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Last month when I reviewed the new and UN-improved Dallas DFW American Express Centurion club I entered the airport as I always do at the TSA PreCheck checkpoint nearest to the lounge and they had the above.
What a neat idea. I had never seen one of these before or even heard about the company Airport Mailers. There are times in my life I could have used them.
For example, I just love the above mostly flat screwdriver set that I keep in the sleeve of my ski coat because it always seems like I have a screw lose when I am on the slopes. TSA seems to hates this thing so the one time I forgot to check it they wanted to keep it. Since it was in South Bend I just ran it out to the car since it was way too late to put it into my checked bag at that point.
Another thing I travel with on most flights is a no-blade wine bottle opener. I have found many times having one of these is really handy (like when on a Delta jet and they don’t have one in 1st class thus no wine). But when I forget to take it out of my bag, and fly internationally or to the Caribbean, they toss them out. They are so cheap to buy that I would not bother mailing them home had there been an Airport Mailers box to use.
But I can see a bunch of times that an item could be either valuable or, for sentimental reasons, valuable to a traveler and worth dropping into a box to be shipped home for the $14.95 fee. I was confused about the lighter choice on the forms, as the TSA does let you bring 1, but then maybe you are a chef and your forgot your brulee torch maybe or a Damascus knife (hey, I am reaching a bit but you get the point)?
What do you think. Have you seen one of these boxes or even have one at your home town airport (I bet many have)? Do you ever travel with something you normally check that you would pay to ship home if you forgot it and at a TSA check point were told you can not fly with (whatever)? – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
The few times I’ve seen them they are after TSA! I’m not sure how that works, don’t they need to be prior?
@Simon – The on in DFW is prior to the checkpoint (just outside it).
Very helpful as long as they do not charge more to mail the screwdriver or the wine opener than the cost to buy new ones.
@Santastico – Agree. I have tossed out a few since cheap to replace. However, I talked to a DM who builds TV / Show sets and professional tools can be worth the cost to ship back.
Hard to believe you’ve never seen these before. They aren’t as old as Mutual of Omaha life insurance kiosk or b&w tvs that work in quarters but almost 🙂 Usually they are poorly located is likely the reason you haven’t seen them.
@DaninMCI – HA! I am almost MofO old so… 😉
Our airport has a donation box for toiletries. Oversized liquids and gels can be left there and taken to a shelter for abused women.
Not quite the same, but a great idea nonetheless.
Amen to shipping pricy tools back. Not really sure why TSA bothered by 12” crescent wrench but 9” wire cutters ok? It is nice there is an option to ship and not donate to the void of lost things.
I’ve seen them for a couple of years at least. My wife keeps a Swiss Army knife in her purse and several times has forgotten to move it to her checked bag. She used this service once; the other times it wasn’t noticed, so she did an unintentional, unofficial quality check on TSA (that they failed!)
I have carried a prestamped padded envelope in my carry on bag for as long as the increased security began. I have a small very functional swiss army pocket knife which has huge value to me so I have the padded envelope just in case. Fortunately the need has only been 1 time but well worth i! So yes this is a great idea!
I have not noticed this service in Terminal4 JFK. It would be a wonderful convenience!
JAX.Fla. has them to the right of TSA before entering!!