Reporter looking for tips on getting through security with dignity intact
 

Hello all. I'm a technology and security reporter with Forbes, working on a kind of "how-to" story that collects tips for fliers regarding airport security ahead of the holidays. I'm hoping to hear any of your ideas for how fliers can get through airport checkpoints with the least embarrassment or inconvenience, even if they wish to opt out of the full body scans.

I'd appreciate any tricks or suggestions you all have picked up in your travels. Please feel free to DM me or email me at agreenberg (at) forbes.com.

Thanks for your help and look forward to seeing your ideas,

Andy Greenberg
Technology Staff Writer
Forbes Magazine and Forbes.com

I really believe that this is impossible, especially for those who opt out. The TSA is determined to humiliate such people -- and it's in a position to succeed. It would be far better for Forbes to encourage some long overdue reining in of the TSA, rather than figuring out how we can get past the machine with minimal damage.

Bruce

Andy, welcome to FT.

I think the most important thing for flyers to know is that there are rules, rights, and procedures in place, and the TSA is not an omnipotent entity that may do anything it pleases. The problem is that the TSA does not often act as though it has rules, and so a flyer must often assert them (a difficult thing for occasional flyers to do).

I am a weekly flyer, and I always choose to opt out of the AIT scanner when asked to pass through it. About half the time I am told I am not allowed to do that, or that it is faster just to go through, or that I am silly for opting out.

As we all know by now, the other "choice" is to receive a pat down (something that anyone who produces an anomaly in the scan will get anyway). This pat down is also invasive and undignified. I always begin by instructing the officer to retrieve my belongings from the x-ray so that they remain within my control. In addition, I instruct the officer that I am uncomfortable with this procedure and that he needs to inform me before he proceeds to touch any areas that are sensitive. In addition, I inform him that my spouse or traveling partner will be acting as a witness to the procedure. If traveling alone, I ask that a witness be brought to observe (some people ask for a police officer, but I am not particular).

I think doing these things establishes to the screener that they are simply performing a job that has rules, and they are not doing me a favor by letting me pass. A witness also reminds them they are accountable to the rules. Finally, by having belongings brought to you, you are reducing the risk of theft of tampering.

Good luck with the article.

Tell them you're a Forbes reporter and you're writing a story about this.

That will get YOU through security with your dignity intact.

The rest of us will have to roll the dice on which TSA agent we get to give us the freedom fondle, and whether that person has any sense of decency and love for his country.

...or a Member of Congress. Ordinary folks like us don't have such tools at our disposal. We suffer these indignities with little recourse. And many of us are sick to death of it -- and of the TSA, in general.

Bruce

Avoid body scanners. They can only process 1-2 people per minute at full speed, and many people that go through them still end up getting some type of rubdown afterward.

Most checkpoints route people to the Walk Through Metal Detector while the scanner is in use. Try to either get in a line that doesn't lead to a body scanner or stall/wait until someone gets sent to the scanner before putting your carry-on through xray and proceeding to the WTMD. It's unlikely that you'll receive any grope after going through the WTMD unless it alarms or you're "randomly" selected.

Take the car instead.

The TSA motto is, 'those who are about to fly, place all dignity in the tray, along with your 4th amendment rights, you can retrieve them when you leave the USA'

Andy, the best research you could do for your article is to take a female companion in a skirt, and, if possible, a companion in a wheelchair, and travel around a bit. Opt-out if you are selected. Pay attention to how well you are able to monitor your belongings. Pay attention to how often your female companion (in a skirt) is selected for NoS, particularly if the two of you don't converse so that she seems to be travelling alone. Let your wheelchair pax appear to be travelling alone. Observe how well the wheelchair pax is able to monitor his/her bags. Keep track of how smoothly things run. See how easy it is (or isn't) to avoid the NoS. See how easy it is (or isn't) to get TSA to allow you to keep your belongings in sight at all times.

Make sure you and your travel companions go through several airports, large and small.

This should give you reasonable first hand data to use in your article. Draw your own conclusions and make your own recommendations based on what you and your travel companions experience. Your article will carry a lot more weight if you have first-hand knowledge and are not just selecting from tips provided by strangers. Your experiences and recommendations will carry much more weight if they are based on the personal experiences of a reasonably representative (if small) group of 'normal' passengers traveling through a reasonably representative (large airport, mid-size, small airport) selection of airports. (Otherwise we could all just watch George Clooney in 'Up in the Air'!!)

Certainly we have enough collective expertise on this board to help you construct a budget- and time-friendly multi-airport run!

He doesn't even have to fly! Just buy refundable tickets and pass through security. Then go back out and get a refund.

Bruce

Avoid baggy clothing, skirts, head coverings, prosthetics, medical devices, feminine hygiene products, incontinence products, wheelchairs, physical deformities, and pocket lint.

Many people are still able to go through security the old way and many people go through the scanner without getting a patdown but there are no guarantees, so one should dress prepared for this possibility.

You can no longer travel via commercial airline without being inconvenienced.

Best bet is to ship your luggage ahead of time, lock all openings of your carry-on if you're taking one (yes, Thieves Steal Anything) and be ready to have your rights violated. If you aren't in the mood to have your rights violated then I suggest allowing extra time to deal with the goons and be prepared for them to not allow you past the security moat and into the citadel that is the average airport should you question their authoritah.

Careful, the dragons don't bite, but they do tend to yell a lot. ;)

I think it's better if Andy (and companions) go to the airport without a lot of coaching. That way, he will find out that what he (and most of us) consider 'reasonable' can prove to be anything but when TSA is in a bad mood.

'Baggy' - that's like thinking you know the rules about LGA -until Britney Spears carries a jumbo cup of ice chips (without a drop of liquid!) through a checkpoint. If OP is wearing comfortable, business casual slacks and gets an invasive patdown because the TSO considers them 'baggy', he will have learned something - that no matter how reasonable he tries to be, there are absolutely no reasonable guarantees that things will go 'smoothly' at the checkpoint.

Be brutal, confrontational, and berative. They tend to back down very quickly.

I, for one, will not provide any information to the media. I'm sick of them soft-footing this entire issue, and interviewing people who are in compliance or supportive, while failing to show the larger outrage and abusive activities that are going on.

Andy,

When I first read your request, I immediately responded with a sarcastic/snarky post not towards you - but to the whole situation. I don't regret it because it was an honest gut response to your request.

As I sit here, I'm puzzling over why your query prompted my gut response. The answer is relatively simple, why should anyone have to take ANY additional steps to protect their dignity from a government employee? How did we get to this time and place where we have plan our behavior, clothing, demeanor so that we can avoid indignity?

The real story is not 'what must we do to protect our dignity?', the story is 'why is the dignity of anyone under threat?'