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TSA: The Misses Just Keep Comin'

We've unfortunately heard a lot of news lately about the TSA's inability to detect bomb components during airport screening (unless they're tipped off first, that is).  Now, the latest frightening development:  the Government Accountability Office conducted covert tests at 19 airport checkpoints earlier this summer and was able to smuggle liquid explosives and detonators past security at each one.  The Associated Press report details some discouraging examples, including:

• On March 23, a TSA screener would not let one investigator through a checkpoint with a small, unlabeled bottle of shampoo, even though it was a legitimate carry-on item. But the same investigator was able to bring through a liquid component of bomb that would start a fire.
• On May 8, an investigator placed coins in his pockets to ensure he would receive a secondary screening at the checkpoint. But after doing a pat-down and using an electronic hand wand, the screener was not able to catch the prohibited items the investigator brought through the checkpoint.

Doesn't exactly give you that warm holiday-travel feeling, does it? 

For anyone wondering whether it would be less risky just to drive your family to your holiday destination, there is some good news.  More cars made the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's safest cars list than ever before.  Of course, I don't think the IIHS tested the likelihood of family members strangling one another during the car trip, so you'll have factor in that part yourself when making the fly/drive comparison.

TSA Can't Even Cheat Right

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how TSA screeners at some airports had failed miserably at detecting decoy explosives, missing between 60% to 75% of the decoys.  Well, it seems the TSA lacked confidence in its screeners' abilities long before those results came out.  The Associated Press reports that, in an April 2006 e-mail, a TSA official warned a dozen recipients, including airport security staff, about an upcoming undercover security screening test.  The e-mail included descriptions of the testers' physical appearance and alterations they had made to their travel documents. 

Once this information became public, the TSA responded that they are "confident in the overall integrity of the program" and that tip-offs are not a systematic problem because they "do so much testing."  Frankly, I think the easier response would've been, "If we were cheating, do you really think our test results would be this bad?"

Let's all hope not.

The Sounds of Hotel Silence

A recent NY Times article discusses a new (and welcome) focus by hotels:  soundproofing.  Chains, always competing to offer the best amenities to prospective travelers, have finally figured out two of the most important amenities:  peace and quiet.  Some efforts include:

• AmericInn chain's "SoundGuard" program, in which the hotel uses masonry blocks filled with sound-deadening foam, in addition to drywall that is 5/8-inch thick, instead of ½-inch, to muffle noise.
• Loews Hotels has been offering free sound-masking machines that emit white noise for light-sleeping guests.
• Luxury hotels like Le Parker Meridien New York have eliminated most of the internal doors that once connected two guest rooms, a prime noise source.

While people find an amazing array of things to complain about when it comes to hotel rooms (no in-room coffee maker!  spotty wireless!), there are really four major complaints one can make about a hotel stay:

1. Bad/inconvenient location;
2. Dirty rooms;
3. Small Rooms; and
4. Noisy.

In this Internet age, if you're not happy with a hotel's location, you have nobody to blame but yourself.  There's no reason to rely on a hotel's statement that it's in "the middle of it all" when you can just look at Mapquest and travel review sites to figure out that "it all" is short for "skid row."    Complaints two through four are tougher to predict ahead of time, as a hotel room's cleanliness, size, and noisiness can vary from room to room.  Also, individual travelers' tolerance for these issues varies.  A hard-of-hearing neat freak might really value a noisy but clean room, whereas a light sleeper would rather sleep on a dirt pile than listen to the elevator dinging all night. 

On that note, families with children probably value quiet more than your average traveler.  First, you don't want anything waking your kids up in the middle of the night, because they might not go back to sleep, and they'll quickly advise you of this fact.  Second, if you have a crying baby or rambunctious pre-teens, you'll be less stressed if you know their cries and screams are muffled by the walls separating you from your neighbor. 

So, you can keep your rain shower heads, your eucalyptus bath products, and your in-room pilates kit.  None of those things make me feel nearly as good as eight hours of uninterrupted sleep by Travelin' Junior will.  I'll be on the lookout for the latest in noise reduction.  Exhibit A:  AmericInn, the beautiful.

On the Bright Side, They Caught 100% of Explosives Hidden in Water Bottles

Big news today regarding airport screeners' inability to detect decoy explosives.  TSA screeners at O'Hare security checkpoints missed 60% of simulated explosives hidden in agents' carry-ons or clothing.  The failure rate at LAX was 75%. 

The TSA's explanation?  Testing is much tougher today, as the mock bomb components are often no bigger than a pen cap.  According to the visual from one TV report I saw, older tests used fake bombs with large, ticking clocks attached to taped-together sticks of dynamite.  That's great for stopping Wile E. Coyote.  It's probably not as effective for catching terrorists. 

In these times, most passengers think about air safety whenever they fly.  Parents traveling with children, or parents traveling without their children, may think about it even more.  Will the latest news discourage anyone from taking trips?  Probably not many.   But, it may become more difficult to go through those security lines with a smile.  When we use our one free arm to collapse and uncollapse strollers, remove infants' shoes for x-ray, and dump out sippy cups, we do so in the name of increased safety.  If heightened procedures aren't yielding heightened results, maybe it's time to reevaluate.