How to Survive the Summer Airline Stampede
Tips to Reduce Stress as You Brave the Crowds
As numerous articles have pointed out in the last week, there are some airports -- Atlanta, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami and San Jose -- that are just going to continue to be screening bottlenecks, largely because of the way things are laid out physically. And while almost all of us are now acutely aware that arriving at the airport only an hour ahead of a flight is akin to a bad bluff at poker, you may not be aware of how many other airport traps you can avoid by religiously taking a few simple steps every time you fly.
Use the Internet
First, remember that the airlines really don't want to talk to you if they don't have to -- not because you're not fun to converse with, but because talking to anyone costs them personnel time, which translates to money, which they don't like to spend. Almost all airlines now have electronic ticketing, and the majority allow you to check in the night before by computer and print your own boarding pass.
Please do this. In the case of Southwest Airlines, of course, it's an even bigger deal, since checking in 24 hours ahead by computer may mean the difference between boarding while there are still plenty of overhead bins available -- The "A" list, in other words -- and being at the back of the cattle drive (Sorry. I'm from Texas. Such analogies come naturally.)
In the case of all other airlines, checking in by PC or Mac 24 hours ahead means giving yourself a special line at the counter to use for checking your bag -- thus bypassing those 300 passengers waiting like, uh, sheep in line. And -- if you're not checking anything -- it means you don't have to visit the ticket counter at all.
Trust me. Front ticket counter agents are nice people when they're at home or on the beach somewhere, but you don't want to meet them when they're behind their counter and the day has grown heavy with angry passengers.
Also, when you're working through the airline's Web site, look for special capabilities such as entering your pager or cell phone number so that a reservations agent -- or some artificial voice like HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" -- can reach you if there's a major change in schedule, or sometimes even gate changes -- best sent to the screen of PDAs and beepers.
