I’m a frequent flier who travels more than 200,000 miles a year – here’s my hack for getting through airport security faster (even if you haven’t got fast-track status)
I’m Gilbert Ott, frequent flyer and founder of a travel site godsavethepoints.comand I have a hack that will help you get through airport security faster.
Moreover, it is definitely not too good to be true.
I call it the airport pre-strip.
Depending on the rules you’re flying from, it means taking off all layers and metal-detecting items, like your belt and jewelry, long before you actually walk up to put your stuff in bins or go through a scanner.
If you need to take laptops or liquids with you, consider packing them so that they take less than five seconds to remove. And yes, in places where this is necessary, I take my laptop out of my bag, well before I get to the containers.
The security people look at me happily as I put it down before they have a chance to say anything.
Consider me for a moment: some airport terminals screen more than 70,000 passengers per day. If you think about the seconds it takes for each passenger to take off their belt, watch or other things, that adds at least 15 seconds per passenger. If there are 100 people in line, those 15 seconds equate to 25 minutes of unnecessary delay.
We could eliminate so much waiting.
Gilbert Ott, founder of travel site godsavethepoints.com, has a hack to help you get through airport security faster: the “pre-strip.” He is pictured above in his favorite airport attire: comfortable jeans, non-metallic shoes and a bomber jacket
My outfit consists of comfortable shoes without metal, comfortable jeans, a sweatshirt or T-shirt as a base layer and my favorite bomber jacket as a flex layer for changing temperatures. Because I know it’s a time waster for takeoff, it’s the last thing I put in the top of my pack and I don’t put it on until I’m ‘airside’, past the scanners.
I travel over 200,000 miles a year and I can’t tell you the last time I slowed down through a scanner.
More hacks? Certainly. You can absolutely bring food through airport security as long as it is not considered liquid. I like to bring my favorite meals, like good sushi, so I can skip the reheated airplane meals.
More? You can pre-book your security slot at many airports worldwide, and there are also special routes for families and for people who purchase security memberships such as TSA PreCheck (US) or have airline status that allows them to check in quickly. Use this to your advantage!
The pre-strip means ‘removing all layers and metal detecting items, such as your belt and jewelry, long before you actually walk up to put your stuff in bins or go through a scanner’