No longer using passport as ID for TSA - here's why
Nov 28, 2010, 7:58 am
#76
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: PDX/AUS
Programs: AA-UA-AS IHG-SPG-Carlson
Posts: 4,562
Last summer I used my passport at TSA in AUS,
and the agent starting flipping through the Visa pages.
Based on a previous thread somewhere implying they
don't have the right to do that, I asked,
"What are you looking for?".
She glared at me and said, "I have the right to look through here".
If I had gone to supervisor to verify this,
would they likely have educated the screener,
or just told me to keep moving along...??
I liked one posters strategy to very firmly wrap
a set of fat rubber bands around all the pages past the photo ID page.
Maybe I will try that next time. @:-)
and the agent starting flipping through the Visa pages.
Based on a previous thread somewhere implying they
don't have the right to do that, I asked,
"What are you looking for?".
She glared at me and said, "I have the right to look through here".
If I had gone to supervisor to verify this,
would they likely have educated the screener,
or just told me to keep moving along...??
I liked one posters strategy to very firmly wrap
a set of fat rubber bands around all the pages past the photo ID page.
Maybe I will try that next time. @:-)
Last edited by MrHalliday; Nov 28, 2010 at 7:58 am Reason: sp
Nov 28, 2010, 7:58 am
#77
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A bumbling inspector with the Transportation Safety Administration apparently has some explaining to do, after nine American Eagle regional jets were grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday.
Citing sources within the aviation industry, ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage... reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds.
"The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers," one pilot wrote on an American Eagle internet forum. "They decided this instrument, the TAT probe, would be adequate to use as a ladder."
Nov 28, 2010, 8:16 am
#78
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 70
On my driver's license, the signature occurs before the card is produced. That seems more forgery proof. The idea that a security guard would stand there watching you sign it on the spot makes me want to laugh. How do they know the signature ITSELF is valid? I really think this passport format is TOTALLY obsolete. I wonder how many more decades before someone decides to make it less easy to counterfeit.
Thank goodness she caught that and had me sign it right in front of her, so she knows it's legit.
Nov 28, 2010, 8:22 am
#79
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: CLT
Posts: 181
No, the idiot would not let me through with an FAA ID.
I went to the Starbucks across the hall and got a latte (while you -- the american taxpayer -- were paying me $90 an hour) . About 45 minutes later the Delta ticket counter manager came over to TSA yelling, "Have you seen the FAA guy? Flight 123 is still at the gate waiting on him."
I walked over and said "That would be me, he wouldn't let me in".
I got in after that.
I'm pretty sure it was the same guy I had to educate about the mythical $10K "limit".
BTW, you guys don't have to worry about Air Traffic Control. We don't allow TSA in our facilities without an escort.
SR
I went to the Starbucks across the hall and got a latte (while you -- the american taxpayer -- were paying me $90 an hour) . About 45 minutes later the Delta ticket counter manager came over to TSA yelling, "Have you seen the FAA guy? Flight 123 is still at the gate waiting on him."
I walked over and said "That would be me, he wouldn't let me in".
I got in after that.
I'm pretty sure it was the same guy I had to educate about the mythical $10K "limit".
BTW, you guys don't have to worry about Air Traffic Control. We don't allow TSA in our facilities without an escort.
SR
Nov 28, 2010, 8:35 am
#80
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,972
One of the TSOs who used to be on this forum more explained that there's an authentication feature on some passports on the page where it's sewn and the fastest way for him to verify a passport is to flip to that page. That being said, I can't find such a feature on my passport (though maybe it isn't there since I have a 48-page passport), nor seen a TDC do that with mine.
Nov 28, 2010, 8:39 am
#81
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Upstate NY or FL or inbetween
Programs: US former CP Looking for a new airline to love me
Posts: 1,674
The TSA has "safety inspectors" that wander around. It was one of them that damaged a bunch of aircraft in ORD while using the TAT probes as a jungle gym:
A bumbling inspector with the Transportation Safety Administration apparently has some explaining to do, after nine American Eagle regional jets were grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday.
Citing sources within the aviation industry, ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage... reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds.
"The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers," one pilot wrote on an American Eagle internet forum. "They decided this instrument, the TAT probe, would be adequate to use as a ladder."
A bumbling inspector with the Transportation Safety Administration apparently has some explaining to do, after nine American Eagle regional jets were grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday.
