Most travelers are living in a tough reality: They don’t have top-tier airline loyalty status but long for all the benefits it provides – namely, business class upgrades. For the majority of us, business class is a word associated with privilege, reserved for those wealthy enough to afford it, or with business travelers who spend more time in the air than they do at home. As we hear the announcement boarding business class passengers and watch the lucky few strut onto the plane early, we...

The question has long been asked and answered in hushed tones and vague anecdotes: do the wealthy play by separate travel rules? On the one hand, the answer is obvious. Of course they do. They get extra legroom, seats that recline into beds, high-end lounge access, and maybe even an entire plane to themselves. But what about the one part of the airport experience that, theoretically, no one should be able to escape? As they say, there are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and TSA....