mileena

[title should say "warning"]

The Ethicist [NY Times]
Watch Yourself
By ARIEL KAMINER
Published: August 12, 2011

"I believe that my name is on a Transportation Security Administration watch list. Often when I fly, the letters “SSSS” on my boarding pass alert gate agents to pull me aside for extra screening. But on a recent trip, a T.S.A. employee failed to notice the “SSSS.” I’m fairly certain that I am on the T.S.A. list because of my animal rights activism. I am not a threat to civil aviation. I was happy to avoid yet another bothersome search, but should I have spoken up? I wouldn’t want the guy to miss an actual threat. NICK A., FLORIDA"

[click link to read full article]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/ma...l?ref=magazine

Pesky Monkey

There are no actual threats. Did you notice any planes falling out of the sky lately?

joshwex90

I don't think they need to. *Perhaps* the TSO made a judgement call that she did not require a secondary screening

Seat1A

haven't had an SSSS in a while (*knockknock*), but when i had one, i always joked about it when handing over my bp -- "looks like we get to get extra close today!" or something like that... i found that showing i was aware i was going to get extra screening led to an easier time..

that said, if i hadn't said anything, and the TSO didn't notice, i would keep my mouth *shut*. i would then go to my gate 10 minutes before boarding and claim to have left my BP at chilis (or whatever works at that airport), thus getting a fresh copy from an agent who knows why it's not marked for the SSSS screening..

Flahusky

Just another reason to print your boarding passes at home
Always print two copies in case one gets 'lost' after the TDC or after screening

littlesheep

deleted

mileena

I have yet to find a site that will print a fake boarding passes. Or did you mean to print legit boarding passes, but as home?

joshwex90

But when going through security, after passing the ID check, won't they stop you if they see a fresh boarding pass with no markings whatsoever?

Real boarding passes. As in, print 2 copies of your boarding pass. Why would you look to print fake boarding passes? To see if the TSA notices?

SFOSpiff

I think the point was that people who have permanent SSSS status are usually ineligible to check in from home.

greentips

As a standby non-rev pax on a particular airline, I always got the SSSSS in the olden days. I and my crew friends never knew the exact reason, but speculated it was because I was traveling alone, acquired the ticket the hour or two before departure, and they were always one way since we never knew when/how we would return, as I could only travel space-A, and behind regular crew non-revving.

Never got it when I had a paid R/T ticket.

I got the full treatment about 1/3 of the time, and didn't the other 2/3, especially when I was with the crew at the checkpoint. To the best of my knowledge I have never flown an airplane into a building, although one of my student pilots did taxi into a hanger door once and break a wingtip.

When the SSSSS was ignored, I politely never mentioned it to the gentlemen and ladies of the checkpoint as I didn't want to embarrass them in their oversight.

nrr

Except LGA none of the airports I've used (domestic and foreign) have looked at bp after the TSA checks ones bp and id. When you get to the gate, the agent would see a bp with NO markings, but you could have reprinted bp from one of the kiosks (after security), or you could be a connecting pax.
If you can't print your bp from home, that is a sign that you might be SSSS.
There have been posts here on FT, noting that people who DID print a bp from home with SSSS, have sometimes, whited out the SSSS, Xeroxed the result.
How easily would TSA recognized a bp with SSSS, if it is on mobile phone?

Houston.Business

[QUOTE=mileena;16924387] I was happy to avoid yet another bothersome search, but should I have spoken up? QUOTE]

Definitely speek up. Then on the way home, flag down a Police Officer and tell him you ran through a red light a mile back.

I've been on a watch list since 2002, after a major confrontation with a GPSO. When you check in, a TSA warning comes up in the ticket agents screen. The Airline gives you the 'SSSS'. As you gain elite status, the 'SSSS' slowly goes away.

I haven't had one in years, until last week when I flew on Frontier. (First Time), and there it was, 'SSSS'

goalie

Bolding mine: Not your problem if they screw up. Just keep on going to your gate and see what happens. If the terminal gets dumped and folks miss their flight or you get pulled aside at the gate and subsequently miss your flight, the TSA is responsible. Now whether they pony up to accommodate, is another story entirely

Yup ^

tkey75

I'm waiting for some super genius to write SSSS on the screen of my phone.

Caradoc

Dear Nick A.,

You are a TSAsi wet dream. You have progressed beyond "Should I inform on my neighbors and friends?" to "Should I inform on myself?"

Please pray for the development of time travel so that you can immediately move to 1950's East Germany where you can feel quite at home.