Paying in Cash May Cause Airport Delays

Many travelers who pay for airline tickets by check or with cash are being identified as security risks and subjected to delays at the airport, according to the American Society of Travel Agents.

“In some situations, airlines have requested additional identification, prohibited curbside check-in, refused to check in luggage at the ticket counter and threatened to deny boarding,” ASTA President Mike Spinelli wrote this month in a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration. He stated that about 24% of airline tickets are paid for by cash or check.

ASTA doesn’t object to added security but was caught off-guard by the apparently tightened procedures in the wake of the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in July, according to spokesman David Love. For now, he said, ASTA is advising consumers to pay by credit card “to avoid any hassles.”

At press time, ASTA had not yet received a responding letter from the FAA. But an FAA spokesman said agency directives regarding who should receive extra security screening are issued to airlines only and are not public information.