The Travel Detective

Travel News, Fact Versus Fiction

What myths and misunderstandings are being misconstrued as hard news? What outlandish stories are indeed true?

The Travel Detective opens up the newspapers to weed out fact from fiction in recent travel news.

Read his rundown to see what is to be learned from these headline-making episodes.

This month’s travel news is a heavy combination of fact and myth. Let’s start with the facts.

A couple of weeks ago everyone, myself included, was not happy with the way Delta Air Lines treated returning servicemen from Afghanistan.

A past guest on my radio show happened to be at the airport with a cell phone camera and recorded Delta charging servicemen to check their bags as they were coming home from serving in Afghanistan. How moronic!

Delta Air Lines Logo - Beware Viral JusticeBecause it went viral Delta couldn’t get ahead of the story. Delta then announced it was changing its policy and a lot of other airlines followed suit.

Now, let’s talk about the myth. There were rumors that rocketed around the world that Delta had some sort of secret policy that they would not fly Jewish people on their flights to Saudi Arabia. The story was easily debunked, but not before it went viral and everybody believed it.

First, Delta does not fly to Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Airlines is the newest member of Delta’s SkyTeam. Saudi Airlines does fly to Saudi Arabia, but even they do not have a rule regarding Jewish passengers. It’s the Saudi government that imposes such a rule on the airline.

Every government has different visa requirements; they can deny entry for all sorts of reasons. Airlines have to abide by these visa requirements or they can’t fly there. For example, South Africa has one of the stupidest rules in the world that requires travelers to have two free pages on their passport that are not stamped in order to enter. I have no idea why they have this rule and I’ve voiced my concerns directly to the Minister of Tourism of South Africa.

If you apply for a visa to Saudi Arabia, you’re asked to list your religion.

During the Nixon administration when Henry Kissinger was Secretary of State, even Kissinger he also had to apply for a visa and had to list his religion. Kissinger drove the Saudis into a frenzy because they couldn’t deny the Secretary of State even though he was Jewish. And Kissinger is one of the only Jews to get a visa.

It’s a horrible policy, but Delta is not at fault here.

More mythbusting by the Travel Detective: Electronics On Planes: Safety Issue?

They had nothing to do with this story. As strong as I dump on Delta for their military baggage policy, I support them here. They are not blocking Jews from traveling to Saudi Arabia. This is a total myth; it’s just not true.

The TSA's Worst Pat-Down Yet?Here’s another fact/myth story, this time with the TSA. The TSA is not going to win the public relations award of the year. In fact, they may not win the public relations award of the decade. Picture a terminally ill 95-year-old woman, traveling with her daughter to go home one last time to visit relatives before going into an assisted living or a hospice center. This woman was taken out of line because the TSA suspects there is something under her dress. Well, there was. It was a pair of Depends undergarments.

The quote was that they “felt something suspicious on her leg and they couldn’t determine what it was, but it was something wet and firm.”

Could this get any more embarrassing? Yes, they made her take off the diaper. Then they realized, it was a wet diaper. The TSA released a statement that they stand by their officers. Let’s take up a collection and send the TSA a lifelong supply of Depends and then tell them where they can stick them.

Companies, listen up. I don’t care what your policy is. Let your front-line agents think on their own. The TSA’s one-stop-fits-all security is totally moronic. They should be ashamed of themselves. They cannot tell me that they have probable cause in a situation like this. Yes, unusual situations, should be red-flagged. Look out for the underwear bomber who gets on a plane with no bags in the middle of winter wearing a T-shirt and no overcoat. You might want to talk to him before you make a 95-year-old woman strip down to Depends and take them off.

This is public relations 101. Filling the news with these stories perpetuates the myth that every time I go through security I’m going to be treated by morons. I think the hard-working men and women of the TSA, are as dedicated to security as I am. I do not object to them. I object to the policies that remove common sense and intelligence. Security without intelligence is stupidity, which is exactly what was on parade here.

By Peter Greenberg for PeterGreenberg.com.

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