Saving Time Can Be The Best Perk of All

Flying from different airports around the world provides a wide range of new and innovative ideas to make traveling easier. Common sense sometimes provides simple yet substantial time savings, and rarely are these ideas implemented in the US.

In Copenhagen, for example, the jetways divide for the three classes of passengers so that you enter the airplane near where your seat is. Business and EconomyPlus, on SAS, for example board on a separate jetway from coach. So you end up not having to have a hoard of people passing by you as you settle in for your business class champagne.

Just last week I flew out of Bologna airport, in Italy’s beautiful and food-filled Emilia Romagna province. At the Marconi airport, the business class lounge doesn’t offer much. WiFi costs money, there were only chips to eat, and there was not even a cocktail. But there was one thing that made this mediocre lounge well worth it.

A special exit takes travelers directly to their own little security screening area, with two attendants on hand for a semi-private security check. The exit takes you right out onto the concourse, and boom, you’re at the gate.

On the way there, you pass by the huge crowd that is still waiting in one of five lines to have their carry-ons scanned.

I predict that as more and more people can afford the extra cost of business class, either by paying a fee or using the airmiles, the perks will more often relate to time saving instead of luxury.