8 Sept 18

An advertising maxim says:

“You have to spell-out the ‘benefit of the benefit.’

People don’t buy quarter-inch drill bits. They buy quarter-inch holes, so they can hang photos of their children.”

A friend at TSA just sent me this link:

https://upgradedpoints.com/tsa-precheck-review/

It contains good information for those of us who fly frequently, a definite improvement over what TSA has put-out previously.

A lot of us, me included, fly many times per year, and we always have guns in checked baggage.

My experience has been mostly positive, particularly the past two years.

In most airports, TSA folks are used to guns in checked baggage, and are mostly helpful and courteous.

Of course, guns in checked baggage are handled differently at every airport, but at least on UA and SW, which I fly on mostly, excessive delays are now pretty unusual.

I still highly recommend TSA-Pre status. You have to jump through some hoops in order to have it conferred upon you, but it repeatedly saves me significant time at airports.

I like the fact that TSA Web Page (above) frankly discusses mistakes and mistaken overreach by the agency.

That is refreshing!

Most bureaucracies (private and public) tempestuously defend themselves against every hint of criticism, insisting not only that they’ve never been wrong, but are indeed incapable of being wrong!

There has been at least a little progress in that regard!

Again, guns need to be unloaded and in lockable (and locked), hard cases. Hard cases are then placed within checked luggage, which also needs to be locked.

Guns need to be “declared” to the airline upon check-in. All airlines have “tags,” which you sign, and that are then placed on the outside of the hard case that contains the gun(s), but inside the luggage itself.

Best advice when flying commercially:

DON’T FAIL THE ATTITUDE TEST!

Be courteous and polite, but neutral, boring, and “non-memorable.”

No loud colors. No flashy jewelry. No sunglasses. No smart-ass remarks. No “messages” on t-shirts.

Be pleasant, but not chatty. Don’t volunteer information, and I don’t answer questions that weren’t asked.

When you get to your destination, grab your luggage and get away from the airport without delay.

Yet, I’m not optimistic!

With every new terrorist incident, particularly those involving infrastructure, new restrictions, new hassles, new delays, a whole new layer of confusion follow quickly.

Right now, commercial air travel is at least tolerable. That could all change tomorrow morning!

/John