JessBlake

Based on the research done by Basex (outlined here: http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler....r-poor-rating/), frequent flyers unanimously agree the TSA is handling things poorly.

What are your thoughts on the TSA? Do you think they deserve this rating or are people being too harsh? There have also been high-profile TSA busts in the news recently. Would examples such as the Jacksonville faux-bomber sway your opinion? http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifest...716_story.html

Iowa_Redhead

I think that many of the actual agents are fine. They do their job as politely as they reasonably can. Unfortunately many of the people are not fine and are schmucks and are looking for any reason to act like a bully.

I recently flew through O'Hare and Heathrow. The agent at Heathrow went through my entire carryon bag (a power cord plug looked funny on the monitor he said at the end). The agents at Heathrow were polite, they were careful with my stuff, they didn't treat me like a terrorist and they were as efficient as they could be. The agents at O'Hare were glazed over to the point of being zombies and weren't careful with my stuff. Even though I walked through security with no issues at O'Hare and had to wait for my bag to be searched at Heathrow, O'Hare is the one that made me come away annoyed. TSA would improve the public impression if they would simply be friendly and would treat things as a simple "something looks funny on the monitor, we need to check that a bit further please" rather than giving people the stink eye and treating them like a threat right off the bat. Simply treating my stuff with courtesy would go a long way. Don't unpack it and just slam stuff around, don't put stuff on the edge of the table so my clothes fall to the dirty floor.

It would help a LOT if they would give logical reasons for some of their regulations. It's hard to respect an agency who says two 3 oz bottles are completely safe but a 4 oz bottle is dangerous. That's idiotic. Limit liquids to whatever fits in containers inside a quart size ziplock if you want to limit liquids.

Rastaguytoday

I severely injured a shoulder over the weekend and flew this Tuesday from GSO - SJC.

The TSA folks went out of their way to accommodate me. I've flown a lot in my life, but this is certainly the nicest that they've been.

Usually, it's a nuisance you put up with for 5 minutes.

JessBlake

There a lot of good people who work for the TSA, it's just a shame that some people go into the line of work for the wrong reasons.

NoFlyZone

I've never been treated politely and respectfully (not counting the "barkers" but they're just yelling) because I reluctantly play their game. I've seen too many of them behaving badly with other travelers.

sparkchaser

Having recently flown out of PHL, MCI, and EWR, I have to say that either my expectations have gotten lower or their training has gotten better because while inconvenient as always, I didn't really have an issue with the TSA even as I opted out of their Nude-o-cancer-scope.

laurie_ann

I travel often and have no complaints with TSA. In the last month I had to be rescreened twice. Once because a security tag in a new piece of clothing looked "funny" and once because while I took a water bottle out of my bag and threw it out just before security I forgot I really had two water bottles in my bag. They were very polite.

I only wish that they used better "work arounds" when someone has to be attended to. In two recent trips I had the passenger in front of me stopped twice and get in a big discussion with the TSA agent about what was permitted. In one case a man had Costco size versions of shampoo, mouthwash, shaving cream etc. and didn't realize he was limited to 3-1-1 and in another case a woman apparently knew all about the 3 and the first 1 but not the last 1 because she had eight quart bags of small liquids. In both cases the entire line was held up while the discussion went on rather than TSA taking the person aside to get to a conclusion.

sparkchaser

<i>I only wish that they used better "work arounds" when someone has to be attended to.</i>

I am all for a "special" lane.

First/business class get their own lanes. I think it's only fair that the travel challenged get their own too. And pay the TSA double for having to deal with them.

travelgourmet

Just to get it out of the way... The "poll" is not really a "poll", so any 85% number is pretty much garbage. We know that 85% of those answering the question were negative, but they weren't a random sample, even of the visitors to Flyertalk. Heck, they aren't actually frequent fliers for the most part! And Flyertalk is a relentlessly negative place. That goes double for the TSA-type forums on the site.

I think the TSA is good enough and I have never had any significant issues.

Frankly, I think that a lot of people complain about the TSA unnecessarily and many take their bad attitude to the airport with them. I also think a LOT of people take isolated news stories as indicative of trends when they are just anecdotes. Considering the millions of people flying in the US, if the TSA were half as bad as the whiners make them out to be, then the "problem" would be much more apparent. Instead, we get a few random stories here or there. Hardly the sort of endemic problems that justify the irrational hatred of the TSA.

<i>I've never been treated politely and respectfully (not counting the "barkers" but they're just yelling) because I reluctantly play their game.</i>

Respect is a two-way street. You don't come across as offering much yourself.

sparkchaser

<i>And Flyertalk is a relentlessly negative place. That goes double for the TSA-type forums on the site.</i>

Accurate but they are a good resource for latest travel developments.

NoFlyZone

Ha! I neglected to type the "not" into my post above! (wish we could edit) It obviously makes no sense as it stands and should have read:

I've never not (or always if you prefer) been treated politely and respectfully (not counting the "barkers" but they're just yelling) because I reluctantly play their game.

travelgourmet

<i>Accurate but they are a good resource for latest travel developments.</i>

Absolutely. It just wouldn't be the place I would go to get an accurate picture of satisfaction with the TSA.

CubFanAlways

I don't acknowledge them or even make eye contact. My response to an organization that won't profile when the top 25 international terrorists are all from the Middle East. (Source: fbi.gov)

travelgourmet

CubFanAlways, good for you. You are a true patriot. Thanks for fighting the good fight.

bigtyke

It tells me that 15% of people are brain dead

flpab

90% are good people, lot of retired military, retired NYPD and NYFD at my local airport in Fl. I think most hate the crap as much as we do and they have people in DC telling them what to do and enforce. They get just as angry over the stupid rules that DC sends down. It is hard when some airports have precheck and others don't. People are like sheep and want it to be the same everywhere. I hate being behind a person that is ocd and takes forever to unload and then won't move on the other end. Germany has a great system with their bins. They have a conveyor belt and those bins move.