Travel lessons worth learning

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 05/19/02

		Sensible traveler  Destinations  Where they went  Travel gear  Student travel

On a recent trip to Florida, I learned a few things that were helpful to me and might be of use to you. If you have sensible tips of your own, send them along and in a future column I'll share them with fellow travelers.

Lesson One: I arrived at Logan International Airport early on a Saturday morning, one hour and 45 minutes before my flight. I thought I was there plenty early, until I saw the long lines of people waiting outside at the curb to check luggage with the skycaps. Inside, the lines at the American Airlines counter were much longer. They snaked back and forth through the roped-off waiting area and stretched way down the terminal. It looked as though it might take as much as an hour to get through the line.

Since Sept. 11 and given all the stories about security snafus, I had assumed there would be a fairly short wait at the check-in counters and long lines to get through security. But it was just the opposite - long lines at the check-in counters while getting through security was a 10- to 15-minute wait.

An American Airlines employee up toward the counter yelled out the numbers of upcoming flights, moving people to the front of the line who were in danger of missing their flights. I asked him whether I should check my bags with the skycaps outside or wait in the much longer lines inside. He gave me a neutral answer, saying I could go either way. He reminded me there was a small fee per bag to use the skycaps.

I went with the skycaps, and was glad I did. It took only about 20 minutes to get our bags checked, leaving plenty of time to get a boarding pass at the gate. I gave the skycap $7 for processing four bags.

Phil Orlandella, the spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority at Logan, said there is always congestion at the American terminal on Saturday mornings because the airline has a lot of flights taking off then. He said he prefers using the skycaps (he said the regular fee is $1 a bag), but he cautioned about generalizing where backups occur. He said sometimes the counter lines back up, while at other times, it's the security checkpoint lines.

"It works in cycles, depending on the time of the day and the airline," Orlandella said.

Lesson Two: At the security checkpoint, I took everything out of my pockets and put it all through the X-ray machine. Nevertheless, I set off the magnetometer. A security official waved me to the side, had me spread my arms and legs, and began waving his wand over me.

Aside from a blip at my belt buckle, all went smoothly until he got to my shoes. Something in them set the machine off. The security official had me take my shoes off so he could examine them more closely. When he saw they were Rockports, he acted as if the mystery was solved. Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he said, "Rockports set it off every time."

Marci Lorber, a spokeswoman for Rockport, a division of Reebok, said she was aware the company's shoes send magnetometers into a frenzy. She said a steel shank is located in the sole between the heel and the ball of the foot. She said the design, which is fairly unique to Rockport, enhances flexibility in the shoe and offers greater comfort for the wearer.

The shoes are comfortable, but wearing them to the airport is not a good idea if you want to whisk through security smoothly and quickly. The same goes for platform shoes. According to one official familiar with security at Logan, platform shoes could conceal explosives in the sole so they get closer scrutiny.

"Right now shoes are a hot item," the official said, noting the arrest of suspected terrorist Richard Reid in December for wearing what amounted to sneaker bombs aboard a trans-Atlantic flight.

Lesson Three: I left for Florida on April 20. I would have liked to have gone in February or March, when you really need a break from even a mild winter in New England. But late April was still a nice time to get away, and it had the added advantage of being the beginning of off-season in Florida.

Going off-season means fewer crowds at restaurants, less congestion on the beach and at the pool, and much cheaper rates for lodging. I paid $700 to rent a two-bedroom, 11th-floor apartment with a spectacular view of the Gulf of Mexico on Marco Island. The same unit would have cost me $1,500 just a week earlier during peak season.

Not everyone has the travel flexibility I had, but wherever and whenever you travel, it's worth asking when the off-season begins. It may just cut your costs in half.

hdbrief

Ticket/ID holders

if12xrAfter a recent column mentioning the new ticket/ID holders at Logan, several people e-mailed asking where they could get them. Some said they had recently traveled through Logan and hadn't seen them.

I called Massport spokesman Jose Juves and was told the ticket/ID holders are available at all the security checkpoints. If you don't spot them, he said, ask a Massport official for help in locating them.

You might recall my skepticism about them. No more. I saw first-hand on this trip how the endless digging in wallets and purses for identification and tickets can slow lines to a crawl.

Bruce Mohl can be reached by

e-mail at mohl@globe.com.