WASHINGTON 鈥� After the recent terrorist attack in Paris, and especially the alleged bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt last month, security measures at U.S. airports are tighter, and that could make it longer to get on your holiday-season flights.
That鈥檚 the word from CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg, who nonetheless has a tip for getting through the airport more quickly.
Greenberg told 蜜桃视频app on Monday morning to expect longer lines for security and longer waits for bags.
For one thing, he says, TSA agents are starting to engage in 鈥渂ehavioral profiling,鈥� which he defines as engaging passengers with questions that don鈥檛 have yes-or-no answers.
鈥淪o instead of saying. 鈥楧id you pack your bags yourself?鈥� The question might be, 鈥楽o where are you going today?鈥欌��
He added that positive bag identification, a post-Sept. 11, 2001 measure that faded out over the past few years, will start being strictly enforced.
Asked whether airlines will drop fares as compensation for the extra delays and hassles, Greenberg laughed and said, 鈥淵ou know the answer to that question.鈥�
Flights right now are running an average of about 86 percent full, their highest level in decades, Greenberg says, so fares in general will continue to creep up. One exception: Fares on trips of less than 400 miles might start to come down, since the low price of gas is encouraging people to drive.
Greenberg has a tip for getting into your plane more quickly. When you鈥檙e faced with a choice of which security line to pick, it鈥檚 intuitive to pick the shortest one. Greenberg says that鈥檚 a mistake.
鈥淵ou have to look for the number of TSA inspectors looking at the computer monitors on the conveyor belts,鈥� Greenberg says.
鈥淚f you see one guy or one woman looking at that computer monitor, that鈥檚 the line you want to pick, no matter how long it is. Because if you see two or three, that almost always means they鈥檙e training one of those guys, and every single bag will be stopped for two or three minutes. That鈥檚 not the line you want, no matter how short it is.
鈥淭he TSA will tell you it鈥檚 not true; I will tell you it is.鈥�
He claimed that the TSA denied the claim after he made it on 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� recently, but that two TSA agents confirmed it to him in person in an airport as he was passing through.
