Same here on my "worst" return from Turkey - broken TK/LH award travel via FRA booked with UA miles. If you don't mind, which German airport did you depart from and did any plainclothes (though probably nicely dressed) CBP officers approach you at the departure gate? Been looking for evidence of any other USC's being harassed by the CBP Immigration Advisory Program, but right now it seems that I'm the only one who has written about encounters with them on the entire Internet. I can't really be *that* special? I was absolutely petrified each time they approached me and the whole procedure left a bitter aftertaste that haunted me well after my last little chat with them - for months I was convinced that I had to be under some sort of surveillance or on some "list" with potentially serious consequences for my wife's visa case at Embassy Ankara. Easy to say "water under the bridge" now, but it sure felt like my own government was against me right when I needed them most.

Also had a similar experience flying out of ITH, and would likewise feel very entitled to ask for a baggage fee waiver in the interest of not clogging the checkpoint the next time I get SSSS'ed at a small airport. They pressed and squeezed every last piece of clothing in my suitcase by hand on a table in embarrassingly full view of colleagues travelling out on the same flight. I suspect that the absence of AIT and other fancy/expensive gadgets at ITH may have had something to do with the rigor of their inspection - at PHL they sure swabbed down every surface of my luggage, but didn't actually rummage through it or do anything worse than a typical opt-out for the patdown.