Citing sources within the aviation industry, ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage... reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds.
"The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers," one pilot wrote on an American Eagle internet forum. "They decided this instrument, the TAT probe, would be adequate to use as a ladder."
And what legitimate purpose could they or their TS"O" brethren possibly have for going in the control tower, where the foolish blundering deservedly associated with all parts of the TSA could have immediate and tragic consequences? TSA, whether an ID checker or a safety
inspector have as much relevance here as they do in the cockpit at 35,000 feet, and a huge potential downside.
Nov 28, 2010, 10:42 am
#82
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Last summer I used my passport at TSA in AUS,
and the agent starting flipping through the Visa pages.
Based on a previous thread somewhere implying they
don't have the right to do that, I asked,
"What are you looking for?".
She glared at me and said, "I have the right to look through here".
If I had gone to supervisor to verify this,
would they likely have educated the screener,
or just told me to keep moving along...??
I liked one posters strategy to very firmly wrap
a set of fat rubber bands around all the pages past the photo ID page.
Maybe I will try that next time. @:-)
and the agent starting flipping through the Visa pages.
Based on a previous thread somewhere implying they
don't have the right to do that, I asked,
"What are you looking for?".
She glared at me and said, "I have the right to look through here".
If I had gone to supervisor to verify this,
would they likely have educated the screener,
or just told me to keep moving along...??
I liked one posters strategy to very firmly wrap
a set of fat rubber bands around all the pages past the photo ID page.
Maybe I will try that next time. @:-)
Feb 9, 2011, 1:31 pm
#84
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Monterey Bay Area
Programs: Independent Libertarian
Posts: 326
Unwanted passport snooping
IF you have only a few STAMPED pages in your passport and wish to stop this unwarranted/unwanted snooping try this: ^ Use ELMER's Glue on top and bottom corners to glue together.
They are easily opened with a nail file.
Feb 9, 2011, 1:46 pm
#85
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
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Feb 9, 2011, 2:38 pm
#86
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
I flew from a mid-size US city this week, along with a Swiss citizen. The TDC said 'COOL! I've never seen these before!' He was pleasant enough but then he asked 'can I make copies of these for training?'
Immediately I wondered how far away the copier was from the TDC station, and why on earth they couldn't find their own samples to use for training rather than use our apparently fascinating ID. Swiss guy played the 'Ich bin Ausländer, nichts verstehe' game, but I of course had to tell him what I thought of his request.
I will admit that the Swiss passport is very attractive, but still...
Immediately I wondered how far away the copier was from the TDC station, and why on earth they couldn't find their own samples to use for training rather than use our apparently fascinating ID. Swiss guy played the 'Ich bin Ausländer, nichts verstehe' game, but I of course had to tell him what I thought of his request.
I will admit that the Swiss passport is very attractive, but still...
Feb 9, 2011, 2:39 pm
#87
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,607
I flew from a mid-size US city this week, along with a Swiss citizen. The TDC said 'COOL! I've never seen these before!' He was pleasant enough but then he asked ' can I make copies of these for training?'
Immediately I wondered how far away the copier was from the TDC station, and why on earth they couldn't find their own samples to use for training rather than use our apparently fascinating ID. Swiss guy played the 'Ich bin Ausländer, nichts verstehe' game, but I of course had to tell him what I thought of his request.
Immediately I wondered how far away the copier was from the TDC station, and why on earth they couldn't find their own samples to use for training rather than use our apparently fascinating ID. Swiss guy played the 'Ich bin Ausländer, nichts verstehe' game, but I of course had to tell him what I thought of his request.
I would not be letting a TSA clerk take a copy of my NEXUS card, etc, so they could show the other clerks. I'm sure they could get a copy from Switzerland, or DHS.
Feb 9, 2011, 3:22 pm
#88
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 189
Citing sources within the aviation industry, ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage... reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds.
"The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers," one pilot wrote on an American Eagle internet forum. "They decided this instrument, the TAT probe, would be adequate to use as a ladder."
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Were they trying to look in the cockpit window to see if the keys were left there and the door was unlock? And to scan if there was a purse or briefcase left on the seat?!
Feb 9, 2011, 7:16 pm
#89
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 819
The TSA still want passport info from you when flying in to the United Stats on an international flight... It has nothing to do with the immigration control I think that you need to provide that info before you check in.