Once again, it is travel time

Update:  PUT YOUR NAME ON IT!   In the bag, on the bag.  Somewhere on EVERYTHING you might leave along your travels.   I also include an itinerary/address  Home address and info as well as where I am headed and for how long.  Personal address or hotel info.
I say this because over the years I have come across so many items people lose.  Wallets, phones, books, ear buds, makeup bags, purses, jackets, folders with your work material.   Yes, wallets and purses.   

As we approach this seasonal travel time, this is just a reminder to travelers, whether you are a frequent one or a once-a-year flier.

*3-1-1, is still in effect…"three ounces (of liquid), a one-quart bag, and only one bag per person".

*Passports required for all international travel.

*TSA now requires the name on your boarding pass to match exactly to the name on your ID.

And the latest: To scan or not to scan.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/screening/index.shtm

This site actually has very good information about special needs and travel with family.  However, if you "opt opt", be prepared for the best sex you've had in years!   LOL  (Just Kidding)  But you WILL be patted down and felt up as the TSA look for whatever they think you might be hiding.  I have been told you will need to remove things usually left in your pockets.  Plastic, leather, and other non-metal items.  Also you must remove your belt.  Hope your pants don't fall down! 

 Special note to the ladies: Gel-filled bras are permitted through security screening and aboard aircraft.  ;-)

It doesn't matter if you are going home for the holidays, headed for the beach, or just taking time off from school or work. If you are traveling by plane, LISTEN UP.

Know the local time. When you start out in NYC and connect in MSP for another flight to LAX, you pass through several time zones.
There are 24 hours in a day, so there are 24 time zones. If you are traveling in an easterly direction you move your watch forwards, if you are moving in a westerly direction you move it backwards. Your flight will be departing using the local time!

Gates Change. Every morning gates are assigned for the day. However if one plane is late leaving, (mechanical, waiting for bags, waiting for passengers, getting the cockpit windows cleaned, changing a tire) then the next plane assigned to that gate has to park elsewhere. So before you go running to the gate posted on the boarding card that you got very early in the morning, check the TV Monitors or ask an agent.

Most gates have some sort of signage...an LED sign, or one that the agent manually posts, that displays the destination city over the door. If you see a city that is NOT where you are headed at the gate listed on your boarding card, DO NOT JUST SIT THERE!!!! ASK SOMEONE!

(See Gate Change above)

Boarding cards. This is not the bible. Nor is it written in stone. LOOK at yours. Is there a seat assignment? Does it say CHECK IN AT GATE? If you do not have a seat assignment, it might mean that your flight is oversold. Airlines typically sell more seats than a plane actually has. You need to let the agent working the flight know that you need a seat. (They already KNOW this but a polite I am here is always good.) Usually they will ask for someone to take another flight for compensation. YOU TOO may ask for this compensation.

Why do airlines do this? Well, sometimes people miss flights. They sit in the bar thinking they still have another hour before their flight leaves (See local time above) Sometimes they sit at the wrong gate either watching Airport CNN, using a laptop, or talking on the phone. (See gates change above)

Weather. Or not. You look out the window and the sun is shining. You call your sister in SFO and she says the sun is shining. The airline says there is a weather delay. You say WTF?

There is the possibility that there is weather enroute. Planes fly through clouds. You do NOT want to fly through storm clouds. If the pilot does not want to fly into or around bad weather, I would agree with him! If the pilot doesn’t want to up in the air, then YOU SHOULD NOT WANT TO EITHER. He (or she) is the better judge and also has the last word on whether it is SAFE to fly.

Did you know that if a plane CANNOT land at its destination, because of weather, it WILL NOT TAKE OFF until it is assured that it can land when it gets there!

ATC. Air Traffic Control. Often related to weather. Flight delays often occur when too many planes are scheduled to use the runways. Some are held in a circling pattern until there is space to land.

If you are delayed and miss your connection because of weather or ATC, the airline is not obligated to provide amenities or compensation to you. They will NOT hold the plane for you. Unless you are a group of at least ten. Or more. Then maybe they will hold the plane. But don’t bet on it.

Documentation. If you leave the United States, you need some proof of citizenship to return. You probably need this same proof to enter a foreign country. Canada and Mexico eh? que? are NOT part of the United States.

We can no longer flow easily across borders and sometimes the Immigration officials like to mess with us. Originals are needed. Forgeries and your fake college ID are NOT to be shown to anyone official. This will NOT get you a drink.

