Friday, January 13, 2012

Air Travel: Things That Don't Make Sense

Travelers must endure a lot these days. Crazy airfare rules is only the beginning, then you have the endless fees, long lines, poor service and yes things that you wonder why they do, but nobody has clear answers for. We have become so accustomed to just obeying and following, no questions asked. For example, the 3 ounce rule of liquids and gels in the TSA lines. Many passengers had to ditch or lose 3.5 or 4 ounces of whatever it is they might be carrying. TSA has never explained why a deodorant above 3 ounces might represent a security threat. Then we have to put our smart phones down and off to pay attention to the flight attendants demonstrating how to engage and disengage the highly complex gadgets called "seat belts", or to turn off anything that "has an on/off button" so they do not "interfere" with airplane electronics! Hundreds of passengers have been kicked off flights for refusing to comply or for complying too slowly with the directives of the crew to turn their gadgets off. The craziness here is that if these gadgets are dangerous, what about the tens of thousands of people in the terminal or at gates that are within few feet of the aircraft that are still using their gadgets, shouldn't they also be told to power down their on/off switch for every aircraft taxiing, landing or taking off? And with so many people who "forget" to do so, will airlines start deploying sensors to detect these offenders and charge them another fee? Words with friends anyone? www.premieretravel.com