Attention all frequent fliers, travel bargain hunters, last minute travelers, business travelers, road warriors, discount airfare shoppers and seasoned travel veterans. I am working to save you time and money!

The Road Warrior has a little advice for you.

Like it or not everyone who travels by air needs to proceed through the security screening process. It doesn't make if you are a frequent flier, a discount airfare wizard or a business traveler. I would like to take a few minutes to cover a few basics that can make the process go much faster and with minimal frustration. Most of this information can be found at the Transportation Security Administration website. The more prepared we travelers are the better it is for the Transportation Security Officers and the passengers.

Know what is in your carry-on bags. One mistake that I sometimes make is I will check my roll-aboard on the trip home so I don't have to hunt for overhead space on the airplane. As I also have a garment bag that must be check anyway. (Suits and dress shirts don't fair to well in my suitcase). Then on my next trip I will carry it on and forget that I put something liquid in it for the trip home. Then TSA spots with the x-ray machine and I have to spend 5-10 minutes having my bag gone through. All this because I did not take an extra 30 seconds to inspect what I had inside my Travelpro rollaboard before I repacked for my next trip. The guidelines for liquids in carry-on baggage is as follows:

I always travel with a backpack for my laptop. I take my cellphones, change, keys, money clip, watch, etc. into one of the side pockets. Always the pocket on the right. My belt goes in the center compartment. (don't worry my pants will stay up without the belt) That way all of my metal objects go through the x-ray machine and zip right through the metal detector.
Remember that everyone is required to take their shoes off and place them in a bin to go through the x-ray machine. So as I am waiting in line I will untie my shoes and tuck the laces into my shoes so I am sure not to trip on them. That would be a little embarassing to trip over my own shoestrings and knock over the stack of bins. Not that it has ever happened to me.

In addition to removing your shoes (which seems a little bit unsanitary to me), you need to remove any metallic objects including heavy jewelry and belt buckles and place them in the bin to be scanned. To me the time it takes to take my belt off and put it on after I have breezed through the security process is much less than having the machine buzz and then they get out the wand and give me the magical once over.

You laptop needs to be taken out of your carrying case and placed in it's very own bin
Treat the agents with kindness and respect. They deal with frustrated and grumpy travelers all day. And it is my observation that most travelers bring the problems on to themselves by not taking a moment or two to prepare before you stand on line at the security check point. As my Grandma always said, "A little bit of kindness goes a long way"

Happy trails to all you frequent fliers, travel bargain hunters, last minute travelers, business travelers, road warriors, discount airfare shoppers and all of us seasoned veterans. May your flights leave on time, your turbulence be minimal and your luggage be at your destination waiting for you.

Scott A Bell