If you’ve flown through major international hubs outside the United States in the last decade, you’ve probably noticed that some airlines offer self-service turnstiles at the gates. Passengers either slide their magnetic-stripe boarding pass or swipe their barcoded passes over the scanner. The turnstile opens, and off you go. And now, Continental is bringing the concept to Houston, where it’s testing a single self-service gate.

The image above shows a Lufthansa self-serve gate — the German airline has been doing this since 2003. 13 other airlines in Europe and Asia do this as well.

You may be thinking, “How will this ever meet the often-arbitrary standards of the TSA?” Well…:

The Transportation Security Administration, which is in charge of air security, “determined it does not impact the security of the traveling public,” says Greg Soule, a TSA spokesman, adding all passengers are screened at airport checkpoints prior to arriving at boarding gates.

Huzzah.

With self-service, you’ll also be more likely to sneak an extra or oversized carry-on. Just sayin’.

The self-service option won’t be the only way to board. Customers who can’t (or won’t) use self-service can typically hand their boarding pass to a human being, as before.

Lufthansa spokesman Martin Riecken says while loading customers at self-boarding gates is “a little faster” than traditional gates, the airline’s primary goal was to free agents from the mundane task of scanning boarding passes. It frees them to handle other customer issues that require individual attention, such as upgrading seats, he says. The number of agents assigned to automated gates isn’t different from other gates: one or two agents for short-haul flights, three or four for longer ones, he says.

I’ve used these gates at Munich and Frankfurt; they’re loveless but efficient. I don’t mind the self-service option, since the taking of boarding passes isn’t really a deep, meaningful interpersonal interaction that I am going to miss. But I realize that others might feel different.

I’ll look forward to hearing the details of how Continental will change their boarding process at the gate. For example, what does this do to zones? Better enforcement of the zone, or the opposite? And if you add a self-service line, though, that makes it harder to leave room for red carpeted (or in Continental’s case, blue-carpeted) lines for early elite boarding.

Thoughts? Is this something you’d want to use, or something to avoid? Hit the comments.

Upgraded: This blogger
Back on the beat after a restorative vacation. Tanned, rested, ready. Bring it. Anyway, back to business:

Upgraded: Odds of chip-and-PIN in the US
A month ago, I blogged about the United Nations Federal Credit Union bringing chip-and-PIN credit cards to its American customers. That isn’t a huge customer base to be pushing a new technology. But what if a bigger player made a push for the increasingly-globalized payment technology? What if that player were Wal-Mart?…

Upgraded: Demand for parked airliners
When air travel slowed with the recession, the airlines parked a number of their planes in the desert. According to Rockwell Collins, the recent increase in demand will lead to airlines recalling those planes and putting them back into service. This may be wishful thinking by Rockwell, which services planes and spruces them back up for action, but if true, it could mean some respite from jam-packed flights, with planes flying at record loads.

Upgraded: Opportunities for speaking your mind to the TSA director
John Pistole, the recently-appointed TSA director, wants to hear from you. The TSA has a new comment/complaint form, and you’re invited to use it.

Upgraded: The male of the species
British Airways has been forced to pay restitution to a male passenger who was forced to change seats by flight attendants because he was seated next to an unaccompanied minor. BA admitted to sex discrimination against the man and paid £2,161 in costs and £750 in damages. I understand that airlines are worried about children being molested by strangers, but please: not all male travelers are child molesters. By the same token, neither are all female travelers drug-addled nymphomaniacs seeking mile-high-club entry with 14-year old male travelers… like this woman. (Thanks for that latter link to Mike Maddaloni!) Kinda puts the whole discussion of unaccompanied minor fees in some perspective…

Upgraded: First-mover disadvantage
The new Conservative-led British government has halted plans to expand Heathrow Airport, and has preemptively banned additional runway construction at Gatwick and Stansted. While I appreciate the sentiment and intent of a move by the new British government to discourage “binge flying” on environmental grounds, I fear that the net carbon footprint of the aviation industry won’t change much: Since many flights are through the UK, and not to the UK, the traffic will simply shift to Amsterdam, Paris, and Frankfurt.

Upgraded: Inflight wifi subscriptions
Gogo Inflight (aka Aircell) is making its monthly subscriptions for inflight wifi applicable across airlines — Air Canada, AirTran, American, Delta, US Airways, and Virgin America, to name a few. They’re also introducing discounts: For $19.95 in the first month and $34.95 each month thereafter, it’s all-you-can-surf pricing. I like. I like a lot.

Upgraded: Pilots on the edge
Upgraded: Headline writing
Great headline for a post: “United Pilot Loses Cool, Pants.” Poorly-played, trouser-dropping United pilot. Well-played, BlackBook!

Upgraded: Smaller airports near large cities
Downgraded: Methodology
CheapFlights has released their list of the “cheapest airports” in America, and some smaller airports near(ish) larger cities are on the list. Burbank, Long Beach, Bellingham… no huge surprises. But these lists are perpetually flawed… who edited this thing? Chicago-Midway, Chicago-O’Hare, and Chicago-All Airports on the same list?! The “CHI” code doesn’t really count, guys…

Downgraded: Travel insurance in the UK
If you’re planning to buy travel insurance in the UK, prepare to pay an “ash tax.” Yes, a surcharge to cover prospective volcano ash delays and cancellations.

Upgraded: The ubiquity of opaque bookings
Expedia, which owns Hotwire, will be integrating Hotwire’s opaque (i.e., unnamed until purchase completed) hotel supply into the regular Expedia sales channel. Travelocity added “top secret hotels” back in March. I guess it’s Orbitz’ turn next?…

Upgraded: Yada, yada, yada
Remember the “YADA,” the roving check-in unit being tested by American Airlines last year? It’s coming to LAX.

