SAN ANTONIO – The holiday weekend is quickly approaching, and the City of San Antonio is helping the public prepare for a stress-free travel experience by sharing a few tips!
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects the heaviest traffic leading into the holiday weekend with more than 30,000 passengers between Thursday and Friday before Labor Day, according to a press release.
With an increase from last year’s passenger number, the city shared a few tips to ease your travels:
Check Flight Status Online
Passengers are able to check their flight status before they leave home and receive email alerts from the airline. Go to www.flysanantonio.com to check the status of your flight.
Print Your Boarding Pass Early
Passengers can print boarding passes at home or download them to their cell phones before they arrive or can use the convenient airline check-in kiosk at the airport.
Parking
Availability: There are 8,991 parking spaces between the Short Term (1,238), Long Term (5,305) and Economy Lots [formerly Green/Red Lots] (2,448). The Economy Lot is the most economical and it includes a FREE shuttle service that runs every 6 minutes.
Park Assist: Take advantage of the Park Assist System to guide you to available spots. As you enter the parking plaza, signs indicate the number of available parking spaces within the Short-Term Parking Garage. Park Assist uses a green light for available spots, red for unavailable, and blue for available ADA/Handicapped parking. You can visit the airport webpage or use the Park Assist App and know the number of available parking spaces before you depart.
Checkpoint Line
Be ready when you enter the checkpoint line. Have an acceptable ID and boarding pass out and ready to hand to the TSA officer.
Use Your Time in Line Wisely:While in the security checkpoint line, remove items from your pockets – such as wallets, keys, lip balm, tissues and cell phones – and place them into carry-on bags instead of putting items from pockets directly into.
Electronics larger than a cell phone — including e-readers and tablets — must be removed from your carry-on bag and placed in bins with nothing on top or below (this rule does not apply to TSA Pre?(R) passengers).
Firearms cannot go in a carry-on bag. Prohibited items result in checkpoint delays. Download the free myTSA app that includes the “What can I bring?” feature, allowing you to type in the item to find out if it can fly.
Follow the 3-1-1: Liquids, gels, and aerosols cannot exceed the 3-1-1 ounces rule in your carry-on bag. Let the TSA officer know right away if you are traveling with larger quantities of medically necessary liquids.
TSA Cares
Travelers or families of passengers with disabilities and medical conditions can call the TSA Cares helpline toll-free at 1-855-787-2227 with questions or for assistance 72 hours prior to traveling. Injured service members and veterans may contact TSA Cares to help facilitate the screening process.
Wheelchair Assistance: If you are traveling with someone who needs wheelchair assistance, contact the airline before arriving at the airport.
Aira Availability: Aira is available to all blind or vision-impaired travelers free of charge at SAT. Aira allows users to use their cell phones, or specially designed glasses for subscribers, to have an off-site agent guide them through the airport, this can include locating a restroom, navigating busy terminals or finding a place to relax – all designed to return independence to our visually impaired passengers. Please visit www.aira.io for more information.
Kids Traveling Alone
If you have a child traveling alone (unaccompanied minors) and want to escort them to the gate, please make arrangements with the airline to receive an access pass to the gate.
Ask for Help
Friendly Ambassadors and staff are here to help, so if you have questions, ask them.
@AskTSA: Travelers with questions about security, or items they can or cannot bring on their trip, can contact a TSA employee for live assistance 365 days a year by tweeting questions and comments to @AskTSA.