Meeting the marketing needs of our global clientele, at any given time a Buzz Bear Media team member might be headed for a flight out of town. And that could involve standing at long lines at airport checkpoints. The same might apply to you and your company. It is the accepted cost of doing business in the 21st century.
Balancing security against efficiency to keep travelers moving safely through those airport checkpoints has recently been under discussion in Washington DC. Over 240 million travelers are expected to be screened between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Will you be one of them?
The government discussion took place at a House Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation hearing. Travel and security officials were seeking ways to avoid a repeat of the unusual three-hour checkpoint lines that resulted in spring 2016 due to reduced staffing and tighter security. In an effort to shorten lines, the Transportation Security Administration began allowing people from regular checkpoint lines into PreCheck lanes if a bomb-sniffing dog had screened them. Lawmakers and travel groups criticized that TSA action as putting expediency ahead of security.
USA Today reports that the TSA response to avoid such a repeat event is that it “will have 1,600 more officers at airport checkpoints and 50 more dog teams than a year earlier. TSA also plans to test 35 3D scanners at airport checkpoints, which allow officers to digitally rotate images of bags, reducing the need for hand searches.”
What can you do at airport checkpoints?
Nick Ellis, writing for the Points Guy travel site offers up 10 ways to get through airport security faster. For each option he provides an in depth explanation. We suggest you read the article.
Some are obvious, such as don’t antagonize security personnel as they are just doing their jobs to make sure you have a safe flight. Some, you may not be fully aware of such as that aforementioned TSA PreCheck with which you’ll gain access to an expedited security line.
- Airline Elite Status
- TSA PreCheck
- Fly a Premium Class
- Look into CLEAR expedited security
- Dress Appropriately
- Know the rules
- Monitor wait times at your airport
- Check your bag
- Be friendly
- Fly at the right time
According to the survey site Statista, in 2016, U.S. travelers took 458.9 million domestic business trips. This figure was predicted to rise to 478.2 million by 2020. Buzz Bear Media team members will be among those travelers. For example, we’ll be heading to the JCK Las Vegas show, which is the jewelry industry’s most prestigious annual trade event, on June 1-4. But, we will discuss that next week.
For now, what can Buzz Bear Media do, where can we go to assist your business with branding, marketing and advertising needs?