Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Feb 9, 2016, 9:24 pm
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,404
That is perhaps the stupidest and most paranoid post I've read here in a long time. No, flying to Turkey does NOT grant you the SSSS. Entering the US on a one-way ticket does, but despite having half a dozen stams from Turkey in my passport I haven't encountered any problems.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trust...aded-ssss.html
This isn't Turkish's fault, but it's just another reason why spending big bucks to encourage Americans to visit Turkey right now isn't a brilliant business strategy.
Feb 9, 2016, 10:14 pm
#17
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: QFF Gold, Flying Blue, Enrich
Posts: 5,366
That is perhaps the stupidest and most paranoid post I've read here in a long time. No, flying to Turkey does NOT grant you the SSSS. Entering the US on a one-way ticket does, but despite having half a dozen stams from Turkey in my passport I haven't encountered any problems.
Feb 10, 2016, 8:05 am
#19
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: TK Elite Plus, SAS EBG, QR Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,297
I'm sorry you found my post incredibly stupid and paranoid, but I (and all my family members over age 18) DID get on the TSA SSSS list last year due to our visit to Turkey. By no means am I alone, and I did not have a one-way ticket. There are several Flyertalk threads about this, like this one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trust...aded-ssss.html
This isn't Turkish's fault, but it's just another reason why spending big bucks to encourage Americans to visit Turkey right now isn't a brilliant business strategy.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trust...aded-ssss.html
This isn't Turkish's fault, but it's just another reason why spending big bucks to encourage Americans to visit Turkey right now isn't a brilliant business strategy.
My last visit to the US was on BA, and I didn't get any SSSS or questioning when entering the country, despite the fact that I have Turkish stamps in my passport.
Feb 10, 2016, 10:03 am
#20
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,763
Feb 10, 2016, 10:14 am
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,404
I've gotten SSSS one time when flying TK from Istanbul to New York, and that was because I was flying in and out of the US on separate one-way tickets. I doubt that the whole plane would get SSSS just because they're originating from Turkey.
My last visit to the US was on BA, and I didn't get any SSSS or questioning when entering the country, despite the fact that I have Turkish stamps in my passport.
My last visit to the US was on BA, and I didn't get any SSSS or questioning when entering the country, despite the fact that I have Turkish stamps in my passport.
Feb 10, 2016, 11:02 am
#22
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SFO, BRU, ADB
Programs: UA Gold, BA Silver, Marriott Titanium, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 702
Also got an SSS flying:
DTW-IAD-BRU
BRU-FRA-IST
IST-YYZ-DTW
Almost missed my flight in YYZ because of the SSSS...
Flying the same itinerary in a few weeks, will see how that goes...
DTW-IAD-BRU
BRU-FRA-IST
IST-YYZ-DTW
Almost missed my flight in YYZ because of the SSSS...
Flying the same itinerary in a few weeks, will see how that goes...
Feb 10, 2016, 11:50 am
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,404
BTW, it's a good thing this SSSS isn't that widely known, or Turkish would have considerable difficulty luring Americans onto their aircraft. It does seem like a simple roundtrip from the USA to IST is relatively safe from an SSSS standpoint (unless I've missed recent developments). From my experience, though, I would not make a connection at IST unless I had no other choice -- just not worth the TSA risk. Under no circumstances would I do an IST stopover (which is almost certainly what snared me).
Feb 10, 2016, 3:08 pm
#25
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: SFO, BRU, ADB
Programs: UA Gold, BA Silver, Marriott Titanium, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 702
If you read the threads, it seems like an IST SSSS drops off after several weeks. That's what happened to me (and my family). Thank God -- otherwise a visit to IST could come with the worst souvenir imaginable.
BTW, it's a good thing this SSSS isn't that widely known, or Turkish would have considerable difficulty luring Americans onto their aircraft. It does seem like a simple roundtrip from the USA to IST is relatively safe from an SSSS standpoint (unless I've missed recent developments). From my experience, though, I would not make a connection at IST unless I had no other choice -- just not worth the TSA risk. Under no circumstances would I do an IST stopover (which is almost certainly what snared me).
BTW, it's a good thing this SSSS isn't that widely known, or Turkish would have considerable difficulty luring Americans onto their aircraft. It does seem like a simple roundtrip from the USA to IST is relatively safe from an SSSS standpoint (unless I've missed recent developments). From my experience, though, I would not make a connection at IST unless I had no other choice -- just not worth the TSA risk. Under no circumstances would I do an IST stopover (which is almost certainly what snared me).
But I am expecting the SSSS again in 3 weeks coming from IST as I am not exiting the US on the same ticket afterwards... Gonna be fun
Feb 10, 2016, 5:19 pm
#26
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: TK Elite Plus, SAS EBG, QR Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,297
Not really relevant to this thread, but my family's SSSS was "earned" on a multi-city, roundtrip Star Alliance award ticket with Istanbul being a stop along the way. We had a pleasant visit to Istanbul (this was before the recent bombings), but for a frequent flyer, "earning" an SSSS designation is awful.
Getting SSSS while flying on United Airlines from Shannon to Newark is far worse than on IST-JFK, since at Shannon you need to spend more time at the pre-clearance CBP facility for secondary. At Istanbul it was just an extra look inside the bag, and then you're good to go.
I flew SNN-EWR-ARN-SDL on United and SAS booked as a one-way ticket which resulted in the dreaded SSSS for the United segment.
Feb 10, 2016, 11:02 pm
#27
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: HEL
Programs: *G, used to be with TK but left due to their corruption and political ties
Posts: 4,404
We're all just guessssing here, not knowing the TSA algorithms.
Feb 11, 2016, 5:52 am
#29
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: IST
Programs: TK E+ | HHD | Marriott TE LTG | etc.
Posts: 286
I've done 6 trips to US last year, all that trips was Open Jaw. One of them VKO-IST-JFK/EWR-CUN-IAH-IST-WAW. (EWR-CUN-IAH was on UA, all others with TK).
Never getting the SSSS.
Feb 11, 2016, 7:50 am
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,404
It's just a good thing the TSA thinks you lose interest in jihad after a few weeks back from IST. Otherwise, a Turkey stopover would be quite horrific.