This is a sobering look into how easy it is for TSA security officers to steal our belongings. This former agent, Pythius Brown, spent 3 years in jail for stealing around $800,000 worth of other people's property over a 4 year period at the Newark New Jersey Airport. In the span of 10 years, around 400 TSA agents have been fired for theft. That's a heck of a lot of people. Brown worked behind the ticket counters, alone, screening baggage.
In spite of the fact that we are told not to put anything of value in our checked luggage, you would be surprised how many people still do.
Keep anything of value with you, and be hyper vigilant as you go through the security check point. When I am being screened, I always have an eye on my carry-on baggage, and I remove any metal that I might have on my body prior to going through the check point.
Sad that TSA is so careless in its screening of potential employees, but as Brown explains, it was just so easy he fell into it without much trouble.
Of course it's not just TSA, you also have flight attendants, and baggage handlers that can steal your belongings.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Flight Attendant Steals Man's i-Pad- Found Using "Find My -iPad" app
I always thought that you could trust your flight attendants, and that if anything was going to wind up stolen on a trip it would be before you boarded the plane. We've all heard the many horror stories about rampant theft by baggage handlers and TSA agents, so I was rather shocked when 43-year-old flight attendant Wendy Ronelle Dye was busted for stealing a Reno, Nevada man's iPad. She claims she intended to give it back, but that's not what police believe, since she had already put some personal info on the tablet.
I've never heard of Horizon Air (it belongs to Alaska Airlines), but Dye was a stewardess on a flight to Los Angeles when the victim left his iPad on the plane. According to Dye a passenger found it on a seat and handed it over to her. She told police that she had every intention of turning it in to Horizon Air officials, but forgot it in her personal bag. Yeah, right. We have one honest passenger and one thieving stewardess who denied, at first, that she even knew anything about a lost iPad.
You might wonder how they even discovered that Dye had the stolen property: the Apple App 'Find My iPad'. It comes with your iPad, and is easy to locate.
Go to Settings. Click on iCLoud, and switch on Find My iPad.
Then if it gets lost, all you have to do is log on to www.icloud.com and you will find all your information. Click on Find My i-Pad and it will pull up a map with the exact location (I just tried this and there was a map of where I live). If you click on devices, you also have the option of playing a sound, locking it, or wiping it clean.
Luckily, the man had downloaded the app a few days before his flight, so he was able to track her down in Oregon where she was arrested. Tablet and man will soon be reunited.
Dye has been charged with theft and has been suspended while the case is being investigated, although it seems pretty cut and dry to me and she should be fired.
When traveling it's very important to keep tabs on all your possessions, at all times. And thanks to Apple, it makes it easy to recover lost or stolen property.
Source: Daily Mail
I've never heard of Horizon Air (it belongs to Alaska Airlines), but Dye was a stewardess on a flight to Los Angeles when the victim left his iPad on the plane. According to Dye a passenger found it on a seat and handed it over to her. She told police that she had every intention of turning it in to Horizon Air officials, but forgot it in her personal bag. Yeah, right. We have one honest passenger and one thieving stewardess who denied, at first, that she even knew anything about a lost iPad.
You might wonder how they even discovered that Dye had the stolen property: the Apple App 'Find My iPad'. It comes with your iPad, and is easy to locate.
Go to Settings. Click on iCLoud, and switch on Find My iPad.
Then if it gets lost, all you have to do is log on to www.icloud.com and you will find all your information. Click on Find My i-Pad and it will pull up a map with the exact location (I just tried this and there was a map of where I live). If you click on devices, you also have the option of playing a sound, locking it, or wiping it clean.
Luckily, the man had downloaded the app a few days before his flight, so he was able to track her down in Oregon where she was arrested. Tablet and man will soon be reunited.
Dye has been charged with theft and has been suspended while the case is being investigated, although it seems pretty cut and dry to me and she should be fired.
When traveling it's very important to keep tabs on all your possessions, at all times. And thanks to Apple, it makes it easy to recover lost or stolen property.
