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Carry-On Baggage Costs Taxpayers $260 Million

Filed under: Handbags, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wings

Frequent flyers often prefer to fit everything they need into a carry-on bag instead of checking luggage. With the hassles of air travel constantly on the rise, this simple step means eliminating the wait at the baggage carousel upon arrival, and can often mean cutting to the head of the line when checking in. After all, it doesn't cost anything (except forgoing your checked baggage allowance). Well, not to the passenger, anyway. And not to the airline, either. But it does cost the taxpayers.

According to Janet Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, carry-on luggage is costing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) some $260 million every year. The figure reportedly came up when testifying before Congress last week on a debate over whether to raise the $5 TSA surcharge tacked on to every airline ticket. The question is whether Congress will opt to either raise that surcharge or place further restrictions on hand luggage to decrease its operating costs and make air travel that much more difficult.

[Source: TREND-News.com]

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Tags: air travel, airport, carry-on, janet napolitano, security, transportation security administration, tsa

Tory Burch Travel Socks - No More Barefooting Through TSA

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Luxury Travel & Hotels

It's disgusting, really. Despite paying outrageous prices for airfare, your luxury trip always includes padding in stockings or -- ew -- bare feet through TSA. Tory Burch, after gauging demand on Twitter, has invented a solution: Tory Burch Travel Socks. And they're pretty cute. Let's have a look and see if these are practical or just a gimmick.

It's certainly fun to open the bag. Like a care package on an international flight, the Tory Burch Travel Socks come in a neat little pouch, about 5" by 5", with a small, weighty goldtone clip, toggle and signature dangle. Would it be a pain to bring this pouch along on a flight? No. It squashes pretty flat, and if your carry-on is truly stuffed to the gills, you can just clip it to the strap.

Gallery: Tory Burch Travel Socks

Tags: airlines, airport, airport security, airports, product review, socks, Tory Burch, ToryBurch, travel, travel socks, TSA

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Cuban Cigars Confiscated More Than Ever, Retailers Rejoice

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

Now even I want to hang out in the TSA smoking area.

Nearly every cigar smoker who's gotten nailed bringing Cubans back into the country has hatched some sort of conspiracy theory about where the snatched goods go. Invariably, the imagined plot ends with the TSA propping its feet up at the Grand Havana Room – or some other swanky establishment – puffing away on what should have been ill-gotten gains.

And it looks like their inventory is about to go up, according to the Associated Press.

After the recent package bomb attempts on flights from Yemen to the United States, it's getting harder for Americans to smuggle contraband cigars into the country. For those accustomed to ordering online from countries such as Switzerland, the results aren't what they used to be. Homeland Security is taking a closer look at packages coming into the United States, and it's coming up with tobacco.

At O'Hare, which usually nabs around 2,000 Cuban cigars every two weeks, the tally has reached an astounding 100,000 over the last fortnight, and continued largess is expected to be confiscated.

There's one group that's happy about this though: tobacconists. Every Cuban cigar ignited is an unmade sale for professional tobacconists, so this could offer the domestic business a little bit of a bump.

[Via Gawker, photo by Steve Zak Photography]

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Tags: cigar, cigars, cuban cigar, cuban cigars, tsa, TsaRegulations

Packing Is Easier with 3floz.com

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services, Cosmetics and Fragrance, Men's Style, Luxury Shopping

With the fall and winter travel holidays right around the corner, you need 3floz.com. Launched earlier this year, this site stocks TSA-approved sizes of popular (including high-end) beauty brands. No more need to create your own minis, and if you're like me, risk spilling half the bottle as you try to transfer some of your favorite toner or lotion to a smaller bottle. The site is easy to navigate -- you can look up products by category or brand; pick up a kit; search by organics-only; and even browse for products for men and babies. Great for sampling, too, if you aren't ready to commit to a full-size product. Free shipping when you spend $100 or more.

Tags: 3 ounces, 3 oz., beauty, packing, samples, travel, TSA

Private Jet Passengers To Face Increased Scrutiny

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The Jonas Brothers, shown above on a private jet, probably won't have to worry too much about a background check when they fly on private planes but you might. USA Today brings the news that the TSA has made a new proposal to have travelers who fly on private corporate jets undergo background checks. The TSA is looking to bring these new security measures to approximately 15,000 corporate jets and 315 small airports across the U.S.

Private plane owners and pilots are up in arms over potential regulations that they say would be costly and intrusive. One of the main selling features of private and charter services is the idea that you don't have to undergo lengthy security checks to get on board. The TSA points out in their comprehensive 260-page proposal that there is no immediate threat but that they could be used in terrorism strikes. The proposal would costs $200 million but the corporate jet owners would be paying 85% of that.

The only good news is that once cleared passengers won't have to go through the process again and the proposal does not require physical screening of passengers. This proposal does not call for regulation of smaller piston planes but that may be the next some time in the future.

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Tags: private jet, PrivateJet, screening, security, tsa