When I flew out of Indianapolis a month ago, I was told that there was no way for me to opt out of the air puffer machine used at the airport - as I was a SSSS (secondary screening selectee) due to not showing any ID.
Well, the security line at Indianapolis on Thursday was freakishly long, and although I had already made my mind up to be a good boy and follow the rules earlier in the morning, I changed my mind when I saw the line.
The airline gave me a special no-id boarding pass, and thus I was able to bypass the entire security line, and go straight through the special selectee line. W00t!
Much to my pleasant surprise, this time, no one batted an eyelid when I declined to go through the air puffer machine. I'm not sure if they have changed their policies, have new staff who do not know the rules, or I was lied to before. But I'll be calling TSA up when I get back to Indiana next week.
In other news - my flight to DC was oversold, and so I gave up my seat - and flew into DC 3 hours later. In exchange for suffering this delay, I was given a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the US on Northwest.
Today, sitting at Baltimore airport with my girlfriend, we gave up our seats once, and are waiting for the next flight - which is also looking oversold. If it works out, we'll get 2 free round-trip tickets each (we have one each already from the first flight today).
Which will mean 3 free round trip tickets earned in 2 days of airport shenanigans.
For those stuck in airports:
Northwest has free wireless access in their lounges. Sit outside and you can mouch signal.
United/US airways has t-mobile wifi in their lounges, and you can sign up for a free 30 day trial using this link: https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/accountcreate/ExternalSetPromotionCode.do?promo=KD1MTH105
It makes the time just fly by.
4 comments:
Not that you'll be flying much soon, since you'll probably be on the no fly list. ;)
But personally, I'd take a $300 voucher from NW, instead of the free round trip ticket. Much easier to use, and you get miles for them.
-JC
What I want to know is why people who understand how shakey the security is on airlines still regularly fly on them. To me, having these free tickets is kind of like having free turns with Russian Roulette...
Hi Chris. I might be able to make you a reasonable offer for that ticket. gtbear at gmail. I'd also enjoy your thoughts about flying out of indy without ID. I haven't flown since 2000, and have been following the gilmore thingy. I'm the guy who filed suit a few days ago against indiana's voter id rules. http://joellpalmer.blogspot.com
- arbitrary aardvark.
Northwest has free wifi in their clubs, but it recently they made access password-protected. If you can get someone to tell you, you're in. If not, best of luck!
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