Source: Daily Mail
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Using Frequent-Flyer Miles Almost Impossible Now
I'm planning a trip to Los Angeles to visit my sister for the 4th of July, and I have a bunch of frequent-flyer miles on Delta, Continental, American and British Airways that I can use. At one point in time Frequent-Flyer programmes were definitely worth the effort- that was when you could still get an economy round trip for 25,000 miles. Over the years it has gotten progressively harder and now, it's almost well-nigh impossible. I forfeited 35,000 miles on US Airways because I was never able to find available flights for the amount of miles I had, in spite of the fact that I am usually rather flexible on my travel dates.
This coming trip to L.A. I am also flexible, the only definite is the 4th, but even though I started searching well in advance, not much is available, and forget the 25,000 mile round trip tickets. In fact, out of curiosity, I searched Continental's calendar from now until February 2013 and there was only one flight day available (in November) where you could use 12,500 miles, and that was for ONE WAY. Everything else would cost either 25,000 or 50,000 miles one way. And oddly enough, Business/First Class can be had for the same amount of miles as Coach. Now who is going to choose Coach? Very frustrated, I decided to call Continental to ask whether they had done away with their 25,000 mile round trips, and although she said no, that wasn't the case, she was unable to find anything for less than 50,000 miles round trip. Since I only have a little over 26,000 miles, her only recommendation was to use those miles for one leg of the trip and purchase a one way for the 2nd leg. Apparently, they have some good deals.
I found some flights on Delta, but it will cost me over 35,000 miles. I think American has some 25,000 available, but at ungodly hours.
I have the most miles with British Airways, which I accrued through their amazing credit card deal, but I want to save those for an out-of-the-country trip. I did stop using the card, however, and am about to cancel it, since they actually charge you a fee to use it!
But is it worth being loyal to an airline since they have made it such a challenge to actually use your miles? Frankly, I don't think it is. There are so many great deals that come along, especially if you buy a package which includes hotel, flight, and a car if you need one. And there will always be fare wars. If you travel you might as well get the frequent-flyer miles, but don't necessarily plan on being able to use them.
And the best way to make sure that you don't lose those miles is to get an airline credit card, one you don't have to pay for, that is. And as long as you use it once in a while, you will keep your miles current, and add some, to boot. Maybe some day you'll be able to use them.
Time Magazine has an interesting article, written in 2010, about this problem. And it's only gotten worse.
This coming trip to L.A. I am also flexible, the only definite is the 4th, but even though I started searching well in advance, not much is available, and forget the 25,000 mile round trip tickets. In fact, out of curiosity, I searched Continental's calendar from now until February 2013 and there was only one flight day available (in November) where you could use 12,500 miles, and that was for ONE WAY. Everything else would cost either 25,000 or 50,000 miles one way. And oddly enough, Business/First Class can be had for the same amount of miles as Coach. Now who is going to choose Coach? Very frustrated, I decided to call Continental to ask whether they had done away with their 25,000 mile round trips, and although she said no, that wasn't the case, she was unable to find anything for less than 50,000 miles round trip. Since I only have a little over 26,000 miles, her only recommendation was to use those miles for one leg of the trip and purchase a one way for the 2nd leg. Apparently, they have some good deals.
I found some flights on Delta, but it will cost me over 35,000 miles. I think American has some 25,000 available, but at ungodly hours.
I have the most miles with British Airways, which I accrued through their amazing credit card deal, but I want to save those for an out-of-the-country trip. I did stop using the card, however, and am about to cancel it, since they actually charge you a fee to use it!
But is it worth being loyal to an airline since they have made it such a challenge to actually use your miles? Frankly, I don't think it is. There are so many great deals that come along, especially if you buy a package which includes hotel, flight, and a car if you need one. And there will always be fare wars. If you travel you might as well get the frequent-flyer miles, but don't necessarily plan on being able to use them.
And the best way to make sure that you don't lose those miles is to get an airline credit card, one you don't have to pay for, that is. And as long as you use it once in a while, you will keep your miles current, and add some, to boot. Maybe some day you'll be able to use them.
Time Magazine has an interesting article, written in 2010, about this problem. And it's only gotten worse.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Beware of Travel Scams
I rarely, if ever, win anything of import. Whether raffles or those "be the 4th caller" type competitions, it's always been a waste of time or money. But I recently entered a radio station's on-line competition, then promptly forgot about it until I received a call from the station saying I was the winner - 4 roundtrip tickets anywhere in the 48 contiguous states, worth $1,600 dollars (or $400 per person) and $1,090 to spend on hotel courtesy of Delta Vacations. I was thrilled, to say the least, drove down to the station picked up the paperwork and now all I have to do is figure out where and when. Considering the cost of airline tickets has skyrocketed, I'm not sure if I will wind up owing some money, but it shouldn't be much.
