Saturday, July 6, 2013

The TSA does care

Remember last year when we flew to SFO and had a terrible experience out of DFW (held us in security for an hour, made Elise cry,we missed our flight)? I'd link to the post, but I'm using the app to blog and I'm not sure it has that capability. 

When we decided to go to FFL, I went back to the TSA website to see if there was anything I could do to make the process less painful, and I found something called "TSA Cares". You call a number, tell them you are travelling with a child with type 1, let them know your flight number and time, and they basically give you a liaison that meets you to help you through the security screening.

In our case, we were called a few days prior to our flight, and L explained how it would work. Then, the day of, he called again and even notified us of a gate change.

As we pulled up to the gate, he met us at our car and escorted us to security. Bypassing the line, he then opened up a lane just for us and had a team working on getting us through. The rest of us walked through the machine and Elise was allowed to walk through a separate door.

Now, they did open up every one of our carry-on bags and wipe everything down, but they allowed me to pull out the items that I did not want going through the X-ray. All in all, we were through in about 20 minutes, and it was completely pain-free.

I know we usually blast the TSA about our negative experiences, but they really went above and beyond in our case. I don't know if it's like this at every airport, but give TSA Cares a try... The number is 1-855-787-2227.

10 comments:

  1. Great information to know Joanne! Hope you have a wonderful time with "friends"...can't wait to hear all about it! xoxo

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  2. Wow, I haven't flown in years but I will keep this in mind the next time we do. Hope you enjoy your trip!

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  3. Ahhh WOW. That is awesome. Have fun!

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  4. Wow! I'm calling. Thank you!!

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  5. Great to know! I saw that number, but have never used it. So glad it worked for you and Elise!

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  6. OMG - this is life changing. We don't fly much, but I will surely be looking into this the next time we do! That's awesome!

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  8. What great news! When my daughter had such a difficult time at the airport 2 years ago I sent a really angry letter to TSA. I'm glad all the letters and complaints are finally making TSA change their ways when dealing with PWDs & CWDs! =)

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  9. So glad to hear about this - widely shared it, thanks!! Could've used this program when we nearly missed our connection on vacation last week due to TSA fumbling.

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