By Ann Carrns of the New York Times:
Not only are extra fees for checked bags annoying, but they nearly caused me to miss a flight.
Last Friday, while my family gulped down breakfast before leaving for
a weekend trip, I dealt with a last-minute, work-related technology
snafu and went through a mental travel check list. Cancel delivery of
the newspapers? Yes. Stop mail? Yes. All that was left was to check in
online and print out the boarding passes. I grabbed my wallet to pay the
$50 in advance for two checked bags to save time at the airport.
We then piled into the minivan, dropped our dog off at the kennel and
headed to the airport, congratulating ourselves that, for once, we were
on schedule.
Our self-satisfaction -- or at least, mine -- evaporated, though,
when we arrived at the airport, I opened my purse and discovered that my
wallet was missing. I quickly realized that after using my credit card
to pay for the checked bags, I had left my wallet on my desk. At home.
With my driver's license (photo identification) in it.
There wasn't time to go home and get my wallet. I would have missed
the flight. And my family didn't want to go ahead without me. So we
approached an agent at the security checkpoint, handed him our boarding
passes and explained the situation.
He wasn't amused. (Are security agents, ever?) But, after asking my
husband and children to step aside, he summoned a colleague -- some sort
of "no photo identification" specialist -- to deal with me.
According to the Transportation Security Administration's Web site,
a federal- or state-issued photo identification is required to fly.
But, the site adds: "We understand passengers occasionally arrive at the
airport without an ID due to lost items or inadvertently leaving them
at home. Not having an ID does not necessarily mean a passenger won't be
allowed to fly. If passengers are willing to provide additional
information, we have other means of substantiating someone's identity,
like using publicly available databases."
The special T.S.A. agent had me sign a form, allowing the agency to
verify my identity. He asked me if I had any other form of
identification (I didn't), or if my husband had anything in his wallet
that had my name on it. (Again, no.) I did have a checkbook, bearing
checks that had both my name and my husband's, so I handed that over for
him to examine. Then, he called someone else on his phone, and asked me
some questions -- things like my previous addresses and my date of
birth. It reminded me of the online verification process you go through
when opening a bank account or obtaining your credit report.
Apparently I answered satisfactorily, because the agent was finally
given a number that he jotted on my boarding pass, before waving me on
to be screened. The process took about 15 to 20 minutes. I asked if I
could have some sort of documentation of the screening process for my
return flight, but he shook his head. "Make sure you get to the airport
early," he advised, in case the screening process took longer on the
trip home. (It didn't. The process was much the same, although I was
asked slightly different versions of the screening questions, and had my
hands swabbed before being sent on my way.)
We made our outgoing flight with a few minutes to spare, but the
whole process was very stressful. I know that it's ultimately my fault
that I left my wallet behind in the rush to get out of the house. But I
can't help but blame the airline's extra baggage fees. If I hadn't had
to grab my credit card from wallet to pay for them, my wallet wouldn't
have been out of my purse in the first place.
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