Sleeping in Airports blog

photo uploaded by publik16.

It’s probably no secret to you that the body scanners are coming to an airport near you…..

After trial runs at several airports such as Amsterdam, Moscow, Manchester, New York City and Kelowna, more airports are installing the controversial scanners that can see through your clothes.

The machines, which produce a three-dimensional outline of a person’s naked body, would only be used when a secondary screening in required.  According to Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, the individual viewing the scan would not see the person’s face in the line-up and there are safeguards to delete the image immediately after the person leaves the portal.

But a sense of invasion still exists and to alleviate this concern, people singled out for this extra screening would have the choice of the full-body scan or the pat down.

As someone who has a metal plate and 16 pins in her leg (from a car accident), I ALWAYS get pulled over for the secondary screening.  For me this is not a case of “if” I have to do a secondary screen, it is “when” I have to do the secondary screen. The pat downs are embarrassing, but am I looking forward to being xrayed instead?  No!

Having said that, new things can be scary.  With time and evidence that some pervy security guy is not sitting in a room with his cell phone taking photos of the scans and posting them on his Twitter account, maybe then I will choose the scans over the pat downs.

What about you?  What are your thoughts on the Body Scans vs Pat Downs issue?

A few months back I posted a poll that asked the question “What is the worst thing that happened to you at the airport?” With over 5600 people participating, we had an amazing response!

Surprisingly, 1350 travellers live a “privileged life” in which nothing bad has ever happened to them at the airport.  Must be nice (and kind of boring)!  According to 950 respondents, the top complaint on the poll was lost luggage.  With increased security procedures and a shortage of baggage handlers, its not surprising that millions of bags are delayed each year.  I know my own suitcase has been to more airports than I have.

In other results, I was one of the 371 travellers who reported that being “touched inappropriately by security” was the worst thing to happen to them at the airport. As the full body xray scanner begins more trials in world airports, I don’t think I’ll be feeling any less violated going through the hassles of airport security in the future.

34 parents responded that they had lost or misplaced their children somewhere in the airport.  An interesting follow-up question might have been, “did you do lose them intentionally?”.

On the lighter side of the poll, 143 travellers claim to have been tasered at the airport and another 257 people claim to have discovered they were on a terrorist watch list whilst travelling via the US.  Oh, you jokers!  :-)  The poll was obviously just for fun, but here are the full results:

RESULTS: “What is the worst thing that happened to you at the airport?”

24% -I live a privileged life and nothing bad ever happens to me (1,350)
17% -The airline lost my luggage (950)
15% -I had to stay overnight in an airport (867)
10% -I missed my flight connection (586)
7% -I was touched inappropriately by security (371)
5% -I arrived more than 6 hours EARLY or LATE by accident (281)
5% -I travelled via the US and discovered that I am apparently on a terrorist watch list (257)
4% -I was asked for a bribe by local airport employees (211)
3% -I was not allowed to board a flight because of airline hassles (192)
3% -I was strip searched (168)
3% -I ate something bad at the airport and became sick/needed to use the washroom a lot (161)
3% -I was tasered (143)
1% -I was not allowed to board a flight because of local government hassles (71)
1% -I lost or “misplaced” my kids (34)

Last week we launched our first Budget Travel Survey. In this survey, we asked questions like where do you find the best airfare and accommodation deals, what is the best travel site and guide book and what are the best and worst airlines.  I’ll be running this survey until December and I’ll post the results in mid-December.  Please take a few minutes to send us your feedback.  Click Here to Begin

If I’m missing something that you think should be added to the list or if you would like to share one of your experiences, share it comments.

If you like this poll, share it with your friends.

Last week we asked, what job would you be most suited for if you had to work in an airport or the airline industry.

We ran the poll a little longer this week, but the results are in and here are your picks:

# 1 PILOT
Those who voted, apparently kick ass in flight simulator video games or were inspired by this video that made flying a plane sooooooo much fun.  Check it out below.

# 2 CUSTOMS / IMMIGRATION OFFICER
If you picked this as your dream airport job, then you are probably rude and suspicious of everyone, including members of your own family.

# 3 TARMAC GUY
You know ….. the guy on the tarmac wearing the big headphones that waves the planes into and away from the gate.  It sure looks like a fun job.  This is the one I picked…hahaha.  :-))

Runners Up:
Flight attendant, Check-in/Gate Agent, Air Marshall and Air Traffic Control

Thanks for participating.  If you have a poll idea that you would like to share, leave it in comments or email editor@sleepinginairports.com.  If we run it you’ll receive credit and a link back to your site if we run it.

I know this will require a big stretch of the imagination, but imagine that airports and airlines were the only places to get jobs.  What job would you be most qualified for?

To help you decide on your future career, here are some of the duties or qualifications:

• Air Traffic Control - you work well under pressure and can drink hazardous amounts of coffee.
• Pilot - you always get the highest score when playing flight simulator video games.   You also look good in uniform.
• Flight Attendant - you prefer to serve airplane food rather than eat it.
• Air Marshall - sitting on a plane pretending to be a paying customer, but with a gun and permission to use it when the passengers get out of hand, sounds like fun to you.
• Customs / Immigration Officer - you are rude and suspicious of everyone, including members of your own family.
• Check-in/Gate Agents - you can type fast and you value meaningless chatter with your co-workers over assisting customers who are trying to reach their final destination.
• Baggage Handler - you have a tendency to throw and misplace things.
• Aircraft Mechanic - you are highly skilled with electronics.  Your friends and family always call you when they need someone to set up their PVRs/TiVos.
• The person on the tarmac wearing the big headphones who waves the planes into/away from the gate - because it looks like fun!
• Airport Cleaner - you are a neat freak.  Your motto is “if its on the floor, I clean it up”… this includes people who are trying to sleep.
• Security - all the other jobs were taken.

Thanks to everyone who voted in last week’s Best Airline Poll.  After cleaning up all duplicate votes and ballot stuffing for this airline in particular (why do some of you insist on doing that?), Emirates still came out on top with 22 votes. Emirates new Airbus attracted a lot of attention last year with its plush new business and first class cabins.  Economy class is still just economy class.

not many of us can afford first class / source: wikipedia

Runners up:
# 2 - Singapore Airlines (18)
# 3 - Lufthansa (12)
# 4 - Finnair (11)
# 5 - Cathay Pacific and British Airways (8)

So now, tell us why you consider these airlines the best.  How do they stand out to you?

In this week’s poll, let’s honour the best airlines out there today. What is the BEST airline flying today? Which airline makes you feel like someone of importance?  Which airline feeds you a proper meal that does not arrive on your tray in plastic wrap?  Which airline makes the effort to provide you with a pleasurable travel experience?  Which airline would you actually pay a higher fare to fly on?

This is just the short list, if the airline you think should be listed here is not, then just mention it in the “other” box. No ballot stuffing please. Your duplicate votes just get deleted anyways.