Solution to NFL Football Arenas Instituting Strict Bag Rules

This isn’t directly related to carry-on luggage for air travel, but I wanted to make a quick recommendation for a product I regularly use. This week, the U.S. National Football League announced a systemwide policy that prohibits taking any bags into an arena for one of their football games. I suspect this is the NFL’s …

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Will you be opting out this weekend?

Website Infowars.com has declared this Thanksgiving week as “Out Opt and Film Week,” similar to an opt-out protest held two years ago around TSA check-points at U.S. airports. To be honest, I hadn’t heard about this protest until I read about from Christopher Elliott’s post at Huffington Post. I know why people want to opt …

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Travel-Friendly Liquid Water Enhancers

There’s a new product on the market that lets you flavor a glass (or bottle) of water. Called Mio (“mee-yo”), what makes them different from products like Kool-Aid or Crystal Light mix is that Mio already comes in liquid form. The bottles contain a little over 1.5 fluid ounces, and yield roughly two dozen “servings” …

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November 24 is National Opt-Out Day

Are you uncomfortable with the thought of having a “naked picture” of yourself visible to airport security? Are you worried about the radiation exposure you get from the full-body scans, like a lot of airline pilots are? Do you think a full-body scan using advanced imaging technology is breaching your privacy? Do you think that …

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Ever had a laptop stolen at an airport?

Surprise, you’re not alone. According to an article in the New York Times, approximately 12,000 laptops are stolen per week from airports around the world.  Each week. There are some things you can do. Consider using a checkpoint-friendly laptop bag that lets you lay out your laptop bag on the security screening conveyor belt instead …

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Post-December 25 air travel

Stuff is flying (and I don’t mean airplanes) since the foiled bomb attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines flight 253, specifically on how the government and airlines are reacting. The Transportation Security Administration under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security umbrella issued Security Directive SD 1544-09-06, which it sent to all airlines and …

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How to get through airport security smoothly

Maybe you do most of your travels by car, or you’ve just never had the chance to fly before. As much as I’ve flown, I still get little baby butterflies (hmm… caterpillars?) in my stomach right as we take off. I know it’s all physics and engineering, and that it’s safer to fly than it …

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Heavy Metal: Airport security and body piercing jewelry

Let’s talk about body piercings today. No no, don’t run away. If you don’t have any, read on with morbid curiosity. If you have them, please stay, because this affects you directly as it relates to going through airport security. Do you wear body jewelry in private places and you’re worried that you may set …

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Clear Pass Going Bye-Bye

In case you hadn’t heard, the Clear Pass system (which I’ve mentioned before) is going bye-bye. If you go to FlyClear.com right now, you see the following message: Clear Lanes Are No Longer Available. At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been …

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