But not all give-away deals are legit, and some are downright scams. You have the timeshare scams that make you sit through a long presentation and then hardsell you into buying into the timeshare, that you may or may not ever use. And the "robo-calls" that travel guru Arthur Frommer talks about in his blog.
Another type of scam, which I'm sure everyone has encountered at some point in time, are those emails from friends or relatives claiming to be stranded in a foreign country, pleading for money. Over the years I have received several from friends and cousins, and they actually looked legit. One from a cousin mentioned she was in London, had lost all her money and needed help to pay the hotel bill. The email address was hers, but it obviously had been hacked. I contacted her son who said it must be a scam because she was not in London. Many claim that with the advent of social networking, it's very easy for scammers to get very personal information from people, though Joanne did not have a Facebook account at the time.
Then there's the shameful grandson travel scam that targets the elderly. These range from bogus traffic accidents in Canada, to being bailed out of jail in Spain and Mexico. Unfortunately, many fall for it.
You'll find a great list of how to tell if something is a potential scam here.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. But don't let that stop you from availing yourself of the legit ones, as I intend to do. Just do your research.
Happy travels.
But not all give-away deals are legit, and some are downright scams. You have the timeshare scams that make you sit through a long presentation and then hardsell you into buying into the timeshare, that you may or may not ever use. And the "robo-calls" that travel guru Arthur Frommer talks about in his blog.
The lesser form of scams involves the use of robo-calls. Your telephone rings, you pick up the receiver, and in quick order you first hear the sound of seagulls, then of waves breaking on the shore, then various bars of maritime-like music, and then the stentorian speech of a gravelly-voiced announcer saying: "This is your captain speaking and I'm inviting you on a cruise -- a free-of-charge cruise".I've never encountered a robo-call, but I have had my fair share of phone and email scams telling me I just won a 2 night stay in Las Vegas, or some other destination. I've also received them in the mail, and they immediately get tossed in the garbage. Frommer also discusses those attempts at scamming the unsavvy, wannabe traveler :
You ultimately pay the small amount of taxes and fees associated with that cruise -- the actual sailing is supposedly free of charge -- and find yourself confined to the deck of a ferry traveling from a port in eastern Florida to the Bahamas, a "cruise" of about two hours. You don't receive a cabin. The small amount you've paid for phony fees and taxes is actually triple the size of a ticket for deck passage that you could have bought on the very same ferry.
The scams currently on view in the world of travel are endlessly ingenious. Some of them tell you that you are the lucky winner of a contest -- that you will be receiving a free vacation simply for paying a registration fee. The reason so many people succumb to these phony announcements is that there actually are legitimate contests, and some people are correctly chosen as winners. But those people receive a registered letter announcing they have won -- and not a recorded phone call. The receipt of a registered letter is perhaps the only persuasive evidence that a contest is on the up-and-up.Although I did not receive a registered letter, I knew mine was legit because I did not have to pay a thing to win the competition.
Another type of scam, which I'm sure everyone has encountered at some point in time, are those emails from friends or relatives claiming to be stranded in a foreign country, pleading for money. Over the years I have received several from friends and cousins, and they actually looked legit. One from a cousin mentioned she was in London, had lost all her money and needed help to pay the hotel bill. The email address was hers, but it obviously had been hacked. I contacted her son who said it must be a scam because she was not in London. Many claim that with the advent of social networking, it's very easy for scammers to get very personal information from people, though Joanne did not have a Facebook account at the time.
Then there's the shameful grandson travel scam that targets the elderly. These range from bogus traffic accidents in Canada, to being bailed out of jail in Spain and Mexico. Unfortunately, many fall for it.
You'll find a great list of how to tell if something is a potential scam here.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. But don't let that stop you from availing yourself of the legit ones, as I intend to do. Just do your research.