It’s been a while since I’ve traveled through Washington Dulles, but the next time I fly through, it’s not going to feel the same. I’m going to miss the mobile lounges.

Since January 26, the airport has changed the way passengers move from terminal to terminal. Out with the old, in with the new.

In: The Aerotrain, an inter-terminal subway. Out: The moon-buggy-style mobile lounges, oversized buses on hydraulic lifts that ferried passengers from one terminal to the other.

Sure, they were smelly, loud, and rather slow. There wasn’t much “lounging” in a lounge, either. Waiting for a lounge to get moving when you had a connecting flight was tortuous.

And yet… I liked them. Maybe that’s because I’ve always liked the tarmac-level view of the airport. Maybe it was the carpeted walls. Maybe it was the retro flavor. Maybe it was just… different.

Sure, the new train will be faster, cleaner, more efficient, and not prone to traffic jams. But a little piece of aviation history is on the way out.

(Edit: Via April in the comments, the lounges aren’t gone quite yet… but the AeroTrain is operational.)

Here’s a video for those who never experienced it. And a bonus info sheet (PDF) on the history of the buggies.

R.I.P. mobile lounges.

(image)

Reader Richard T. writes:

The incident where the guy snuck through security to see his girlfriend off on a flight got me thinking: Is there a legal way for a person to go through airport security without having a boarding pass? I’m happy to submit to all manner of screenings, wandings, pat-downs, etc.

Yes, actually, there are a couple.

1. Request a gate pass from the airline
Under certain circumstances, you can obtain a gate pass, essentially a permission slip issued by an airline, which allows you to pass through security and to the gates. (Of course, you’re subject to inspection, like everyone else.) Gate passes are typically issued to parents/guardians of a minor traveling alone, to a medical assistant, to an interpreter, or to someone designated as accompanying an elderly person, usually for health reasons. And under TSA Security Directive 1544-01-10w, family of military personnel may get passes to “sterile concourse areas to escort the military passenger to the gate or to meet a military passenger’s inbound arrival at the gate.” Gate passes are free, but are issued at the airline’s discretion. Just saying you’d like to meet your friends and family? Not good enough, typically, but take your best shot!

2. Buy a refundable ticket.
Buy a fully-refundable ticket — to anywhere. Somewhere cheap, somewhere expensive, it doesn’t matter. Buy it, then check in. Print your boarding pass. Walk through security, with a perfectly legal boarding pass. Wave goodbye (or hello) to your friends from the gate. Exit the secure area of the airport. Refund the ticket, by phone or at the counter. (Remember, it was fully refundable. FULLY. But do it before the flight leaves.) It’s an annoying step, but there’s nothing illegal about it.

Richard, you asked about the legal options. So I know you’re not interested in illegal methods, like printing your own forged boarding passes. Phony passes won’t work to get you onto a plane, but they might get you through the security checkpoint. They could also get you a visit from the FBI, since they violate the U.S. code, title 18, part 1, chapter 47, § 1036. Needless to say, NOT RECOMMENDED unless you want to go to jail. But it’s been done…

Any other techniques out there? Hit the comments!

Upgraded: Making the most out of a small airport
For those who are frustrated with the seemingly slow-as-molasses pace of relief efforts and the ceaseless flow of depressing imagery from Haiti, consider this, from the commander of the earthquake-damaged airfield that was once the Port-au-Prince airport:

Col. Buck Elton, who was given the mission to open up airfield and assist with airlifts, says they have controlled 600+ takeoffs and landings in an airstrip that normally sees three takeoffs and landings a day.

Because the air traffic control tower has collapsed, all of this is being done by radio, on the ground – in a place that only has one runway/taxiway for planes, set directly in the middle of the airport and thus making it difficult for other planes to take off and arrive.

Col. Buck talked about how they have to “stack the aircraft until we have space for someone else to come in. ” The maximum number of aircraft that can fit on the ground: one wide-body, five narrow-body planes. and three smaller aircrafts that can taxi in on the ground, filling that spot as necessary. (It sounds like a game of Tetris.)

“The volume is similar to running a major airport without computers, radar or other equipment,” he said.

That’s great work in a bad situation. Here’s hoping that they can squeeze a few more relief flights in and out.

Downgraded: JAL
Japan’s JAL officially declared bankruptcy and defaulted on its bonds. The bidding war for the airline reached an impasse, but will resume now that bankruptcy is definitive.

Upgraded: Your debit card’s PIN
For some time, debit cards have been accepted as a form of payment on airline websites, but in the US, the cards have been processed much like a credit card, through the Visa or MasterCard number to which they’re linked. Now, Spirit Airlines is serving up a way to use your debit card to pay for airline tickets, using the same PIN you use at the ATM. PIN-enabled transactions at retail locations have gained acceptance (and are far cheaper for the retailer than swipe-and-sign transactions), but entering your PIN into a website? That may be a tough sell to the American consumer.

Upgraded: Really big new threats to air safety
Downgraded: Reality
On a lighter note, forget airport patdowns. Worry about giant sharks that are larger than super-jumbo jets and can attack aircraft from deep in the sea. There’s so much to enjoy in just this short clip from the B-movie horror spectacle “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.” The wooden acting, the awful computer animation, the absurd physics. Aviation geeks will enjoy the near-slanderous depiction of a “Condor Airlines” (alert the German airline of that name of this abuse!) Boeing 747-8 — a plane that hasn’t even been built yet — bouncing through the clouds, before it … just watch below. Words get in the way.