Airport bound? TSA offers tips for smooth traveling

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

The TSA shared tips today for passengers at Albany International Airport. Here, Lisa Farbstein tells how slip-on footwear allows passengers to get a leg up in the screening process.

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It’s the time of year when amateur travelers fly.

Airports across the country, including Albany International, are busiest between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, but many travelers aren’t frequent fliers and might be less familiar with the Transportation Security Administration screening process than those who travel more often.

Nationwide, the TSA screens about 2 million people every day, and a 3 percent spike occurs between mid-December and shortly after New Year’s Day.

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said it’s the season “when we see travelers who are not frequent travelers.”

She and other TSA representatives were at Albany International today to go over the basics of what can be brought onto commercial airline flights. The group also offered tips on how to get through the screening process quickly.

The first step, Farbstein said, is to arrive at the airport two hours early.

While that might seem excessive, she said, “It is better to be at the gate and relaxed than in the line and tense.”

The basics:

– Know what’s in your carry-on bag. Passengers who bring prohibited items slow the lines.

– Remove all items from pockets. Even a few coins not fished out can cause a metal detector alert.

– Avoid wearing large metal jewelry or clothing with metal embellishments. You’ll be taking your shoes off, so Farbstein advises slip-on shoes, not shoes with lots of laces.

– As for presents, you’re better off not wrapping them. If one is wrapped, anything ambiguous about the X-ray exam will require it to be unwrapped for further inspection.

– Food such as pies or cakes can be brought but could require further examination. Liquid foods like maple syrup brought as carry-on luggage must follow the same rules as other liquids — there must be no more than 3.4 ounces of liquid. That applies to water bottles, too — though people can bring an empty water bottle to fill after they pass through the checkpoint.

– Check the plastic bin to be sure you’ve collected all your items. Farbstein said items are left behind on a regular basis and are kept in a lost-and-found area.

– For more information, visit the TSA website at www.tsa.gov.

Albany International Airport has seen a significant increas e in travel this year, with airport officials expecting 400,000 passengers between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15, according to airport spokesman Doug Myers.

For November, he said boardings were up 10 percent from last year; the airport is on pace for 1.3 million boardings, the most since 2009.

“The addition of JetBlue will mean more traffic,” Myers said of the airline, which started flying out of Albany last week. “JetBlue will mean more competition, and that should also generate more traffic.”

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.