Happy travels.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
What You Should Get If You Are Involuntarily Bumped Off Your Flight
The travel industry isn't going to advocate on your behalf when things go wrong during a trip, so it's incumbent upon you to learn the ins and outs and know your rights. We're not always aware of what we are entitled to, so we often lose out.
For example what happens when you get bumped from a flight involuntarily? One couple who wrote to travel ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine, Christopher Elliott, were complaining about a problem they were having with Southwest Airlines. Apparently, they were on their trip home from Fort Myers to Milwaukee when they were informed at the gate that the flight was overbooked.
They had two options:
"take the next available flight" two days later, or "accept a refund of the cost of their return flight."
The family opted for the refund check in the amount of $1,387.20. Problem is, the agent made a mistake in the amount written, and their bank refused the check because of the discrepancy. For almost a year they have been trying to recoup the amount, to no avail. They even contacted the Department of Transportation, but still did not receive the money owed. They finally contacted Elliott to troubleshoot on their behalf. So the family is out the $1,387.20 plus the amount they had to pay for four one-way tickets back to Milwaukee.
Elliott had some interesting information for all travelers, including the Milwaukee family of four: The Department of Transportation requires that airlines compensate travelers for involuntarily being bumped. It's a federal regulation that passengers receive compensation for the value of the portion of the ticket in question. In fact, last year those amounts were increased:
Elliott, managed to get Southwest to overnight the family their check for the $1,387.20 plus a $500.00 travel voucher.
For example what happens when you get bumped from a flight involuntarily? One couple who wrote to travel ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine, Christopher Elliott, were complaining about a problem they were having with Southwest Airlines. Apparently, they were on their trip home from Fort Myers to Milwaukee when they were informed at the gate that the flight was overbooked.
They had two options:
"take the next available flight" two days later, or "accept a refund of the cost of their return flight."
The family opted for the refund check in the amount of $1,387.20. Problem is, the agent made a mistake in the amount written, and their bank refused the check because of the discrepancy. For almost a year they have been trying to recoup the amount, to no avail. They even contacted the Department of Transportation, but still did not receive the money owed. They finally contacted Elliott to troubleshoot on their behalf. So the family is out the $1,387.20 plus the amount they had to pay for four one-way tickets back to Milwaukee.
Elliott had some interesting information for all travelers, including the Milwaukee family of four: The Department of Transportation requires that airlines compensate travelers for involuntarily being bumped. It's a federal regulation that passengers receive compensation for the value of the portion of the ticket in question. In fact, last year those amounts were increased:
The new rules also double the amount of money passengers are eligible to be compensated for in the event they are involuntarily bumped from an oversold flight. Previously, bumped passengers were entitled to cash compensation equal to the one-way value of their tickets, up to $400, if the airline was able to get them to their destination within a short period of time (within 1 to 2 hours of their originally scheduled arrival time for domestic flights and 1 to 4 hours for international flights). If they were delayed for a lengthy period of time (more than two hours after their originally scheduled arrival time for domestic flights and 4 hours for international flights), they were entitled to double the one-way price of their tickets, up to $800. Under the new rule, bumped passengers subject to short delays will receive compensation equal to double the one-way price of their tickets, up to $650, while those subject to longer delays would receive payments of four times the one-way value of their tickets, up to $1,300. Inflation adjustments will be made to those compensation limits every two years.
Elliott, managed to get Southwest to overnight the family their check for the $1,387.20 plus a $500.00 travel voucher.
Monday, May 14, 2012
TSA Pockets Passengers' Change
You know all that spare change that you have in your pockets that you place in plastic bins or bowls before you walk through security checkpoints in airports to avoid setting off the metal detectors? Many people are walking off without retrieving their coins, and the TSA is pocketing that money.
A whopping $409,000.00 plus in coins was left behind in 2010, with the most losses in the following major airports:
Most people don't really care about small coins, I've seen piles of pennies strewn across parking lots, but those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters add up, so it's worth holding on to, and the best place to put that change (and all your other metal) is in a plastic bag inside your carry-on before you leave home.
The TSA has allegedly been using the ill-gotten gains to help fund its operations, but Congress is pushing to change that. Florida Republican Jeff Miller wants that money to go to the USO instead, and introduced a bill to Congress that will do just that.
A House committee passed the measure, next it goes to the full House for approval.
