CLEVELAND — For the better part of two decades, TSA was the furthest point a non-ticketed person could go at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. One of the many changes that came after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which led to the creation of the TSA. But now the airport is joining a growing list of airports that enable a select number of people each day to go venture past security and hang out, dine, spend time with an outgoing passenger, greet an incoming one or wait with one on a Cleveland layover.
You don't need to know anyone on the inside or pay an extra fee. It's free and open to anyone; it's called the Hopkins Hangout Pass.
"So the hangout pass allows non-ticketed guests to access the secure side of the airport, which is something that hasn't been allowed for quite a long time," said Megan O'Connell, Hopkins Assistant Director of Marketing and Guest Experiences. "Historically guests have been able to do that through the airline but we felt it was really important for the airport to have our own pass as well."
To get one, just go to the airport's website, where you'll find the Hopkins Hangout Pass page and enter the required information, which will include scanning your passport or real ID. Make sure you do it one to seven days before the day you would like to use it.
"You'll get approval the night before you come in and you'll get a pass on your phone which you show to the TSA officer along with your ID and then you will be allowed in the airport," O'Connell said.
You will be screened the same as an actual traveler, but whether you get one of the 100 passes issued daily will be the call of TSA, not the airport.
It's an element of a new customer service initiative, Hopkins Hospitality. This idea will encompass already launched and new services to enhance the guest experience at CLE.
The vision for Hopkins Hospitality aims to create lasting experiences for our guests and ensure a smooth and enjoyable kick-off to their trip as they depart from Cleveland for business, vacation or personal reasons.
The Hangout Pass is something Michelle Snyder of Cleveland could see herself using.
"Oh yes, even with my mother if she would decide to fly out somewhere I could sit with her being that she's older," Snyder said.
Roy Beres of Kirtland was thinking the same thing.
"I mean it's nice for older people to be able to take them to the gate and make sure they're off safe and everything is good to go and even children and stuff like that," he said.
Yes, children, not just the young ones, said Megan O'Connell, the airport's assistant director of marketing and guest experiences.
"I actually was kind of looking at our passes today and I noticed there is somebody coming in, their son is being deployed and they wanted to just be there with him until the very last minute when he gets on the plane and so they wanted to be a part of this pass."
The program started Aug. 11 with over 300 passes issued so far. Eighty percent of those users, the airport said, are patronizing the airport's shops and restaurants, some of which offer discounts to Hangout Pass holders.
