By David Cole
Chicago---Frequent flyers may have noticed that lines are generally longer these days at Transportation Security Administration screening check-points.
According to syndicated columnist Arthur Frommer ("The Budget Traveler"), the TSA over-estimated the popularity of the pre-check option that allows flyers to skirt the lines after plunking down $85 and completing a background check.
Unfortunately, the TSA embraced the faulty estimate without waiting for reality to hit. It went ahead and budgeted for fewer workers.
The result: Longer lines, frayed nerves and missed flights.
Take O'Hare's Terminal 3 during Monday's 7 a.m. rush.
The wait: 55 minutes, according to #2 son Evan. The line was so long that it interfered with flyers who were trying to make their way to baggage check-in counters, he texted.
Evan's O.J. Simpson-styled sprint--and that of at least eight other travelers who were trying to catch a Spirit flight to New Orleans--literally fell a few seconds short of the mark.
Time to cool down and rebook.
Spirit--to its credit--didn't charge a re-booking fee. (Fees for anything and everything are what the discount airline is famous for.)
To read the complete column from the "Budget Traveler," click here.
-0-