So it's significant that I just have to share my latest new "thing" that I LOVE -- a Targus Zip-Thru Backpack. For those who have no idea what it is, the backpack is an amazing creation that allows you to keep your laptop in the bag while going through the security x-ray screener. This was made for guys like me!
Last week, as I was getting ready for a business trip to LA, my wife mentioned that my new backpack would arrive while I was gone and I would get to use it on my next trip. To be honest, I wasn't paying attention until she said I would be able to keep my laptop in my new backpack and just send the whole thing through the airport security x-ray screener. "What?!?" Yup - I didn't believe her. At the airport, I quizzed the TSA guy. I asked him, "So my wife bought me a backpack that I can supposedly keep my laptop in for the x-ray screener. What are the chances you guys know about this thing?" The TSA guy assured me that they knew about the special backpacks and cases. He said I wouldn't have any problems using it - but I had to read the instructions/tips and store only the laptop in the designated side. The truth is -- I still didn't believe him. Imagine that? ;)
I got the backpack and even read the instructions/tips that came with it. When I got to the airport, I was still convinced that I was going to be held up by the TSA sceeners and forced to pull out my laptop. I unzipped the center section and put the backpack on the conveyor belt, then went through my usual routine with my shoes, belt, etc. I zipped through security at lightspeed -- and was excited as a little kid in a candy store!
PRO:
* Convenient experience with airport security x-ray screener. What a time saver! Plus - you won't have to risk dropping laptop or leaving it behind by accident.
* Lots of pockets. A business person who travels a lot needs pockets for wallet, keys, sunglasses, glasses, BlackBerry, chargers, gum, etc.
* Excellent padding for your back.
CON:
* My old backpack had a great insulated pocket for my water bottle. I miss that.
Now here's the exciting part for all my readers and fans -- you have a chance to win your own Targus Zip-Thru Backpack! There will be one winner chosen at random. You can enter up to two times by posting a comment on this blog and/or Twitter. The contest ends Sunday, April 4 @ 3:00PM Pacific Time.
HOW TO ENTER
The Travel Brain likes to keep things simple. Here is how to enter to my awesome contest:
1. Post a comment below sharing your worst TSA or airport story.
and/or
2. Post to Twitter: I entered @TheTravelBrain contest to win a @Targus_Inc zip-thru backpack: http://bit.ly/d4xW7N
That's it! Good luck!
Be sure to stay up-to-date -- follow my blog, follow @TheTravelBrain on Twitter, and follow @Targus_Inc on Twitter.
Thanks to Targus, the industry leader for notebook carrying cases and accessories, for sponsoring this contest.
Happy travels,
The Travel Brain
Full Disclosure: For the benefit of the FTC, I did not receive any compensation directly for this blog post. All opinions expressed are strictly those of The Travel Brain.
Traveling from Phoenix to Philadelphia when they pulled me off to the side to conduct a full body scan (arms up, legs wide) plastered onto a wall for all to see. Not to mention that I was late and cutting it pretty close!
ReplyDeleteMy worst airport story? It was many years ago when a friend and I tried to meet our friends from PA in Orlando over MLK weekend. It was raining and our connecting flight from SFO into LAX was delayed. We missed our connection to Orlando. The flight attendant assured us that our best bet was to fly to O'Hare where UA's hub was. Thinking it was sound advice, we flew to O'Hare on a red-eye only to find out that all flights out of O'Hare were also delayed. For the next 10 hours we patiently waited to be put on a flight. It never happened. To make matters worse, each time we approached the counter we were asked, 'are you the the new flight trainees?' NOOOO. But hell, by the third time we were ready to pass out drinks and peanuts if it meant we'd get to Orlando!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile our friends had already arrived in Orlando with no one to pick them up. Since the car rentals were under our names, and were not transferable, our friends had to scrounge up a car. Finally, my friend approached the counter and firmly told the agent we were getting on the next flight to Orlando. It worked, but it only made me think we should have pitched a fit earlier. Seriously, when you are understanding and cooperative, the airlines take advantage of you.
24 hours later, we finally arrive into Orlando where our friends pick us up in a car I can only remember as a Ford Aspire!
Last January, my pregnant wife, 3-1/2 year-old son, and I were already not looking forward to our long return trip from Florida to San Francisco, connecting through Dallas. In Dallas, we sat at our departure gate patiently (my young son less so) as our scheduled departure time came and went. The gate desk started to swarm with curious and worried passengers. The desk agent began issuing unsatisfying "we will update you in 10 minutes" announcements every 10 minutes without resolution. Finally, more than an hour after our scheduled departure time, she announced that there would be a gate and equipment change and that we would need to get to the new gate on the other side of the airport as soon as possible for immediate boarding. The collective groan of a couple hundred irritated passengers was followed by the massive horde's frantic race to the new gate.
ReplyDeleteAs all your readers probably know, DFW has five terminals connected by an elevated tram system (Skylink). Gathering up more carry-ons than we had shoulders, we loaded the kid in the stroller, raced to the elevator, up to the Skylink, waited for the tram, packed into the tram with the plane-load of other complaining passengers, sweated through all the mandatory stops along the way to our final stop, unpiled out of the tram, scrambled to the elevator, took it down to the concourse, and ran all the way to the new gate. Boarding the alternate plane was chaotic and was made all the more unpleasant by the grousing passengers whose sense of entitlement increased exponentially as their perception of inconvenience worsened. Getting strollers gate-checked, kid settled, and carry-ons stowed was an exercise in patience and self-restraint. Meanwhile, the guy sitting across from us kept berating the flight attendants (who had to make the cross-airport run with us) demanding to speak with a supervisor. Sadly, there was also a quadraplegic on our flight who needed special assistance across the airport and up and down the airplane aisle. Eventually, we all got into our seats looking forward to the relief of finally departing. The door was closed, we pulled back, and we waited.
And we waited and waited, sweating in stale recycled air on the tarmac for nearly an hour. Thankfully, my young son was being remarkably well-behaved (it could have gotted really ugly), but the dull roar of muttered complaints throughout the plane swelled. Finally, the pilot made an announcement beginning with "For those of you who might be curious about the smell of smoke in the cabin...", continuing with an explanation of a horrible problem with one of the engines, and concluding with the fact that we were going to have to return to the gate, deplane, and board another airplane at another gate.
There comes a point when your situation becomes so ridiculous that you are too tired to be upset and you have to just smile and shake your head. Thankfully, about a third of the passengers had reached that point as we sat at our third departure gate of the day. I overheard another woman on our flight recalling how her flight mishaps traced back to Europe about 24 hours prior when a cancellation of her flight with a first-class seat left her scrambling for a coach seat across the Atlantic, then fighting to get onto a connecting flight from New York to Dallas, only to find herself in this fiasco. She was just way too exhausted to be upset. Unfortunately, the majority of passengers on the flight still had the energy to be flamingly irate. We spent the little focus we had left trying to mentally shut out overhearing their complaints.
Eventually, we boarded the third plane and made it home--tired, late, and inconvenienced, but safe.