I got the deadly 4 S's at yesterday's airport check-in at DEN.
I wonder if an earlier on-line check-in could have avoided it?

Thinking the way the govt and airlines might and a terrorist, the less contact you have with someone before boarding an airplane is better for terrorists and worse for the airlines...i would assume taking out the contact with an agent at the airport is another way to slip by and thus airlines adn govt might want to SSSS on-line checkin people more. just my 2 cents.

Usually SSSS is triggered by factors other then type of check-in. Things like purchasing one-way tickets and paying cash for tickets.

In my case, this trip was no different than any other business trip. I'm 1K and I was in C using upgrade certs. I think it must have been a random selection.

I dunno about UA, but other carriers give you an error message if you try to check in online when you've been selected for harassment.

And now, here's how to avoid getting harassed at the checkpoint. If you cannot check in online, as is the case in this scenario, buy a fully-refundable ticket on another carrier that shares the same concourse. (at DEN, all the concourses are connected, so no matter) Preferrably, buy this ticket on a carrier with whom you have status and make sure it's round trip and not one way, as all terrorists are too stupid to realize that one way ticketing is often more expensive than round trip. Check in, use your new BP at checkpoint security, refund the ticket over the phone. Present your original SSSS harassment ticket at your original flight's gate. At worst, you'll get the harassment you would have received at the checkpoint. More likely, you'll just get boarded.

Admiral Loy promised to get rid of stupid rules a long time ago. SSSS is just another useless one that is so easy to bypass that the people who insist it remains should be criminally prosecuted for negligence.

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"Give me Liberty or give me Death." - Patrick Henry

Not sure if this will work. I was selected for SSSS when I accepted a VDB on UA and they endorsed me over to AA. After I was security checked, the TSA agent hole-punched the SSSS part of my boarding card. When I boarded the AA flight, the gate agent did check to see if that punch was there.

[This message has been edited by dw (edited Feb 06, 2004).]

As I said, the worst that will happen is that you will receive the harassment at the gate instead of at the checkpoint.

Now, to avoid getting harassed on a reroute, book your own flight on the phone with the carrier to which you are going to be bumped. Get your FF # into the reservation before it is ticketed. Tell the reservation agent you will get it ticketed at the airport. Then, have UA (or whoever is bumping you) print the ticket and endorse it, but tell them that you already have a reservation. Take the endorsed ticket to AA (or whomever you're bumped to), give them your record locator for the new reservation, hand them your endorsed ticket, and watch your new BP appear, SSSS-free.


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"Give me Liberty or give me Death." - Patrick Henry

After xmas, my sister and b-i-l couldn't check in online (I could). Got to airport for checkin. SSSS

So, you'd have probably gotten an error with online checkin.

Sorry Spiff - that's just way too much hassle to avoid going through an occasional SSSS, or at least it is for me.

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Sharon

Not me. I find the whole SSSS harassment to be un-American, disgusting, and worst of all, totally ineffective at improving security.


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"Give me Liberty or give me Death." - Patrick Henry

Mr. Easy will check you in even if SSSS.

I have gotten the SSSS before when I was rebooked due to a canceled flight. Friend on same itinerary did not get it. Friend on seperate PNR did get it.

After the second flight canceled, was rebooked on a third flight. This time I didn't get it, nor my friend on the same PNR - but the frind on a seperate PNR was selected for double punishment. Each time they initialed or otherwise marked the SSSS - which was eventually checked for on the one SSSS boarding pass which was actually handed in.

Similar experiences have occured on subsequent trips.

I couldn't determine any pattern. FF versus inFF. Credit card vs. award ticket. Gender (surprisingly, the Female members of the party got the SSSS more than the male). Checkin time. Checkin method. None really seem to make a difference as far as I can tell.

Are you sure SSSS is not just pre printed on UA's BP'S and they are just using up old stock??

A lady in front of me had SSSS on her bp and they did nothing about it,

Dave

You have a higher probability of receiving such a scarlet letter group if you book a one-way ticket at the last minute without getting your FF# into the reservation prior to ticketing. Nothing is guaranteed, but getting that number in there before ticketing occurs will make the probability of having SSSS stupidity appear on your BP very low.

Multiple reroutes require the same diligence - you must get your FF# for the new airline in there before ticketing occurs. It's that simple. If you try to add it after they print your ticket, it will not make SSSS go away, so do it before the flight segment(s) is ticketed.

As far as I can tell, sex has nothing to do with whether one is selected for SSSS harassment.

As for SSSS being pre-printed, that's not the case. Many airports simply assume that if you're past the checkpoint with SSSS printed on your BP, you do not need to be harassed at the gate. Other airports are not set up to harass people at the checkpoint (thank God) and therefore ignore SSSS. Better to play it safe and obtain a BP that is SSSS free.

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"Give me Liberty or give me Death." - Patrick Henry

Just a small caution about buying the refundable ticket and entering the gate area, and then checking in at your gate. They may ask you how you got inside the gate area without checking in? Also if you check in and get an SSS boarding pass, and then go the route of buying a redundable ticket without SSS, and your SSS boarding pass does not have the right stamps or initials or holes punched in it, this may raise suspicion.

Shortly after 9/11 I was trying to use an old ticket and I used an open ticket which was different to get in the security area. They really became suspicious about how I was able to enter the security area without a same day ticket, and I was able to quickly tell them I showed another itinerary, but they were about to have the supervisor go talk to the security ticket checkers to see how I got on the concourse.

Perhaps some of this paranoia has dies down, and I suppose you could say you got on the concourse also by flying in on another inbound flight to DeN, but if they catch you lying or doing something that appears suspicious to them it may get you in to a situation where you have to answer a lot of questions. I have gotten the SSS a few times, and I would not say it is so bad that I would go to major trouble to avoid it. It could be a problem if running very late for a flight perhaps. I only get it maybe 3 times a year.