October 22-25 (travel Update) ...

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This posting is from: annie
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>I confidently approached the walk through metal detector and
>sent it off!

LOL! (sorry)

I know it's not funny, but it happened to me too. Yes, it's
very embarrassing.

This was back before they insisted that you remove all outer
wraps. This was at BWI, and it had to be post-911 because I
remember the National Guard guys were there and the BEEP-BEEP
from the Perp Detector got their attention.

I was wearing my ski jacket and had forgotten that I had an
empty soda can in the pocket. I discovered it just as they
were about to "wand" me so they let me go back through the
magnetometer. Fortunately it did not beep so they let me
go on my way.

Now they make you do a strip-tease before going through the
portal, and almost everything that doesn't cover what needs
to be covered gets removed.

>The conservative Tennessee legislature was even forced to
>abandon its efforts to pass a law curtailing "sagging" this

"Sagging" -- new term for the day. I had to look that one up. :)

I guess I'm not hip to some current fashion trends. :)

>Unfortunately our British friend who was kicked off the Untied
>Airlines flight in Chicago that time was forced to give up her
>suit when Untied went into bankrupcy.

Uh ... point of clarification. :)

That didn't happen in Chicago. It happened at Eppley (OMA) and
one of our mutual friends now out in LV was the one who drove
Sarah to the airport that day.

I also thought that the reason she either suspended or gave up
the suit was that the shar^H^H^H^Hattorneys thought there was
a poor chance of recovery due to the post-911 sentiment.

>For one I'll never fly their unfriendly skys!

Untied is my least favorite airline to fly, for many reasons,
including but not limited to the Sarah case.

If you have a couple hours to kill, surf here:

http://www.untied.com/

Ginger may be particularly interested in some of the recent
goings-on WRT their webmaster.

The Powers That Be at United [sic] have been trying to get
that site shut down for almost a decade now.

Unfortunately, it seems like often times, Untied is the only
carrier going where you need to go when you need to go, and
if the bosses say to get your @$$ on a plane and get to Bird
In Hand, Pennsylvania ASAP, Untied it is. :(

This year for Pinkfest I'm booked on Southwest, which is one
of my favorite airlines to fly. (Except for the cattle-call
boarding, which has improved somewhat.) For Pinkfest 2007,
however, Untied beat Southwest in price by quite a bit, and
since we tend shop with our pocketbooks and not with our
values, I swallowed my pride and flew Untied. <semi grin>

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This posting is from: Allison
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Just for the record ... if the suit against United was dropped it
was not because of United going into bakruptcy.

United has been out of bankruptcy for a couple of years now and
while financially they are not doing great they are remaining viable.

I will fly almost nothing but United if I have a choice and that
has nothing to do with my partner working for United. Even before
we got together 4 years ago I would fly United over any other
carrier. When you have to travel a lot for your job (as I did
being on the road 3 or 4 days a week most of the time) I found
United to be extra helpful.

The people I delt with at each airport I flew into would always go
out of their way to accomodate any request I made. In one airport
(Columbus, Ohio where I would fly in and out on average 6 times a
month) the staff knew me so wellk that when I was coming off an
inbound flight they would see me and ask when I was flying home.
I would be automatically upgraded to first class no matter where
I was flying to.

Now of course have a partner who works for United and being listed
as her domestic partner on her flying benifits I have no choice as
flying for free beats out any price deal I could find (giggle) but
even still United is still my airline of choice.

While I have talked to many from the trans community who bash United
most of the time if they chose not to flyh on United it is because
they are making that decision from their heart (because of the Sarah
case) and not from their brains. What happened to Sarah was terrible
but lets be fair it was not United who did that but a United
employee (and one who no longer works for them I might add) who
made a bad judgement call.

But if you also throw in the post 911 craze that was going around all
airlines you can not completely fault that employee either.

If your going to dismiss using any airline because of the bad
judgement of their empoyees then why fly Southwest anymore.

It was that carrier who got national attention when they made a
passenger get off the plane because her skirt was too short.

Obviously they have never had some of the CD's who live in the
Chicago area try to fly while dressed .... there are several who
wear skirts no more than 13" long!

Allison

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This posting is from: Ginger
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You are correct, forgive my error. Now that I think back on it, I
think she was going to Chicago from Omaha, but I really can't
remember. She told me the bankruptcy was the problem.

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This posting is from: Tina
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OMG, I would as soon argue religion, golf club manufacturers, or choice
of programming languages before I would get into a debate about which
airline is best or worst to its frequent flyers. ;-)

But, the reference to SWA and short skirts reminded me of the hot pants
and boots that SWA flight attendants used to dress in as a uniform back
in the 70s: http://www.time.com/time/2003/flight/fashion4.html

However, I don't want new girls to worry about flying en femme. I flew
so many times on every airline under the sun in 25+ years with IBM and
its business partners. Flying en femme used to scare the daylights out
of me, so I avoided it for a long time; but, ignoring the 1-in-a-billion
sad episode, the risks/fears were basically all in my own head. Since I
transitioned full-time a few years ago (legal name change and all, but
still the dreaded M on my DL) I've flown en femme many times for
business and pleasure on airlines including American, Southwest, United,
Continental, and Delta. The average over-worked airline employee or TSA
screener just doesn't care about your plumbing or your sense of fashion.

Keep a calm attitude, smile a lot and say thank you, and they'll zip you
right through and then forget you exist 2 seconds later. They've got
more important things to worry about.

Thanks,

Tina Lake

http://www.myspace.com/tinalakeband
http://www.myspace.com/tinatdre

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This posting is from: Diane
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Good Morning All,

Just thought that I would pass the tidbit on...

I too have been flying for years as Diane with little or no trouble
(even when my AZ D/L had a "M" on it). I also have Diane as a Middle
name... so I fly as D.Diane ..... In Arizona, one can get the Gender id
on the D/L changed with a Dr's note that states "irrevocably committed
to" (it does not have to state surgery).

I flew as Diane (with a "F") to to the recent DLV. The "F helps when
skirted and having to use a restroom at the Airport.

Diane (AZ)

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