Three Pleasant Surprises at DTW Today. What's going on?

Flying has been an accumulating annoyance since 9/11. Today's experience was the first hints of a counter trend I have experienced since then. And it came in three's.

1-When I pulled into the Blue Lot to find it boldly announcing that parking is now $10 per day. I had always paid around $17-18. WTF, okay, maybe the competition of the outside lots was kicking them. Or is this a price war to wipe them out?

2-I go through security I am pointed toward a dour TSA agent and am told to 'go over there' as I have been selected for [I forgot what they called it]. Now it's, "Aw F***. I'll miss my flight," while visions of some TSA agent snapping on rubber gloves while his partners rip through my backpack dances through my mind.

Instead I'm told to leave my shoes on [that's right], just put my belt and pocket contents in a tray and push it through the scanner with my backpack.

"Leave my shoes on?", I ask.

"Yes."

"I have a laptop in my bag. Don't I have to put it in a separate tray?"

"Leave it in there." Hmm Okaaaay... Then I am sent through a metal detector portal.

"What about the bomb scanner [pointing to it to my right]'? Don't I have to go in there, stand on the footprints and raise my hands in the surrender position?"

"No, you're cleared."

At first I thought, do I look that old and harmless now? Then, where's the trap door? But others younger were also being sent to this kinder, gentler, quicker route. Any ideas what that was all about?

3-I get to my gate, sit down, flip on the iPhone and, WTF again, they have free WiFi. Gone is the extortionate Boingo paid access and I am surfing DetroitYES for free.

What are they trying to do? Get people to fly? I don't get it.

I've flown many times and I've rarely had bad experiences. Security has always been tight and lines long. It's good to see things changing! I won't have to park off-site anymore.

My worst flying experience was trying to get from Spokane to Detroit via Denver. The plane in Spokane broke leaving us stranded at the tiny airport for hours. We missed our connection in Denver, which caused an even bigger delay. Then on the flight back to Detroit a woman was watching a soccer game and screamed when her team scored a goal, waking up my infant daughter with 2 hours left in the flight.

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Originally Posted by Lowell

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1-When I pulled into the Blue Lot to find it boldly announcing that parking is now $10 per day. I had always paid around $17-18. WTF, okay, maybe the competition of the outside lots was kicking them. Or is this a price war to wipe them out?

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I've parked there twice after seeing this sign and when I left [[at wee hours in the morning), had to pay a much higher rate. I haven't been back since, but perhaps there is some special area in the blue lot that they charge that rate for. I felt ripped off though.

You shouldn't feel ripped off - you didn't correctly follow the signs in the parking garage. Driver's fault.

The blue garage is $10/day for long term parking.

You must have parked in "short term" parking.

http://www.metroairport.com/Portals/...ng%20Rates.pdf

Lowell, you were selected for Pre Chek by TSA. This is an expedited check in system being rolled out. It happened to me and my husband last week as we were flying from DTW to Atl. However on the way back ATL to DTW this was not the case. This is not the Global entry paid program.

They say it is used at random when the person is a known flyer. One who is a airline frequest flyer, fills in all the info at booking time. etc.

However having pre chek one time and not on the return flight is a little confusing.

1. Blue Lot/Garage has been $10/day for a while, the McNamera/Delta Terminal Garage is $20/day. The Blue Lot/Garage used to be the main parking garage at the airport before the McNamera Terminal opened 2002. Hence for the North Terminal now it is rather large and less utilized. Note that it is $10/day based on 24-hour increments, so if you go past a 24 hour increment you get charged for another full day.

2. TSA PreCheck program which has been expanded this year. Initially it started with elite/frequent flyer members bus has gradually expanded this year. It is not available at all airports or checkpoints, but where it exists and "known" travelers whose information has been listed with the TSA, if selected will get expedited security. It is somewhat random on when you get selected or not.

3. DTW recently has been providing free wifi, something that many smaller airports have done for awhile now.

The security lines at DTW are among the best of any airport I have traveled to. They move quite quickly. I just flew to Chicago this week and Midway Airport lines were awful. Same thing for Denver a few months ago.

Thanks for the info DTWFlyer and pkbroch. Pre Check it was. Poor choice IMO as it told me nothing. It sounded like an extra step, ie a more intrusive pre check, prior to the real check.

I may have been confusing the Blue Lot for the North Terminal with the McNamara parking as regards price but the $10 does seem lower there than before. It must be that they consider the latter less competitive with outside parking and feel like they can still wring the extra $10 a day out of us.

I may have been one of the first to go through the bomb cylinder back when they were starting it, had only one, and were using it randomly. Being a very early morning flight and still groggy I forgot to remove my laptop from my backpack. The response was almost a look of glee, 'oh goody, goody we get to use the new toy', and in I went. And I thought they were only using it to scope out hot-looking young folk. ha ha.

And yes, Drjeff, DTW security is the best and quickest of any I have experienced, precheck or otherwise.

I got the "PreCheck" just a couple of days ago, while returning to Detroit from LaGuardia in NYC. Which is a good thing, since the security screenings at LaGuardia - an older airport with narrow spaces that was not designed for security checks - can be a real annoyance.

However, when they scanned the bag with my laptop in it, they still made me wait while they opened it. I had left my work cell phone in there [[which I normally take it out for screening with the laptop), and that apparently had triggered some alarm. Also, even though I didn't go through the big cylinder scanner, once the cell phone thing came to light in the bag check, they pulled me aside, swabbed my hands, and stuck them under a scanner [[presumably checking for explosives residue?). So, so much for the "quick" precheck!

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Originally Posted by DTWflyer

TSA PreCheck program which has been expanded this year. Initially it started with elite/frequent flyer members bus has gradually expanded this year. It is not available at all airports or checkpoints, but where it exists and "known" travelers whose information has been listed with the TSA, if selected will get expedited security. It is somewhat random on when you get selected or not.

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If you are a member of a trusted traveler program like Global Entry or NEXUS and assuming you are flying at an airport and on an airline that is participating [[Delta @ DTW) you can use TSA Pre-check almost all the time.

You just have to make sure you enter your info ahead of time when booking so that it gets passed on to the TSA, etc.

It didn't save me a ton of time @ DTW but it was a life saver in Atlanta. And precheck or not, you can still be randomly chosen for further screening. Just like at border crossings.

You can also your trusted traveler card to get through US customs faster when returning on international flights. If you don't mind the US government background checks and recording your biometrics [[I don't) then I highly recommend participating.

My wife and I were flying out of DTW back to Atlanta a couple of Monday's ago. As we got to the front of the TSA check, an agent brought a passenger up, cut in front of us, had the other TSA agent start the security check, then noticed that this passenger had "TSA Pre-Check" on his ticket and told him to go to that specific agent. He literally ran over there as we walked up to our original TSA "guy". He told me I was Pre-checked also but I declined as my wife wasn't. He asked me if I was sure and I said I was. My wife and I both went through screening and were done before the guy in a rush.

Go figure. :)

I've generally loved DTW since the new airport was built. It's my favorite airport I have been in. It's large but simple, easy to get around, attractive & well appointed. It's a great into to Detroit. I wish I'd have a flight out of the North Terminal, but I've only been in the McNamara building.