Originally Posted by Blumie
I've noticed that, at many airports, the SSSSSs are escorted to the front of the line. On Saturday at SFO, I was just about to put my stuff on the belt when a TSAer excorted two SSSSSs in front of me and made me, and everyone else, wait while they stripped down and got their stuff on the belt. (The TSAer wasn't smart enough to let me and the other non-SSSSSs continue through the line while the SSSSSSs were ready to go through; instead the entire line came to a screeching halt while the SSSSSs prepared for their screening.)
When I was last SSSSelected as a Gold Elite flying F out of ABQ, I was sent to the front of the line, then only to wait in a blocked off "penalty box" type of setup surrounded by 4 tables they pulled around us. I waited for a while, then thought I should time it, then waited for 10 minutes more. My companions blew by me in line. Interestingly enough, we discussed giving my carry-ons to them to avoid the extra Mass-Spec Explosive detection & hand search to hopefully speed things up, right in front of security but they didn't seem to care/mind. Great security, eh?
All in all, I spent 30 minutes doing a check that was highly redundant and provided no real securit, where it should have taken only 10 minutes or so.
Also of note, HP's check in agents refused to deselect me by printing my boarding pass again. Has anybody had a problem with this before? I thought flashing a mid-tier or plat elite card or showing an F boarding pass was enough to get them to consider de-selecting you.
I was going to write a comment in about that to their HQ, but forgot.
