Take food, a book and lots of patience

You could fill a book with the advice that’s been given on coping with conditions at U.S. airports since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It’s no longer possible to arrive at the check-in counter a few minutes before your flight, as was once the practice. It’s also no longer wise to throw scissors or a screwdriver into your carry-on bag.

But some suggestions aren’t worth the trouble, such as the advice to print out your own boarding pass before leaving home (saving the 30 seconds it takes to do the same thing at the automatic kiosks in the airport). Or the advice to wear slip-on shoes rather than lace-up shoes, because security might ask you to remove them. Another marginally helpful piece of advice is to check the government’s Web site, www.tsa.gov to learn what the average security wait is predicted to be at the terminal you plan to use. What good would that do you, even if such a forecast were possible?

That doesn’t mean I don’t have a few favorite tips to pass along to my traveling friends.

Remember to take ample reading material for those long periods when you’re cooling your heels because you heeded the valid advice to check in two hours in advance and then unexpectedly whizzed through security. Take a mystery novel that you can’t put down.

Take the tastiest sandwich you can make, because food is no longer provided on many flights. Even if your flight is supposed to include food, take your own. The quality of a meal supplied by an airline in bankruptcy (and many of them are) is nowhere near what you might have enjoyed on a previous flight.

Don’t take anything valuable to the airport -- such as your best watch or heavy, expensive jewelry -- that you’ll need to place in the tray when you’re going through the security checkpoint, in case you forget them.

Do not wrap presents that you’re taking on a trip because they may have to be unwrapped for the security check.

Be careful about volunteering to be bounced from a flight that has been overbooked: The free tickets that some hard-pressed airlines offer in these difficult times are often restricted to the same class of tickets that frequent fliers receive for their mileage -- and are therefore hard to use. Ask for an unrestricted ticket with an extended expiration date or a ticket that is usable on international and domestic flights.

Finally, don’t argue with the one bit of universally given advice: Arrive at the airport much earlier than you were accustomed to before Sept. 11.

The security procedures can cause long lines and waits that are impossible for anyone -- even the Transportation Security Administration -- to predict, and some fliers have missed their planes.

Despite the added security, travel in the United States has recovered to nearly the levels it enjoyed before Sept. 11.

We’ve decided the threat of terrorism will not keep us home.