That's good advice Don, especially for those flying out of Reno. When I was in Reno in September, the lines for Southwest, both inside and curbside were very long and they stayed that way for hours. I was flying Delta and it took about 5 minutes for me to get ticketed. Since Southwest doesn't land anywhere in Colorado, I've only flown them once, a round-trip flight between Kansas City and Chicago Midway a few years ago.

I've found airport security screening to be a little different at each airport. Almost all of them want your shoes to go through the x-ray and it's been that way for at least a year. Most want your laptop in a tray by itself, others will let you put your belt or shoes or whatever in the same tray. Sometimes they want me to show them the inside of my hat, sometimes they want the hat to go through the x-ray and sometimes they don't have any concerns about hats.

When I went through my normal procedure of using one tray for my laptop and another for my belt, shoes and a fanny pack in Las Vegas a few weeks back, a rather irate TSA employee took my shoes and fanny pack and slammed them onto the conveyor belt and tossed my belt in the tray with my laptop. When I opened the fanny pack at the other end of the conveyor, I discovered that the TSA employee's rough handling broke a $125 pair of Oakley sunglasses. I was hot! I had her summon her supervisor and was ready to file a formal complaint! The damage was one lens popped out of the frame, and lucky for the TSA employee, the lens wasn't chipped and I was able to put it back into the frame.

I love to travel, do so 15-20 times a year, and airport security screening has become the most unpleasant part of traveling. Some of the things they do are down right ridiculous. I understand the need for much of what they do, but some of it makes no one any safer, it just cases additional hassles for the traveler.

Bob