cargo airport services | Airport Friendly Shoes Security

The Value Of Airport Friendly Shoes

I was not wearing airport friendly shoes. Ever since 9/11, I had been looking for some, but I couldn’t find any. There I was in my Captain’s uniform going through security. As I was standing waiting for my shoes and luggage to come through the x-ray machine, I looked down and made two unpleasant discoveries.

First, my toe was sticking out through a hole in my socks. I had noticed this “small” hole that morning and mistakenly I thought the socks would be OK for one more wearing.

Second, that the floor was wet.

Was that wetness really from foot sweat?

The moisture was only in the area where people retrieved their things from the x-ray machine. Lots and lots of sweaty feet all in one area. Yuk. How many hundreds of people had stood here bare-footed or in their socks since the floor was last cleaned?

Strangely, this revelation gave me a little comfort. That’s because there was a noticeable foot odor in the area. I thought it might have been my feet that smelled, but the foot-sweat dampened floor seemed the likely source.

Finally, my shoes came through the conveyor belt. I began putting them on. One of the laces was knotted. Then the conveyor belt started moving quickly and the retrieval area was filled with my suitcase, flight case and backpack.

Everything was jammed up until I got my stuff out of the way. Security screening was stopped because of me. People, our passengers, are waiting.

With one shoe half on, the other in my hand (laces still knotted) I tried to retrieve my things, regroup, and get out of the way.

That’s when I stumbled and fell over my flight case. I felt like a klutz.

This is a struggle that many people go through. I was particularly self-conscious about it because 30 minutes later, many of the people witnessing my comical actions would be boarding a wide-body plane flown by me.

They’d be entrusting me to safely and skillfully fly them to their destination. Yeah me, the guy with the huge hole in his socks, falling over his bags onto the sweat soaked floor. All the while trying to keep composed.

I kept wondering, “Where can I find some airport friendly shoes so I don’t have to put up with this?”

To shop at the store offering the largest selection of airport friendly shoes, click here.

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Hi, I’m Pilot Paul, a Captain for a major airline.

I’m bringing you years of professional travel experience- mine and my fellow crewmembers’, to help you with your travels.

This site is dedicated to providing useful information and products that can help you on your journeys. Everything you learn about on this site has stood up to the toughest standards-real world crewmember use. Hard use.

These tips, recommendations and lessons-learned came from years of full-time travel experience. I pass them along for your benefit.

Airport Friendly Shoes Are A
Terrific Travel Accessory

Here are several reasons why traveling in airport friendly shoes makes good sense:

It Saves You Time. You will process through security screening more quickly. With airport friendly shoes, there is no need to:

Wait for a plastic tub

Remove your shoes

Make the screener stop the conveyor to examine an additional item

Wait for your shoes

Put them back on

Give the tub back

Watch the security line next time you go through. I estimate that removing shoes is the thing that slows the line the most. It adds 1 to 3 minutes per person for screening, which leads me to my next point…

It Saves Time For Everyone Else In Line. Think about it …if everyone had airport friendly shoes, that would speed up the screening for everybody. There are very few ways to speed the security lines, but this is one of them. Each item that must be x-rayed delays everyone in line. That cumulative time savings could mean:

Making a flight you would have otherwise missed

Getting that seat upgrade

Grabbing a snack or coffee before the flight

One last bathroom stop.

If nothing else, it would reduce everyone’s frustration and stress.

Can you imagine how nice it would be if the entire traveling public wore airport friendly shoes?

It’s More Sanitary.Have you ever considered the fact that without airport friendly shoes, you have to walk barefoot or in socks where literally thousands of others have been?

Who knows when the floor was last cleaned, much less sanitized?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve frequently noticed where the floor was wet with foot sweat. It’s wet in the places where everyone has to walk to process through the screening: where you load and unload your things on the conveyor belt, as well as where people wait to go through the metal detector. This is not somewhere I like to be standing in my bare feet or socks. Without airport friendly shoes, there is no alternative.

Don’t forget about the winter-time slushy, wet floors. I just love walking around in my socks in melted slush.