A whopping $409,000.00 plus in coins was left behind in 2010, with the most losses in the following major airports:
Passengers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York left the most change in 2010 ($46,918.06), followed by Los Angeles International ($19,110.83), Hartsfield Atlanta International ($16,523.83), San Francisco International ($15,908.02), and Miami International ($15,844.83), according to the TSA.Of the $409,085.56- $376,480.39 of it was U.S. currency (from pennies to dollar coins) and $32,605.17 was foreign currency. And that's nothing- TSA has collected over $2.1 million since 2008.
Most people don't really care about small coins, I've seen piles of pennies strewn across parking lots, but those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters add up, so it's worth holding on to, and the best place to put that change (and all your other metal) is in a plastic bag inside your carry-on before you leave home.
The TSA has allegedly been using the ill-gotten gains to help fund its operations, but Congress is pushing to change that. Florida Republican Jeff Miller wants that money to go to the USO instead, and introduced a bill to Congress that will do just that.
"Allowing TSA to keep unclaimed taxpayer money for any and all purposes is an egregious breach of its duty to the public that it serves," Miller wrote in a recent letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y. "This money should be put to good use, and there is no better organization to use this money wisely than the USO."
A House committee passed the measure, next it goes to the full House for approval.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
How To Get Through TSA Security Relatively Pain Free
Since 9/11 air travel has become a major pain, and unfortunately it will never revert back to the good old days when we could just walk through security with nary a worry, bags chock full of gifts and goodies over 3 ounces, and all the necesseties we wanted on hand. Now we have to strip down to the bare essentials to ensure a swift check through. It's off with the shoes and any outerwear we might be sporting- and we practically need to send everything through checked baggage. There are random searches that we have no control over, some of which are truly insane- like the 95-year-old woman in a wheel chair on oxygen, but apart from that we do have control over whether we will be singled out or not. The best way to ensure smooth flying is to be prepared.
PACK YOUR CARRY-ON BAGS ACCORDINGLY:
First of all check the TSA website, or your airline for the current restrictions. The TSA website has a plethora of useful information on how to get through checkpoints with relative ease. First of all:
Pack your bags in an organized manner. When it goes through the x-ray a jumbled mess, it might make something innocuous look suspicious, and your bag will definitely be checked.
You can still only bring a one quart clear plastic zip bag per person filled with liquids or gels in 3.4 ounce containers or smaller. Place that bag in one of their bins. If you have medication, breast milk, baby food or formula in larger amounts, let the TSA agent know beforehand. If you bring anything over the designated 3.4 ounce amount, be prepared to have it tossed out. For safe measure I put everything in the little bag, including lipstick and makeup.
Put anything that has metal including belts, all your jewelry, body piercings, your watches and small change in a separate bag inside your carry-on luggage or purse.
Leave anything sharp out of your bag, along with certain sports items, flammable items, tools and firearms, unless you want them confiscated. TSA has a list here.
Traveling with liquid food or gifts, put those in your checked baggage. Don't wrap gifts- you will be wasting wrapping paper if asked to remove it.
Empty all your pockets and put those items in your carry-on.
PRIOR TO GOING THROUGH SECURITY X-RAY SCREENING:
Take off your shoes. TSA now recommends putting your shoes directly on the conveyor belt rather than in a bin.
Take off your jacket or outer clothing and place in a bin.
If you have undeveloped 800-speed film, that should not be x-rayed, take it out and hand to an officer.
Unless you have a laptop friendly bag, remove it and place it in a bin.
BRING PROPER I.D.
Make sure the name on your e-ticket or airline ticket is exactly the same as your identification.
Photo H/T Nomadic Matt
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Come Travel With Me
Two of my greatest passions are travel and photography. I have a photography blog, but was inspired to start one for travel as well. I will share tips, travel related news, photos, reviews, and anything else that might spark my interest that I feel will be useful or just plain fun for others who adore travel as much as I do.As the daughter of a U.S. Diplomat, I was blessed to have been born and raised all over the world, and have lived in and visited many countries. Having lived in so many different lands I now have what I consider gypsy blood. If I had the chance I would pack a bag and go- whether by car, plane or train. There are still so many places in the world, and even right here in the U.S., that I have yet to explore, but I hope some day to have that pleasure.
I invite you to take the journey with me.
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