2nd ID check within 10 feet of first: what's the point?
Dec 26, 2011, 4:55 pm
#31
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 1,007
They've been doing this since the "State Your Name" crapola started at other airports. Didn't happen before that.
I objected to one of the offenders one time and she said "we don't like it any more than you do, but this is to make sure the document checkers didn't miss anything".
I would have to say that this is markedly better than the interrogations or "state your name" stuff. It still serves no purpose other than to harass.
I find that an electronic boarding pass makes it easier at IAD as there's no paper for them to check (and it's hard for them to read the screen).
I objected to one of the offenders one time and she said "we don't like it any more than you do, but this is to make sure the document checkers didn't miss anything".
I would have to say that this is markedly better than the interrogations or "state your name" stuff. It still serves no purpose other than to harass.
I find that an electronic boarding pass makes it easier at IAD as there's no paper for them to check (and it's hard for them to read the screen).
Dec 26, 2011, 6:43 pm
#32
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 121
BUT, that hinges on the assumption that we need ID checking at all. I don't feel that knowing who is on a plane makes the plane negligibly safer for the cost of civil liberties and make-work program.
Dec 26, 2011, 7:58 pm
#33
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
Regarding the topic of specificity and sensitivity of tests (how no test will give 100% of either quantity - false positives and false negatives are always nonzero), I'd have to reluctantly say that having two people checking the same ID would reduce the likelihood of mistakes considerably. It's not unusual in a medical setting to do a test twice or even more times to be as sure as possible that the correct conclusion is reached. There is always some cost/benefit tradeoff, but the extra wages of one person probably could be justified.
BUT, that hinges on the assumption that we need ID checking at all. I don't feel that knowing who is on a plane makes the plane negligibly safer for the cost of civil liberties and make-work program.
BUT, that hinges on the assumption that we need ID checking at all. I don't feel that knowing who is on a plane makes the plane negligibly safer for the cost of civil liberties and make-work program.
Dec 26, 2011, 10:48 pm
#34
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 121
Habituation and forgetting the basic arguments and focusing on fine points rather than the bigger issues happens to me too.
Dec 27, 2011, 10:17 am
#35
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 1,007
Regarding the topic of specificity and sensitivity of tests (how no test will give 100% of either quantity - false positives and false negatives are always nonzero), I'd have to reluctantly say that having two people checking the same ID would reduce the likelihood of mistakes considerably. It's not unusual in a medical setting to do a test twice or even more times to be as sure as possible that the correct conclusion is reached. There is always some cost/benefit tradeoff, but the extra wages of one person probably could be justified.
BUT, that hinges on the assumption that we need ID checking at all. I don't feel that knowing who is on a plane makes the plane negligibly safer for the cost of civil liberties and make-work program.
BUT, that hinges on the assumption that we need ID checking at all. I don't feel that knowing who is on a plane makes the plane negligibly safer for the cost of civil liberties and make-work program.
Jan 6, 2012, 5:02 pm
#38
Moderator, Omni, Omni/PR, Omni/Games, FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Between DCA and IAD
Programs: UA 1K MM; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 67,166
Had this again today, and the 2nd checker spent longer scrutinizing my ID and BP than did the TDC. I had to really bite my tongue on snark.
Jan 9, 2012, 1:54 pm
#39
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
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Mike