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American Morning
Interview with Amy Ziff
Aired November 27, 2002 - 09:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: More Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving compared to last year. Despite long lines at airports, higher gas prices, and some rough weather in parts of the country, AAA says 35.9 million Americans will be on the move, 5.1 million will go by air, that is up from 4.8 million last year.
And joining us now to tell us where the delays are so far, Amy Ziff, editor-at-large at Travelocity.
AMY ZIFF, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, TRAVELOCITY: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: OK. Give us the hot spots.
ZIFF: Well, we're very lucky that the weather in the East coast is not worse. That is for sure. They were expecting a lot more weather. I know the snow is tapering off, and the lines at LaGuardia, Spirit, American, and Air Canada have the longest waits. However, nothing too terrible for the time being.
Dulles is reporting 30-minute lines at the United area, Detroit has about a 20-minute wait total, across the airport. Cleveland has 15-minute delays at Continental, and in Orlando, they are reporting that parking is only available on the upper deck, and at DFW, remote parking is pretty much all gone now.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, federal workers -- they have taken over airport security, as you know. They've promised a 10-minute wait in security lines. Is that happening today? Doesn't sound like it.
ZIFF: I was actually just over at DFW this morning, and the Transportation Security Administration officials are there, as well as all of the things were going smoothly. Lines there were not bad at all. It was quite early when I was there, so we'll see how they progress because they have said 10 minutes is their goal.
COSTELLO: I don't know if you have heard about it, but something has around been found at Atlanta. They found a handgun in a carry-on bag that went through the metal detector, and I guess the guy is in custody right now.
ZIFF: That is right, and yesterday, actually, in Rhode Island, a woman was caught trying bring her rolling pin on board, and that was considered a club by the Transportation Security Administration. So they said, Nope, you can't bring that on board, ma'am.
COSTELLO: You're kidding? A rolling pin? You know, I was looking through this list that you gave us about things you are allowed to take in your carry-on bag, and things you aren't, and you are not allowed to take scissors, but you are allowed to take things like safety razors and nail files. That just doesn't make sense to me.
ZIFF: Well, the trick is really, actually, that scissors without a point are permitted. Razors -- safety razors that are within the razor case and all of that permitted, but not a straight-edge razor.
So anything that could be used, potentially, as a weapon will not be permitted. A lot of people forget this when they bring a nail file that actually has a big point on the end. So, for example, if you have a nail file in your Swiss Army knife, that is going to trip you up. You are not going to be able to get on there if that point on the end is sharp.
COSTELLO: Got you. We have some more travel tips, and we want to put them up on the screen so we can both read them together.
This one says make sure you have a government-issued I.D. card.
ZIFF: That's right. You do need your I.D. That hasn't changed. That's the same as always. If you are 18 or over, you are going to need that photo identification.
COSTELLO: And it doesn't have to be a driver's license, right?
ZIFF: It could be a passport, something like that, but you will need a government-issued I.D. Indeed.
COSTELLO: Let's go to the next tip right now. It says passengers restricted to one carry-on bag, and I think people have been listening to this one. I've noticed that, actually, because I travel a lot.
ZIFF: And they are strictly enforcing this rule. It's one carry-on plus one other personal item. So what that means is a rolly bag, and a purse, not a rolly bag, a purse, and another bag of gifts, for example.
You really have to condense what you are bringing ahead of time. Do yourself and the people on line behind you a favor and do that ahead of time. Do it at home.
COSTELLO: Curb-side check-in, you can still do that, right?
ZIFF: You can still do that. And in fact, often times that's the way to go. We found last year that curb-side check-in most often was clear and everybody was standing in line at the security check-in counter when they didn't have to. So, if I were driving to the airport today, the first thing I would go to would be curb-side baggage check-in, and try and go ahead to security.
COSTELLO: Got you. Hey, we want to take a look at the Denver airport right now, where things seem to be moving rather well. I want to ask you one last question, since we were talking about it this morning. A lot of things set off the metal detector now, including underwire bras. And that means you are going to have to be sort of like frisked by a security person.
Is there a place you can go if you feel uncomfortable with everybody looking at you?
ZIFF: Absolutely. And they are even saying, that reportedly, some body piercings are setting off these screening machines, and that also will require additional screening. You can request a same-sex screener, and they can take you off to the side. They'll take you to a private area that is enclosed with a third party to make sure that everything is fine, and the only thing to be mindful of is really that that is going to further slow down your process getting through the airport.
COSTELLO: So take everything off.
ZIFF: Right. Exactly. When you are getting dressed, what you are going to be put on.
COSTELLO: You don't want to be taking off your body piercings in the airport.
ZIFF: The last thing to remember is just film goes in your carry-on, not in your checked baggage this year.
COSTELLO: Oh, that is right, because the...
ZIFF: Big thing.
COSTELLO: ... radar down there checking checked bags that will harm your film.
ZIFF: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: OK, Amy. Thank you very much.
