Nutek

He asked if it was just me or if they were all coming back.

He was a nice guy... Refreshing after the stick-up-the-ass types you see elsewhere.

SultanOfSwing

Yeah, at least he had a laugh with you.

Coming back into the US through Toronto I got a pretty nice bloke at US pre-clearance. He seemed more interested if me and the mate I was visiting were playing darts and drinking Guinness than anything else ...

MarylandNed

Yes, the people I have encountered at US pre-clearance in Canada, Ireland and Aruba have been much friendlier than those you encounter in the US. Maybe getting out of the US does something positive to their demeanor?

SultanOfSwing

It might do. Or maybe being at airports that don't have TSA staff in them encourages a more relaxed attitude ...

Nutek

SultanOfSwing

That's a good one

Actually that's a thing, I haven't flown anywhere in any capacity since 2008; haven't flown out of O'Hare since 2007. How much more a pain in the arse is international travel these days?

Nutek

It's not bad honestly. Just a bunch of inept fumbling before you can get to the shops in the airport.

Speaking of which, why do they put EVERYTHING on the other side of security? it would be nice to hang out with Mrs. N. ... have a meal or whatever, but on the public side of the airport there is nothing to do (Logan).

jibsymalone

If I get there really early (international flight) I usually check in, check any bags that need it, then leave the airport for a couple of hours. Grab something to eat with the missus, have a couple of drinks, then come back about an hour before my flight.

Nutek

Just seems like they are missing out on a lot of potential business.

SultanOfSwing

It's the same at O'Hare. Certainly bugger all in international (T5) but we're flying American out of T3 on the way out this time. Can't remember if that's any better though (I suspect it isn't).

jibsymalone

Oh I agree, it would be a lot easier to hang around the actual airport.

Luckily we have a big shopping complex with all kinds of restaurants and such a couple of mile from the airport, so this makes the leaving and returning not too hellish!

Can't stand flying on an empty stomach, any food served in the air seems to do nothing more than make me hungrier!

It maybe a throwback from the "good ole days" when relatives etc could actually sit at the gate with you?

Pulaski

All major US airports were designed and constructed pre 9/11. When I started flying to the US, the then-future Mrs P could just wander back to the gate with me. For a while post 9/11 it was possible to get a permit from the check-in clerk to go back to the gate. ..... That was when they had check-in clerks!

I think if the US airport infrastructure was being designed today, security would be closer to the gates with most retail outside the security cordon.
I do exactly the same thing. .... Except with Mrs P, of course!

MarylandNed

I don't think they want security closer to the gates. Longer distances between security and the gates gives them more time to react if an incident occurs e.g. terrorists have further to travel to get to the gates if they manage to force their way past security.

For security purposes, they don't want non-passengers hanging around the airport any longer than they need to. They just want them to drop people off and then leave asap. This way they minimize the number of people inside the airport who have not been screened while, at the same time, moving passengers through security screening earlier.

Jerseygirl

When my in-laws came over in the summer of 1999 we were allowed to stay with them at the gate at Newark airport.

Sometimes when I have left Manchester airport to fly back to the US...Continental had additional screening at the gate. All bags had to go through another x-ray machine and there were random passenger pat downs and searches.

sir_eccles

You can still get gate passes, though sometimes they call them escort passes. I had one recently to help the missus fly solo with young sir. You get a "boarding pass" that is specifically tied to the pass of the person flying.