If you are a UK citizen traveling anywhere outside the United Kingdom or Eire you will need your passport. Even if you travel within the European Union (where the free movement of people has been established under the Treaty of Maastricht), you will still need your passport. If you are from one of the other member countries of the European Union you can travel to member countries using your identity card instead of your passport.

Some countries of the European Union have signed the Shengen Agreement which has effectively removed all barriers between them. It is possible to travel from one country to another without any border controls at all. Passport and custom controls are used when you leave the Shengen Agreement area.

Although this sounds simple, the situation for UK citizens is slightly more complicated. Each member country of the EU has to say which of its citizens are accepted as European citizens. Because the UK has not approved some nationals as full European citizens, you need to be clear on your position traveling to Europe.

Please check the rules which apply to YOU before you depart.

Pack what you need.

Food: Knowing you will not starve to death while on the plane is nice to know.

Medication: NEVER,EVER put this in a checked bag. It is very difficult (sometimes impossible) to retrieve your bag when you need that Rx.

Stuff: If you have children, pack things for them. EXTRA diapers, food, small entertainment.

Security checkpoint. It is a part of life now. Whether we like it or not, whether we support the system that put it in place or not, we WILL need to pass through the metal detectors. You will need to show ID. You will need to remove your shoes (note to self: wear socks without holes) If your usual attire includes studs, chains, multiple piercings in concealed places, and other assorted metallic bangles, well, yes, you will beep. Deal with it. You already know you look hot.

Crowds. Plan on it. Traffic. Plan on it. Remember, it is better to be a lot early than a little late.

Now. Go watch Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter and Robert Downey or Planes, Trains & Automobiles and send me a post card from someplace exotic.

PHEW… "Maybe NOW I can get back to filing my nails and reading my magazine", said the gate agent.

Update on 2009: So Far So Good.

Well, I made it to Chicago without a hitch. Ride from ORD, and dinner with my sis-in-law. The next morning (up WAY too early) she drove me into town. I had a room at the Hard Rock Hotel. Now, I have never even been to a HR Café, but this hotel had the best location and the best room rate. I was on the Rolling Stones floor with Bono etched on my mirror.

I stopped to ask the concierge about train info. He was rather snooty to me when I could not remember the name of the venue! I did have the address so I asked him to google it…please. He asked who I was seeing there. I grinned…AFI. He paused and then said…”Oh that man is SO nice, such a sweet guy. They stayed here last time they were in town.” WHAT!!!!????? And not THIS time!!?? He was much nicer to me after that, even taking me to the room before I left when I thought I had left something behind.

The train was a block and a half for the hotel, and a block and a half from the venue. Got there early and met some nice people in line. The show was sold out and the DF line was long. I got a good spot on the second rail. Some guy right below me did a double take on me and said “Hi mom”.

I replied. “I am not mom today.”

“Don’t you have kids here?”

“Nope. I am here for the show. I am a huge fan.”

Seems he did not believe I was a true fan. So I showed him my latest ink. He asked if I had seen him today before the show. Nope. Got that in PIT. He still didn’t understand. I explained that Jade signed my shoulder in PIT and I had permanently inked it upon my body with the Crash Heart around it. Then I showed him my Sing the Sorrow band and only then did he believe! LOL

Then we waited outside. Two hours later a club security guy said the band had gone out the front door. Some left but several still waited. Smith came out and told us he was the “consolation prize”. He’s so nice. I told him he was Saint Smith for all he did.d He said, “Awww I’m not a saint.” I asked for a pix with him. But the pix was blurred and I said I had no idea how to work the camera. He took it and bingbingbing he had it in the correct mode and gave it back to me. I asked him to sign my wristband and he drew a little pix with hat and beard. Told him he looked amish. LOL Yeah… he really is a saint. At 1:30 am I finally gave up, heading off for the train and hotel.

There were only two others waiting for the train. I felt a bit unsettled but these two guys didn't seem to be interested in bothering me! Then I discovered the HEAT BOX! OMG it radiated warmth as I stood there in my T-shirt. Why does NYC not have these? I could have used them when I commuted. But... by the time the train arrived the platform was filled with people and I never felt a moment of alarm.

Back in the RW after spending the whole day trying to get on a flight out of ORD. Ahh the perks of my job. But I am happy I got to see the boys one more time. Next week HOUSTON!