Not Knowing That Your Shoes Aren’t Airport Friendly Can Send You To Secondary Screening. I see this all the time and have to wait behind people who fall into this trap. They “think” their shoes are airport security friendly only to find out with a “BEEP” that they’re not.

The problem is that the entire line waits while they remove their shoes for screening AND while they have the secondary or pat down check. Please don’t be one of these people.

It Preserves Your Dignity. There’s something undignified about removing your shoes in public- sweat, odor, holes in socks, unmatched socks (yes, it’s been in the security line where I’ve discovered that my socks don’t match).

It Streamlines Security And Takes Some Hassle Out Of Flying. Face it, the 9/11 terrorists have made flying more difficult and more of a hassle.

I try to greet the people boarding my flights. What I often see are harried, frazzled people, especially the business travelers. The security procedures contribute to this.

Remember when flying and travel were fun and exciting?

If you get airport friendly shoes, you’ll be amazed how this one upgrade to your travel accessory arsenal will make you happier.

Even if your solution to this has been traveling in slip-ons or loafers, you still have to remove these shoes, wait in your socks, and retrieve them. Your only time savings is not having to mess with the laces.

Look at it this way:

Everyone needs shoes to travel in, so why not just simplify your travel and make your travel shoes airport friendly?

Everyone needs shoes. As you replace your old ones, why not just get airport friendly ones?

Adding security friendly shoes to your wardrobe will help you in many ways:

With several pairs, packing for trips is simplified. You won’t have to think and plan ahead for which shoes to wear on the plane.

There are many other places besides airports where you have to go through security:

Train stations

Cruise ships

Theme parks

Concerts

Conventions

Sporting events

Court houses and Government buildings

With a lot of research, I have found some places where you can get men’s and women’s dress, casual, and athletic shoes-all airport friendly. So,

Where Can You Find Airport Friendly Shoes?

That was a dilemma. The vast majority of shoes have steel shanks. I’d go to a shoe store and ask the clerk if they had any shoes that were airport friendly, without these metal shanks. The response was usually a blank stare. I bought three different pairs only to find out the hard way, during screening from the “BEEP”, that they were not security friendly.

This cost me time and money. My desire is to save you time and money.

I spent 6 months asking every TSA Security Screener I encountered where I could find shoes that I could wear through airport security. Very few of them knew of any airport friendly shoes. In fact, many of them wanted to find some for themselves. Some of them knew which brands had some models of shoes without metal.

The problem was finding which specific model shoe within the brand was airport friendly. That’s how I ended up with three pairs I thought were steel-free but were not.

This research led me to some stores that sold good quality, airport friendly shoes. Now that I have some of these shoes, I don’t mind airport security screening nearly as much. They really take lots of the hassle out air travel.

Even if you get just one pair, you’ll notice a huge difference in your flying experience. You’ll likely find yourself recommending them to many other people.

Finally, Your Search is Over…
…You Can Find Airport Friendly Shoes

These are the best places that I have found to buy quality, name brand airport friendly shoes.

You might be hesitant or concerned about ordering shoes online. Please consider the following:

This will save you lots of time. The places in the links below have large selections of airport friendly shoes. Shopping for these shoes the traditional way is very time consuming. Buying your shoes from the places I recommend below takes all the guess work out of it.

You’ll also save time by ordering online. Right now you’re just a few clicks away from the shoes arriving on your doorstep. That’s much quicker than going to a shoe store.

Concerned about getting a good fit or not liking the shoe when you get it? Remember, to be on this site, a vendor must have an exceptional return policy. The merchants listed below offer Free Shipping, Free Return Shipping, 110% Price Guarantees and lengthy return periods (1 year for one of them), So there is No Risk for you.

One vendor’s site posts reviews and feedback about customer satisfaction and how well the shoes fit. You can’t get that kind of information in a regular shoe store!

Their prices are great with the 110% price guarantees.

These Are The Best Places That I Have Found To Buy Quality, Name Brand
Airport Friendly Shoes

For the largest selection of name brand dress, casual, and athletic shoes for women and men that are security friendly click on: Women’s and Men’s Airport Friendly Shoes

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They have Free Shipping, Free Returns with a 365-day Return Policy, and 110% Price Protection.