as better than America have provided.
I’ve gone on five RS tours. This comment makes me think there will not be a sixth.
I don’t think I’m very Liberal but I do completely agree with you that America needs to rethink its ‘world policeman/world role model’ policies. TSA has proven to be another government boondoggle for employing non-cosmopolitan people rather than the travel-savvy or the better educated screeners. I see no difference in Europe or America as regards personnel. I had a tungsten (non-sharpenable) picnic knife confiscated by a ‘do it by the book, non-analytical’ person. I purchased the set because it was supposed to pass security checks!
For sure, my typical experience with TSA personnel and with overseas security personnel has been positive. The few or the tired can be officious. We are the many and the tired and can be impatient. Not a good mix. Whatever happened to the ‘Peace and Love’ of my generation in its youth?
We go with the flow because we have to, in order to get where we want to go. The only thing different for us now is that if we are not in the mood to go through all that we take a car trip instead.
I’d probably tell him to cheerfully suck it up and come early and prepared: shoes that can be quickly removed; a minimum amount of wearable metal; liquids of allowed amounts in proper-sized baggie; no banned objects.
What with years now of essentially the same rules and regs, the amount of people who still show up covered in jewelry or others items which take time to remove, pockets loaded with stuff and messy bags bulging with banned substances/objects drives me crazy.
Be polite and just do as instructed ’cause pulling attitude is pointless and just prolongs the process. We haven’t been able to completely avoid random ‘full’ checks but cooperation get them done sooner than not. Tidy bag-packing helps as well.
Automate. Screening bags by computer is promising, I hope it works, but the skeptic in me believes we will pay billions for a badly flawed system. As a quality control guy in a former life I know what unreliable inspectors humans are.
Automate. TSA agents spend more time as baggage handlers than as screeners. At my local airport they pick up checked luggage, load it into an x-ray machine, unload it from an x-ray machine, and then load it onto a conveyor to the planes, unless they also have to lift it onto and off of a hand inspection table first. The system could have been designed by Rube Goldberg.
Automate. Apparently the TSA is finally installing a few return conveyors for all those trays that go through the x-ray machines. It was a full time job at many sites to return the empties to the starting point. I remember how surprised I was to see the nifty return conveyors in the Netherlands back in 2003. Imagine how many man hours the TSA could have saved in 13 years.
Do not allow TSA agents to raise their voices. There is an awful lot of unnecessary yelling at TSA checkpoints.
Thanks for writing this post Rick! It really bothers me when people are so rude to the TSA. As long as you smile and are friendly, I have never been treated poorly by a TSA officer. No doubt this is not their dream job, just as waiting in a security line isn’t your favorite part of the trip, but that’s the way it is today. I do wish they would do away with the liquids/shoes rule, but so it goes. Just plan for security and have patience!
I just came back from a trip where we were transferring flights via Iceland, which is a big of a log jam since all of the flights come in from Europe and then depart to the USA within a small window of time. In this window everyone has to go through passport control. There were so many angry Americans in line who were in quite a tizzy about having to wait in line to get their passports checked. The line was max 10 minutes! Come on people; breathe. It made me wish I was getting back on a plane to Europe rather than coming home.
I must say that the best airport security line I’ve seen was in Amsterdam/Schipol–they have a brilliant system/machine for putting your belongings through the screener that allows everyone to take as long as they need without holding anyone more efficient up. Would love to have such a system in the US!
I have a plan to see abroad in my vacation and as i will have to travel by air, so these tips given above will help a lot to get prepared earlier.
Thanks to u for the amazing information.