@Richard - appreciate your thoughts. My understanding is the $100 is essentially the fee to cover the costs of the background check and the in-person interview. When I applied, the approval process took about 18 hours (over a weekend) - and the interview was about 15 minutes, as well as a demonstration how the machine works - not bad considering...

I will say that the automated system (Global Entry) has been great the last few times I've crossed the border into the US. Skipping a massive line as 2 747's and an A380 dropped passengers off in LAX was fantastic last time I arrived.

My only complaint is it's not as convenient as the system in many other countries (that allow all citizens to use it), nor as "flash" as those systems (facial recognition, automatic gates, etc). Also, the fact the current airports have 1-2 systems (compare to Melbourne which split the system into 2 parts, and has at least 10 ATM-like terminals & 5 biometric recognition gates for a fraction of the population), but I suspect that'll change soon enough.

Actually, some airports do have business class/first class only facilities for magazine/book shops. :-)

On a separate topic, I am surprised no one has mentioned one of the obvious reasons for separate lines: "elite" passengers (based on FF miles) or paying biz/first travellers tend to travel a lot, so they know "the drill". If you watch the two lines, you'll see the biz lines moves generally 50% faster than the standard line. In essence, it becomes an "express lane", which actually makes everyone's wait time shorter (including the public line, since they have fewer people).

Um, Gadling? You're a blog - your news should be up-to-date. Just talking about the demise of Connexion by Boeing in 2009? A tish dated, me thinks. Heck, this is updated weekly on Delta's corporate blog!

If I may offer a suggestion, please keep to the travel topics you do fantastically, and perhaps partner with another site that can handle the IFE aspects of flying (Runway Girl comes to mind).

Does anyone else think that this is a horrible waste of fuel? In a time where some (most?) airlines are cutting back on the amount of ice they carry to save fuel (or so they say), seems kinda silly to be hauling approx. 50 litres per passenger to freshen up en route.

Now, I realise this question has both an environmental and and an economic angle, but nevertheless, I still ask it. :-)

@Blondie - I agree with you, but I tell ya what - flying 12 airlines based out of 4 continents around the world in the past 6 months, all passengers are the same. You're always going to find a couple of schmucks on each plane.

But not all cabin crew are the same - the crews that I'd call fantastic don't let the bad apples affect how they treat another guests.

But yes, there is a constant feedback loop. Happy passengers -> happy crew -> happier passengers -> etc.

Generally, though, I'd say "Big Daddy" is probably a bad apple. You can treat him like crap.

The question from "Big Daddy" was rude and uncalled for.

Heather's response was accurate, but childish in tone.

But, it's accurate in displaying how she really feels about this topic. And how many flight attendants feel.

Personally, I don't care what my flight attendant looks like - male or female (I don't mind a good looking one, mind you, but hey, I'm only human).

What I do care about is the overall mood of the plane, because that's what makes my flight enjoyable or just plain dreadful. And the flight attendants are in complete control over that.

Now, their own mood is not completely their fault. Especially in the US, with the control of the unions, and the relationship between the unions and the airlines, there is no concept of performance-based pay. It's all a matter of seniority. So, long haul gets the most senior people (a union-enforced rule). And then the airlines treat them like their the least important people in the company. And from the passengers perspective, they're the most important.

I can actually do everything up to getting on the plane without involving a single employee, but on the plane, I need to interact w/ the flight attendants - they are truly the face of the company.

Do they deserve more respect? Absolutely. How are they going to get that? Well, it's not the unions that are going to get them that. Unions work great in some areas, but when it's service-based employees, I'm not convinced they help.

Yes - please check to see if there are secret pouches that have vouchers giving you actual frequent flier miles!

Flying from Aus to the US on a V Promo fare (which seems to be their target market - low fare leisure travellers to LA, or, um, Seattle???) will earn a whopping 4,000 miles rtn!

And also check the seats for discount codes for redeeming those Velocity Points.

The spend rate for a V Australia flight to the US is 94,000 miles + 500 AUD taxes (or another 54,000 miles!)

Granted Qantas isn't much better, but V Australia's FF program is truly horrible.

(And yes, I'm being just a bit cheeky posting my rant with this blog posting, but on QF, DL, or UA, at least I can earn some miles worth something - and it's the one thing keeping me from Flying V Aus - even if the planes do sound fantastic!)

@Duy - he's picking up "Passport Cards" and "EDLs" (Enhanced Drivers Licenses) - new documents that allow you to drive a car or boat across a US border. About 700,000 of them have been issued to date.

Chris isn't picking up "traditional" ePassports (i.e. passport books), which are required for international air travel. There are millions and millions of them issued so far (most of the western world and a ever-growing percentage of the developing world).

The two use different RFID technology, and have VERY different use-cases. (Have loved the comments of everyone who's knowledgeable on this topic - I've learned quite a bit.)

I will also add that his comments re: correlating multiple RFID tags are also spot on! However, this can be done with ANY RFID tag (including those little speedpass tags, your office keycards, RFID credit cards, etc) - it's not just an issue w/ the Passport Cards and EDL's.

One should note that he's talking about a "passport card" - which is the new EDL, or Enhanced Drivers License. These cares are combo passports & drivers licenses, and only work at specific drive-through & seaport checkpoints. Border states are the only ones who are issuing them (presently), such as Washington, Vermont, and Arizona.
http://www.dol.wa.gov/about/news/priorities/edl.html

As far as I can tell, he wasn't able to read normal ePassports - which have a protective material built into the cover.

Additionally, the number he was pulling is a number that only has meaning to the EDL/CBP databases. As I understand it, a person would "wave" their card at a checkpoint, and the reader would capture the number (just like Chris did). The number itself is meaningless until the system looks up name, address, picture, other biometrics, etc, and either a human officer, or a biometrics matching system would verify the individual and border crossing rights (i.e. citizenship & residency).

So getting your number alone would do no good, unless you were also able to fool the biometrics information. There is no "personal data" on the RFID chip (and yes, I do realise the def'n of "personal data" could be debated).

But I don't disagree with the purpose of his exercise - I'd much rather have a smart card (which requires physical contact) for this application.