Lines are for socialists
Cut in line
Basically, I hate lines. Queuing is a market failure that should be relegated to communist and socialist countries. In free enterprise, one should always be free to trade one’s time for money and vice versa. If you get stuck in one by accident, always have a book handy (or AirPods and Audible). But almost all of them are avoidable.
3 Travel Time Savers
I am happy to be back at home and back at work after holiday travel. Here are three quick lessons for saving time when you’re away.
1). Leave as early as possible. Get out on the first flight whenever possible. New York has airports so hopelessly overburdened that their flight schedules can hardly be called schedules at all. Thirty to forty percent of flights are delayed but it is highly sensitive to the time of day with over ninety percent of flights at the beginning of the day leaving on time. The odds drop to just over 50/50 by the end of the day. I left from our small Connecticut airport first thing in the morning before a storm hit last week without any problem; later that day over three thousand flights were delayed or cancelled.
2.) Get Clear (YOU). If your time is worth more than minimum wage, this is a no brainer. With a quick eye scan or finger print (eye scan is faster; you can do it instead of the print when they ask for the print), you can bypass most of the TSA line. They are quickly expanding the availability to more airports, stadiums, and other venues. You’d be crazy to not sign up if you regularly use any of these airports:
This is a highly practical program and is also something that I support philosophically. My libertarian preference is for total anonymity and total freedom (insofar as I don’t inhibit the freedoms of others). However, the security stakes with 21st century technology have made such a utopia impractical. So, my libertarian compromise is to give up on the first in the name of getting to move closer to the second. I get fingerprinted for concealed carry licenses in most states and for Clear, sacrificing anonymity but gaining freedom.
If you have a business Platinum Amex (AXP), you get reimbursed for this membership. You can also use Clear to sign up for the Public brokerage. It expedites the process, just like at the airport. You get $20 when you use the above link to deposit $1k. If you’re a Clear member, you get an additional $50 and Clear Plus members get $100.
While I like skipping lines by any means necessary, I am not a fan of their business and don’t own any stock. There are a few problems. As more customers join Clear, the clear lines are lengthening. Occasionally, it can be redundant with Global Entry. And the socialists hate it for all the reasons why I love it: it allows people to use their money to buy time. Leftist California State Senator Josh Newman is sponsoring a bill to ban Clear Secure from airport security areas across his state, stating that,
It’s about dignity in the travel experience of people who don’t have money to pay for upsell services. The least you can expect when you have to go through the security line at the airport is that you don’t suffer the indignity of somebody pushing you out of the way to let the rich person pass you.
A few reactions. First Newman has a pretty broad definition of “rich” when referring to a service that costs $189 gross, $0 net of the Amex credit, and -$100 net of the Amex credit and Public benefit. If you ever want to feel “rich”, just listen to the politicians that want to tax and regulate the rich into oblivion. You might not be able to afford a washer and dryer in Manhattan and you might live in a sad little ranch in Palo Alto, but congratulations, you’re “the rich”.
Secondly, he is a sadist. The people he claims to represent are obviously hurt by his efforts. Getting “rich” people out of their line shortens their line and lets them proceed faster. His politics are not about helping non-rich people have better lives in any way. They are about hurting people he hates and envies.
Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?
- Charlie Munger
3.) Get Global Entry. This is highly complementary with Clear. Clear often can drop you off right in front of the TSA Pre-Check line. It saves time when you travel within the country and saves a ton of time when you return to the US. If you sign up, it is definitely worth the bother to also sign up every family member (including kids) so you can stay together while navigating security.
While less generally applicable, here are a few more bonus discoveries from recent family travel. If you are a parent and sentenced to visit Disney World (DIS), sign up for their tour service. They know how to get past almost all of the waiting and massively improve the experience which can otherwise be a bit heavy on the masses of humanity. They take you right through the FastPass+ line or, better yet, just walk in the exits.
Skiing? Here are the three keys to line avoidance that have worked best for me. Stay somewhere that offers ski in/ski out. Nothing else really matters. If you and your family can just ski right to and from the slope, the trip is about 9 parts fun for 1 part bother. If you can’t, it is closer to 6 fun to 4 carrying stuff around. Secondly, sign up for ski school. Don’t need lessons? It doesn’t matter. Ski instructors are mostly fun, good looking young people who are a pleasure to chat with and they have their own lift line. Worth it. Third and finally, visit a resort none too close to major cities. If you are an hour from Denver, you will get swarmed with day trippers after every snow. If you are four hours away, you will still have the place mostly to yourself even if conditions are perfect. So if you have a week or two to ski, try to get someplace slightly inconvenient; the bother in getting there is worth the reduction in lines, especially when the skiing is at its best. Snowmass has plenty of ski in/ski out and avoids Denver day trippers, but the most underrated Colorado resort is probably Wolf Creek. It is fantastic and Coloradoans mostly keep it to themselves.
Want to ski every day? If you want to ski where you live and work, there are some good options. You can ski in several income tax free states, especially on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and in New Hampshire. In Canada, Alberta is tied for first place in the North American economic freedom rankings. It is also spectacularly beautiful. You might consider Lake Louise as a permanent HQ — what you save in taxes and red tape you can spend on lift tickets and ski lessons.
