New travel security measures looking grim.

[chrisinhouston]

Well, I'm sure there will be more changes coming in light of the Nigerian who had some kind of bomb in his underwear but from what I'm hearing this morning, I hope me and the Mrs. don't need to go overseas until things settle down. From several websites I have learned:

1. Domestic flights of 90 minutes or less, no one gets up, period.
2. International flights, no one gets up for the last hour and nothing on your lap (not sure if this includes reading material).
3. Longer security lines, more intense personal screenings and plenty of re-screenings (esp. carry-ons) at the gates.
4. International flight passengers only allowed one carry-on of any kind. not sure if this means one as in a coat is a carry-on or not counted or what. This sucks for photographers like me with long lenses.
5. Many more missed connections due to increased security. For instance, I used to think a 2 hour layover at a connection was enough time to get off of my plane and get to the next gate for domestic and 3 hours for international but maybe not anymore.
6. Several airlines have shut down all in flight entertainment systems on international flights which sucks on a very long flight and especially if they restrict carry-ons like reading materials.

On the bright side, it could mean more travel specials to entice people to travel and more airlines like my main one, Continental, doing double frequent flyer qualifying miles offers.