Fast track
is indeed a great invention that saves much time when it works, but can also be
a real time thief when it doesn't.
Since I’m using
Finnair’s / Oneworld’s fast track at Helsinki Airport more or less every week, I thought I would
share a tip on when it makes sense to use the fast track and when not. In fact
the efficiency of the fast track has puzzled me a lot over the years, because
sometimes it’s faster than the regular security screening and sometimes it’s
much slower.
So now to
the point! By observing and trying I’ve come to the following conclusion (my apologies
for the bad illustration below, drawing is definitely not one of my core
competences).
My intention
was to illustrate the queues leading up to the security screening at Helsinki
Airport T2, as they looked yesterday morning at 6.50 (no there were no happy gingerbreads
standing in line but that was the best illustration I could find in Power
Point).
Normally a
passenger who’s entitled to use fast track would choose the fast track when evaluating
the length of the queues. However, this is not what you should do at Helsinki
Airport T2.
The key to success is to spot how many
screening devices are in use on the fast track. If it’s only 1, proceed to
the slow track, but if there are 2 screening devices in use - use the fast
track!
To put it
in a nutshell: if both lines start at the same point of the terminal (i.e. same
distance to the security screening) and there is only 1 screening device in use
on the fast track - choose the slow track!
This may
sound strange, but I’ve tested this thesis on several occasions and so far it
hasn’t failed.
