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How to Save Time and Bypass Long Lines at the Airport

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If you are tiered of waiting in long lines at airports for security or customs, read this!! (www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com) Daha Fazlası...

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Moviela
Ric Wernicke 10
It is unforgivable for government to set up hurdles to the free passage of citizens on one hand and charge a huge fee to allow people to go around them on the other.

The whole TSA/Immigration fiasco was developed by "security professionals" to allow the greatest inconvenience to the most people. They did not plan this, but when they had to struggle to finish high school this is what you get.

Government should run the military and the post office and stay away from all other forms of commerce.
Zelda5533
Heather Chalmers 2
Ric, while I agree with your sentiments about TSA, Global Entry isn't really about giving them more money. There is an intense screening process involved with getting clearance and the fee only covers the cost of the background check, interview, processing and finger printing. I am surprised it didn't cost more...and if your passport is stolen, having a card helps. It's money well spent.
Leshack
Alain Prion 1
This is the best $100 I have spent!
siriusloon
siriusloon 2
And they're doing such a great job of running the post office, aren't they?
btweston
btweston 5
The Postal Service is a very well run organization. The problem is that Congress takes a large portion of the USPS' revenue and applies it to other programs and then says, "Gee whiz. The Post Office has no money!"

You can blame Congress and those who lie about what a loser the Post Office is for political gain, but you can't blame the Post Office. Put a letter in the mailbox and see what happens.
WyomingCowboy
J C Hancock 0
The US Post Office has never been a well run organization. They have alway been coming to Congress for more money for all those lucrative benefits they keep giving themselves. Perhaps the military should get Postal Service pay and benefits and the Post Office should be receiving all those great bennys we give our military. Actually, truth be know, the government should go back to providing the ONLY services provided for in the Constitution: TO PROVIDE FOR A NATIONAL DEFENSE! They should get out of all other facets of our American lives! PERIOD!
weecosse
weecosse 3
Having been to 22 countries I have observed that the USPS is far more efficient than many other countries, in fact a 2012 report stated that it is the most efficient in the world: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/news/economy/postal_service/

The problem is not with the postal service per se, but with the constraints that Congress puts on it and the heavy-handed union. I get the impression that the union would rather see the ship go down than let the postal service finds ways to cut costs, especially in the sky-high health care and retirement benefits. The benefits are killing the service and driving costs up.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 0
The USPS has been trying to improve as of late. They still waste billions every year. There is plenty of blame to go around. Some of the worst offenders have already been mentioned, so I won't bother repeating any of it.

Services should be provided by private firms whenever possible. Our society can't afford large bloated bureaucracies.

The Postal Service was a valuable service for much of their history. But with other faster cheaper forms of communication readily available, there are options. Also other delivery services hav developed extensive delivery network. With each passing day it is easier to understand how the USPS service could be serviced by a private firm(s), and put to competitive bid every few years.
jggrieco
John Grieco 2
Private firms? Every few Years? NO WAY. UPS and FedEx are private firms - very big private firms. The cheapest cost to send a letter to a residence cross country in 2-3 days is about $12. USPS Priority Mail is $5.

Nobody can canvas every address in the US on a daily basis like the USPS. It's taken years and years to get here and you think some private firms can come in and take over. Comedy.
mrick
Mike Rickert 2
USPS is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution.
jggrieco
John Grieco 2
* * WOW * * Sorry people, you have no clue what's going on at the Post Office. I've been in direct mail for 30 years. Here's the deal... in 2006, then Sen. John McHugh, NY slipped into a bill [with GOP support to bust up the union!] to impose a burden of PRE-FUNDING RETIREMENT 75 YEARS into the future. Yup, that's right, look it up. The USPS was hit with over $5B annual expense to pre-fund retirement for employees who haven't even been born yet.

This burden still exists and they get blamed for being inefficient. The Union wanted to switch to energy efficient vehicles and the GOP shot it down. They want the union to fail because they hate unions. Only now they want it to fail with a huge war chest they can then get their hands on. Sick bastards. They also are responding to UPS and FedEx lobbying for higher prices from USPS. They can't compete and still make huge profits for their shareholders.

As a result of this burden prices [for catalogers] jumped 40% in 2007 alone. Catalog companies started dropping like flies and mail-order will never be the same.

The USPS is extremely efficient and getting better all the time. In fact UPS and FedEx have huge contracts with them and move a tremendous amount of "last mile" packages. The Priority Mail product gets small packages delivered to residences cross country in 2-days for about $5.

Long live the Post Office!