ZIFF: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 27, 2002 - 09:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: More Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving compared to last year. Despite long lines at airports, higher gas prices, and some rough weather in parts of the country, AAA says 35.9 million Americans will be on the move, 5.1 million will go by air, that is up from 4.8 million last year.
And joining us now to tell us where the delays are so far, Amy Ziff, editor-at-large at Travelocity.
AMY ZIFF, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, TRAVELOCITY: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: OK. Give us the hot spots.
ZIFF: Well, we're very lucky that the weather in the East coast is not worse. That is for sure. They were expecting a lot more weather. I know the snow is tapering off, and the lines at LaGuardia, Spirit, American, and Air Canada have the longest waits. However, nothing too terrible for the time being.
Dulles is reporting 30-minute lines at the United area, Detroit has about a 20-minute wait total, across the airport. Cleveland has 15-minute delays at Continental, and in Orlando, they are reporting that parking is only available on the upper deck, and at DFW, remote parking is pretty much all gone now.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, federal workers -- they have taken over airport security, as you know. They've promised a 10-minute wait in security lines. Is that happening today? Doesn't sound like it.
ZIFF: I was actually just over at DFW this morning, and the Transportation Security Administration officials are there, as well as all of the things were going smoothly. Lines there were not bad at all. It was quite early when I was there, so we'll see how they progress because they have said 10 minutes is their goal.
COSTELLO: I don't know if you have heard about it, but something has around been found at Atlanta. They found a handgun in a carry-on bag that went through the metal detector, and I guess the guy is in custody right now.
ZIFF: That is right, and yesterday, actually, in Rhode Island, a woman was caught trying bring her rolling pin on board, and that was considered a club by the Transportation Security Administration. So they said, Nope, you can't bring that on board, ma'am.
COSTELLO: You're kidding? A rolling pin? You know, I was looking through this list that you gave us about things you are allowed to take in your carry-on bag, and things you aren't, and you are not allowed to take scissors, but you are allowed to take things like safety razors and nail files. That just doesn't make sense to me.
ZIFF: Well, the trick is really, actually, that scissors without a point are permitted. Razors -- safety razors that are within the razor case and all of that permitted, but not a straight-edge razor.
So anything that could be used, potentially, as a weapon will not be permitted. A lot of people forget this when they bring a nail file that actually has a big point on the end. So, for example, if you have a nail file in your Swiss Army knife, that is going to trip you up. You are not going to be able to get on there if that point on the end is sharp.
COSTELLO: Got you. We have some more travel tips, and we want to put them up on the screen so we can both read them together.
This one says make sure you have a government-issued I.D. card.
ZIFF: That's right. You do need your I.D. That hasn't changed. That's the same as always. If you are 18 or over, you are going to need that photo identification.
COSTELLO: And it doesn't have to be a driver's license, right?
ZIFF: It could be a passport, something like that, but you will need a government-issued I.D. Indeed.
COSTELLO: Let's go to the next tip right now. It says passengers restricted to one carry-on bag, and I think people have been listening to this one. I've noticed that, actually, because I travel a lot.
ZIFF: And they are strictly enforcing this rule. It's one carry-on plus one other personal item. So what that means is a rolly bag, and a purse, not a rolly bag, a purse, and another bag of gifts, for example.
You really have to condense what you are bringing ahead of time. Do yourself and the people on line behind you a favor and do that ahead of time. Do it at home.
COSTELLO: Curb-side check-in, you can still do that, right?
ZIFF: You can still do that. And in fact, often times that's the way to go. We found last year that curb-side check-in most often was clear and everybody was standing in line at the security check-in counter when they didn't have to. So, if I were driving to the airport today, the first thing I would go to would be curb-side baggage check-in, and try and go ahead to security.
COSTELLO: Got you. Hey, we want to take a look at the Denver airport right now, where things seem to be moving rather well. I want to ask you one last question, since we were talking about it this morning. A lot of things set off the metal detector now, including underwire bras. And that means you are going to have to be sort of like frisked by a security person.
Is there a place you can go if you feel uncomfortable with everybody looking at you?
ZIFF: Absolutely. And they are even saying, that reportedly, some body piercings are setting off these screening machines, and that also will require additional screening. You can request a same-sex screener, and they can take you off to the side. They'll take you to a private area that is enclosed with a third party to make sure that everything is fine, and the only thing to be mindful of is really that that is going to further slow down your process getting through the airport.
COSTELLO: So take everything off.
ZIFF: Right. Exactly. When you are getting dressed, what you are going to be put on.
COSTELLO: You don't want to be taking off your body piercings in the airport.
ZIFF: The last thing to remember is just film goes in your carry-on, not in your checked baggage this year.
COSTELLO: Oh, that is right, because the...
ZIFF: Big thing.
COSTELLO: ... radar down there checking checked bags that will harm your film.
ZIFF: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: OK, Amy. Thank you very much.
ZIFF: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
