|
|
Planning International Travel for Christmas?
Christmas international travel 475 [shudder]. No really, a little EQ - managing the attitude, and using the ole noggin' can make it almost pleasant! 1. Pack your patience and your Emotional Intelligence. Turn down the emotiong, turn up the...
Riding In The Lap Of Luxury Travel With A Virgin Island Yacht Charters
If you've never had the experience of being at the helm of a yacht as you sail through the crystal waters of the Virgin Islands, then consider making that your next vacation goal. A variety of yacht rental and/or vacation facilities are available...
Traveling To China - Thngs To Know
Things you Should Know when you Travel to China
Weather and Clothing
* It is probably best to travel to China during autumn season,
which spans from September to early November. The temperature
during this time is a comfortable range of...
Want To Start Your Own Business In 2006? Get Into The Travel Industry
While the economy has been good to some people, it has been less
than stellar for others. Many people are feeling squeezed
between high energy prices and jobs that are always cutting back.
NOW may be exactly the right time to start your own...
What you need to know about - senior citizens travel
Are you drained of sitting at home, doing babysitting of your grandchildren? Have your dreams to explore the world not turned to reality? Are your eyes longing to capture the grandeur of the world around you? If yes, don't detain yourself from...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Will You Be a Trusted Traveler?
Editor: The following article is offered for your free use providing the Resource Box at the end is included.
WILL YOU BE A TRUSTED TRAVELER? By Laura Quarantiello © Tiare Publications 404 words
Security checkpoints have become a genuine pain for air travelers. Where once you could breeze right through the x-ray scanner and head for the boarding gate, now you must endure careful checks of your carry-on luggage and perhaps even of your person. It's the legacy of September 11th and a necessary step toward keeping air travelers safe. But the delays are increasing and passengers are grumbling. Frequent flyers,especially, are complaining about the slowdown and the hassle caused by long security lines.
Enter the Trusted Traveler program, the brainchild of an airline industry committee working on ways to improve airport security. With Trusted Traveler, anyone who wanted to forgo long airport security lines would authorize the government to conduct a background check and take their thumbprint or an iris scan of their eyes. Once cleared, they would receive an identification card encrypted with their "biometric ID." Airports would have reserved checkpoints where passengers could present their card, have their fingerprint or iris scan matched to the card's information, and be passed through to the boarding area. This type of prescreening would reduce lengthy lines and let frequent travelers avoid much of the current airport hassle. "From my perspective, it makes
more sense to subject the people I know a lot about to a lesser degree of security and the people I don't know anything about to a greater degree of security. It just makes a lot of sense to spend the finite amount of security resources we have on the folks who are unknown," says Dirk C. McMahon, Northwest Airlines Senior Vice President for Customer Service.
Experts say that the Trusted Traveler program won't appeal to everyone. Those who fly infrequently won't need to go through the rigorous background checks necessary to be labeled a trusted traveler, and those with something to hide or those with concerns about privacy won't want the government checking their bona fides. For frequent travelers, however, the program could mean valuable minutes saved, hassles avoided, and a smoother airport experience.
For now the program is just an idea; the Air Transport Association is working on a proposal for the Transportation Security Administration and the Homeland Security Department that it hopes will put a 90-day pilot project at Northwest and Midwest Express using already-screened airline personnel into operation by the end of the year. If all goes according to plan, the Trusted Traveler program could be in place at Northwest by mid-2003.
(end)
About the Author
Laura Quarantiello is a freelancewriter specializing in air traveland the airline industry. She is the author of “Air-Ways:The Insider’s Guide to Air Travel. http://www.tiare.com/airways.htm
|
|
|
|
|
|