Originally Posted by
gojirasan
Mybodyismyown, if it's a national bank, do you mind saying what bank allowed the chargeback? I may apply for a card with them solely for purchasing air tickets.
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And then I just plan for the fact that I am not going to be able to predict exactly when I can leave. It might take 3 or more attempts and 3 or more $100 change fees before being able to just walk right through the WTMD unmolested and make my flight, but it's still better than taking a ship across the Pacific. The 3 attempts and $300 in change fees is still worth it for the convenience of using the miracle of flight to travel across an ocean at 550 mph.
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A reasonable person would not expect "security screening" to include any form of sexual activity with the screener. That is something completely new and as such it needs to be explicitly mentioned and agreed to pre-purchase. Note that this will still be true even if the supreme court rules such sexual/genital contact as constitutional. Whether "constitutional" or not the procedures are still sexual and highly invasive and should require explicit consent before you even purchase the ticket no matter what.
The card company that allowed my chargeback was Chase. Hooray Chase! Ironically, the card I was using was a Southwest Airlines Visa. My new primary card is also a Chase card, the Amtrak Guest Rewards card.
I cancelled the Southwest Airlines Visa in December, and explained to the phone representative that I would no longer fly because of the disgustingly sexual nature of security requirements. The person I talked to was under the impression that scanners produce an image "like an X-ray where it shows your skeleton, right?" This speaks directly to your very sensible comments that sexually invasive procedures need to be explicitly detailed and consented to before the ticket purchase. I also have another good friend, with a Ph.D., who was completely unaware that she would be sexually assaulted for refusing a full-body scan when she first was abused in February 2011. Many people don't know this information. It's just sickening that the TSA won't use the words genitals, labia, penis, testicles, breasts, buttocks, to describe what will be touched, because lying by omission turns what could otherwise be consensual sexual activity into a blindsiding sexual assault. Susie Castillo's story makes this very clear - she accepted a patdown because she didn't think she would be sexually violated. She was sexually violated. The TSA says her patdown was by the book. Therefore, the TSA's book doesn't include telling people they're about to endure sexual contact. Sickening, I tell you.
In any case, I approve of your specified method to travel without fear of sexual exploitation. If I absolutely, positively have to fly, I will plan for the possibility of being ejected from the airport and re-booking my trip the next day. If the TSA threatens to touch me inappropriately or take naked pictures of me, I'm out of there. There's no amount of money that can compensate for the psychological damage that being sexually abused causes. I'll pay an extra $100 or buy a brand-new ticket. Much less painful to pay extra than to live with the sleepless nights, the flashbacks, the tears, the blaming myself, and I've been through all these emotions and more over the TSA's past sexual abuse of my body.