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Repeatedly getting SSSS on boarding passes when flying to the US

Repeatedly getting SSSS on boarding passes when flying to the US

Old May 12, 2016, 8:50 pm
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Repeatedly getting SSSS on boarding passes when flying to the US

The past 6 weeks I've flown Emirates (Delhi), Austrian (Athens), and United (Beijing) and on each flight returning to the USA I've had the SSSS tag. Precheck is valid when leaving the US (no SSSS) but I'm wondering if I should go through the redress program. Haven't had SSSS in over 6+ years and traveled internationally each month.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Old May 12, 2016, 9:15 pm
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You can certainly apply for a redress #, but you should understand that the "SSSS" system has completely different uses for flights headed to the US as opposed to TSA screening at US checkpoints.

For flights headed to the US, DHS requires that a significant % of passengers be subjected to secondary screening and those passengers are selected both randomly and from various lists.

While TSA does select some minimal % of all passengers screened at its checkpoints at random for various types of secondary, most are selected for their presence in one or another database or features of their ticket. But, again the overall % are way lower than for international departures to the US.
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Old May 13, 2016, 1:28 am
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Originally Posted by seavol
The past 6 weeks I've flown Emirates (Delhi), Austrian (Athens), and United (Beijing) and on each flight returning to the USA I've had the SSSS tag. Precheck is valid when leaving the US (no SSSS) but I'm wondering if I should go through the redress program. Haven't had SSSS in over 6+ years and traveled internationally each month.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
DHS TRIP is most probably going to be useless to avoid haraSSSSment on US-bound flights originating from outside of the US. And sometimes applying for it will make things worse and not better, but that tends to be way more rare than DHS TRIP being just a waste of time.

After enough trips to the US on the same carrier(s), your chances of getting hit by haraSSSSment should drop (even as it's unlikely to drop to zero). I wouldn't waste my time seeking to do DHS TRIP/redress. I would either stick to flying the same carrier(s) that hit you with haraSSSSment until the odds drop down or I would jump over to other carriers that have less/no history of doing the same to you to see if it goes any better there.
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Old May 13, 2016, 7:56 pm
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Originally Posted by Often1
You can certainly apply for a redress #, but you should understand that the "SSSS" system has completely different uses for flights headed to the US as opposed to TSA screening at US checkpoints.

For flights headed to the US, DHS requires that a significant % of passengers be subjected to secondary screening and those passengers are selected both randomly and from various lists.

While TSA does select some minimal % of all passengers screened at its checkpoints at random for various types of secondary, most are selected for their presence in one or another database or features of their ticket. But, again the overall % are way lower than for international departures to the US.
My wife got SSSSed out of PVG--and there was nothing different about the security screening. They ignored it.
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Old May 16, 2016, 8:53 am
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I get it every time I fly AA out of PVG. I'm in global entry and have all that jazz but I still get it every time I fly AA to the states. Never get it on any other airline. Strange.
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Old Aug 7, 2016, 7:47 pm
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I repeatedly get smacked with SSSS!

Okay, for the past 6 months, every single flight (one way or return) back to the USA has put a fat SSSS and secondary screening on my boarding pass. Every single stinking time. I can go from one country to another, but the instant I hit a segment that goes to the USA I get an SSSS. Why? I haven't gone to a single questionable country (routine Europe/Asia destinations), have Global Entry, and OWS status. Even on the same PNR I go from secondary security in MAD or HKG or NRT and through PreCheck the instant I hit American soil... What am I missing? What's going on? Do they want to pick on the few pax who are Americans for this? (The majority of people on the flights back home to the USA were not Americans)

Last edited by oaken; Aug 7, 2016 at 7:50 pm Reason: more detail
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Old Aug 7, 2016, 9:36 pm
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Apply for a redress number ... https://www.dhs.gov/redress-control-numbers
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Old Aug 8, 2016, 4:13 am
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Originally Posted by FlyingUnderTheRadar
Apply for a redress number ... https://www.dhs.gov/redress-control-numbers
TRIP/Redress is most commonly useless for such circumstances as the OP. Unless the OP is getting hit with this on all flight segments of even US-originating portions of the trips, the generally more effective solution is to change carrier(s) being flown to the US.
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Old Aug 8, 2016, 8:21 am
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Correct. Redress does not apply. What's weird is my last trip started in the USA with AA, priority precheck. Only the third segment was a code share, and the final flight was on AA to the States. Got an ssss on the flight on AA to the USA. Next day in the USA got my usual precheck to domestic destination. I'm kind of getting tired of secondary screening because it requires guesstimating how long the line will be for leaving the lounge purposes and how long it might take for them to take apart my luggage and repack.
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Old Aug 8, 2016, 2:06 pm
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Do you have a name that may be similar to someone who might be on their list? Have you flown to or connected through countries with questionable relations with the US?

I remember a thread a while back where people seemed to think that they've been getting SSSS after transiting IST.
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Old Aug 8, 2016, 2:39 pm
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Originally Posted by diburning
Do you have a name that may be similar to someone who might be on their list? Have you flown to or connected through countries with questionable relations with the US?

I remember a thread a while back where people seemed to think that they've been getting SSSS after transiting IST.
For most circumstances of the sort akin to that of the OP, the airline's security contractor do this thing. And it mostly has nothing to do with having been to "countries with questionable relations with the US".
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Old Aug 8, 2016, 8:07 pm
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
For most circumstances of the sort akin to that of the OP, the airline's security contractor do this thing. And it mostly has nothing to do with having been to "countries with questionable relations with the US".
Book a trip for a friend or give someone an upgrade lately? Happened to me after I let a friend use an upgrade sticker for a couple longhaul international flights.Turns out, the friend required going through redress process. Until he did, I kept getting the dreaded "SSSSS" by affiliation. The day after his redress process ended, I flew into the US and the "SSSSS" was gone. Haven't seen it since.
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Old Aug 8, 2016, 10:44 pm
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I get precheck every time I fly domestic USA. It's flying to the USA that I get problems. Name is unusual but very American, there is nothing in flight patterns that should trigger this... How long does this typically last?
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Old Aug 9, 2016, 1:33 am
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I find it hard to believe it really is that big of pain if only affects you flying into USA. Think about it for a little while. I doubt the added screen is really that much time. Now if it was domestic travel I could understand.
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Old Aug 9, 2016, 2:21 am
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Originally Posted by rayikes
Book a trip for a friend or give someone an upgrade lately? Happened to me after I let a friend use an upgrade sticker for a couple longhaul international flights.Turns out, the friend required going through redress process. Until he did, I kept getting the dreaded "SSSSS" by affiliation. The day after his redress process ended, I flew into the US and the "SSSSS" was gone. Haven't seen it since.
Correlation or coincidence is not causation. <redacted by moderator>

I've known of people having given/sold/booked upgrades/tickets for people who were blacklisted with placements on government watchlists but that didn't result in being on government blacklists for the giving/selling/booking party. I'm speaking of situations like that of the OP.

As I said, this blacklisting of the sort hitting the OP is most commonly not going to be fixed by doing the USG's TRIP/redress process. Welcome to the airline and its contractors for causing the kind of hassles faced by the OP.

Last edited by TWA884; Aug 9, 2016 at 9:44 am Reason: Policy debate, not practical advice
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