Dear TSA...
 

...why do some of your agents insist on completely unfolding the printed boarding pass that I have carefully folded to present only the necessary information and barcode to your agents? Are your agents really that interested in the weather where I am going and the benefits of the MileagePlus Explorer Card that they have to unfold my boarding pass document?

Your agents are wasting time...

If you have experienced agents taking the time to unfold your pass why continue to fold it? I'm sure you are trying to help but why bother folding if you know what will happen?

better yet, get the mobile app and deny them the joy of scribbling stupidity on your paper...as if that chicken scratch BS is worth something.

One should just but some gibberish nonsense on the other half.

That said when I printed my boarding passes I would print the first leg on the front and the second leg on the back then fold it over. Always using the basic print option which would not print the weather.

^ :D

I've always wondered what they are expecting to see on the other half of the page - particularly after they've unfolded a few hundred of them.

Are they really afraid that the one time they don't unfold the page to look at non-BP info there will be something incriminating or relevant? A printed folding gun and ammo or something?

I've been tempted to print it out on really long paper (maybe on the graphics printer at work) and fold it up accordion-style, with just the BP displayed. Maybe a few bits of tape. I wonder how much time and effort they would expend unfolding it to ...what? Clear it? Ensure that it presents no threat to aviation security?

Or just plain nosiness? Because they can? Because they really aren't focused on the mission, they're focused on fake IDs or funny writing?

This

Or, more precisely, they don't understand the mission.

There we go, boarding passes on CVS receipts!

Mike

No, because then I'll get sent for a bag search if the receipt shows that I purchased nitro pills or a 4-ounce tube of toothpaste!

Maybe the better question is why you continue to hold up the passengers behind you, knowing that the Officer is going to unfold the paper you have wasted your own time folding.

OP is one pax.

Hundreds of other first-time flyers with home-printed BPs likely transit the checkpoint every day. They receive no special training to fly and there are no signs or videos on huge monitors demanding that pax present their home-printed BPs in a particular manner.

If it's a huge problem, TSA could provide an assistant TDC to pre-vet each BP to make sure it complies with TSA standards. Any pax with a BP printed on a full sheet of paper and folded over could be sent back to the kiosks to get a re-printed version - or to the back of the line, to start over again after tearing off the offending and terribly distracting lower half of the page.

TDC sees home-printed BPs all day long, every day. Why does a highly-trained professional TDC keep wasting everyone's time unfolding and scrutinizing the irrelevant half of each home-printed BP? Slow learner?

They are NOT officers.

Why are you assuming to know what "the necessary information" is?

What do you assume "the necessary information" is?

yep, TSA needs to drop that silliness from the position title and take away all the metal shields that give the pretense of Officer.

Pretty obvious.

Tear off the bottom half of the page and the TDC will find all the necessary information on the remaining top half.

They unfold it out of sheer nosiness. I wonder what the response would be if what's on the other side of the paper were something mildly offensive? Graphic images? A note saying "If you are a TDC reading this, why? You have just failed another 'Red Team" test' - signed OIG"