LGM118
LGM118 4
Go look at the UPS Facebook page. Surprisingly, it seems that USPS is actually in between FedEX and UPS in many peoples' minds now.
samspade1
John Palmer 1
People complain about our postal system, they should go to Italy if they want to see a fiasco! Our postal system is great! No, I do not nor ever have worked for them, but I am a retired law enforcement officer and have interfaced with many dedicated and compenent postal employees during my 30 year tenure.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
They get the job done. Often much better than many other postal systems from around the world. That then can get a letter anywhere in the country for half a dollar in about a week or less is impressive.

But like any government-related bureaucracy, they built up layers of waste over their years of existence. There has been some movement toward improvement in recent years, but much resistance to change still exists.

The amount of mail, particularly first class mail, has decreased sharply in recent years. Thus is not a temporary change, but structural changes in how society communicates.

The amount of workers needed to process much less mail is drastically fewer than before. Also automation can do many sorting tasks much faster and more efficiently than people can. Resistance to either, unnecessarily increases the costs of providibg the postal service.

There is talk of reducing service: closing post offices, decreasing delivery days, and increasing delivery time; rather than adjusting the work force to the task at hand. What competent business would make their flagship product worse while increasing the price customers must pay. Doing so only accelerates the vicious cycle of less demand and higher prices until the Postal Service is nk longer cost effective, and has too little business to be sustainable.

jggrieco
John Grieco 2
The small package business is their forte and when you consider the internet shopping boom where consumers buy 1 item here and 1 item there it suits the USPS infrastructure perfectly. The average Amazon order is less than 5 pounds and the USPS handles millions of them efficiently.

The Post Office is burdened by Congressional mandate to pre-fund retirement 75 years into the future. They would be breaking even or profitable without this onerous burden. The poison pill got passed late in 2006 and in 2007 the rates went up over 40% for catalogs and periodicals. Oh, the Republicans were/are behind the attempts to break up the post office. They hate unions and are lobbied by UPS and FedEx.
btweston
btweston 1
But it's ok for private companies to do that because...
dral6503
Ed Berling 4
So, the more you spend the faster you get through the airport? Why did I think that was going to be the answer...
weecosse
weecosse 4
I can see this for people whose job requires them to fly on a no-notice basis and others that may be in a similar situation but not for everyone, especially congress and the senate - they need to feel the consequences like the rest of us. All-in-all,it may not really matter how fast you get through security because the aircraft leaves when all passengers are on, not just the ones that get to the gate first.
rmchambers
rmchambers 3
It's security theater and security theater bypass.
mldavis2
Mike Davis 2
Sadly, potential terrorism is a government concern, not a concern to be left to profit-minded private industry with little authority to deal with violations. The real question is a subject of considerable moral controversy regarding allowing those who can pay to buy their way in line ahead of those who cannot. There is an excellent study of the idea of buying your way to the front of the line and displacing others patiently waiting their turn, by Michael Sandlin, a Harvard professor, called "The Moral Limits of Markets."
jamesadkins
James Adkins 0
"Sadly, potential terrorism is a government concern, not a concern to be left to profit-minded private industry with little authority to deal with violations."

Yes, because everyone knows the best way for those evil running dog capitalist pigs to make money is to routinely get thier customers killed.
devoema1
Mark Devoe 2
TSA PreCheck used to save a lot of time since most passengers were not eligible. Now that it is open to many more people, it does not save much time. At BWI, the TSA PreCheck line is often slower than the normal lines where are people still forced to take off their shoes.

The idea of paying to avoid the TSA theater is appealing, but the value is not what it was a year ago.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
United has dedicated an entire floor at main terminal at Newark to premium pasengers. They also have the ability to quickly add/ change capacity between PreCheck and regular security lines in this area depending on the needs of the pasengers using the facility at the moment.

They don't want passengers on that level waiting for security no matter if PreCheck or not.
jedswift
Jared Smith 1
Barring access to a government official is illegal. Remember the lines are run as a collaboration between the airlines and the airport, not the TSA. If I am running late, I'll use the first class line, without regard to the ticket I am holding. I have yet to be questioned, and if they did, just ask the gatekeeper who they work for and if they were aware that they were blocking access to a government official. They'll get the message.
Zelda5533
Heather Chalmers 1
I have a Global Entry card and I have to say that my $100 was well spent. It helps a little traveling in the US, but when one is returning from a long overseas flight, it can save an hour of waiting in customs when you are dead tired. I am slightly disabled and this takes a lot off my traveling plate.
TiredTom
Tom Bruce 1
used to climb on an airplane every other week...did it for 20 years...would pay 2-3 times what they're asking to get this service...
RRKen
Kenneth Schmidt 1
Make it a profit center, charge $500 for the card. It's not like the common traveler can afford the luxury or exclusivity. Personally everyone should be treated the same, no matter how much money they can afford. It's about security, not who's palm you can grease.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
If everyone should be treated the same, then make it FREE, not more expensive. And even the curent $100 is better than your proposed $500.

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