Proficiency in maneuvering and comprehension of how things work in the airport, on the plane and leaving the plane & airport and behaviors that reflect that knowledge as well as an effort in trying to understand (IMO).

That said, you should also not jump to conclusions about aspects that you may not understand. Turns out fine jewelry does not need to be taken off for metal detectors - it doesn't set them off. A proficient flier with jewelry knows they only need to take their jewelry off for backscatter.

Frankly, many TSA screeners don't know that. My wife routinely puts her hands behind her going through metal detectors to avoid the useless comments. They often have a surprised look after she goes through without setting anything off, puts her arms in front and they see her bracelets and rings.

Finally, I'm not a fan of the phrase.

deleted

I think attitude is 90% of the determining factor. An inexperienced traveler who has basic reading comprehension skills and a modicum of common sense is generally not a Kettle. If you're inexperienced, know you're inexperienced, plan accordingly (by reading the fine print when booking and/or reading/asking questions on sites like this), and maintain situational awareness through the travel process (such as reading the signs), you're miles ahead of being a Kettle. The stereotypical Kettle (at least as the term on FT is used, as opposed to the eponymous family the term had its genesis from) is--at least as my understanding is--someone who not only displays utter cluelessness and failure to follow basic common-sense but also is oblivious to how they interfere with and obstruct others around them.

Someone who is seated in row 20 and, during boarding, stops at each and every row from row 5 onward to look for the row number and make sure he/she doesn't miss row 20, thus blocking the long line of passengers behind him/her waiting to board...and when he/she gets to 20, he/she stops and spends two minutes finagling with his/her clearly oversized bag trying to get it to fit in the overhead--still holding up people who are trying to get further back...well, that's a Kettle.

And I've seen plenty of those in F, particularly de-planing.

I live at a vacation destination, and it annoys me to know end when people who are clearly at the end of their vacation and flying home don't have their liquids in a 3-1-1 bag or don't understand to take their computer out of the case. If they flew in and are now flying out, they had to follow the exact same procedures at their home airport. (Note, these tourists are from the US, so it's the same TSA procedures.) I am much more patient when it seems that someone has not flown in a long time, but if they just flew in a week ago it shouldn't be so hard!

Why are they called "Kettles"?
 

I'm relatively new to FT, and have often wondered why non-elites milling about very near the gate are called "kettles". Figured it had something to do with the old adage of "The pot calling the kettle black", or something like that.

Was just listening to an NPR podcast on their Stuff You Should Know show and the topic was about Vultures.

Come to find out, a group of vultures in flight is called a "kettle".

Is that where the annoying-non-elites-who-are-all-blocking-the-gate-so-they-can-rush-to-coach term comes from?

It comes from Ma and Pa Kettle (Wiki). Basically, rural hicks who don't know how to act in urbane, cosmopolitan situations.

I didn't know that about vultures. Interesting.

Thread merge coming...but the bit about the vultures is something I didn't know. :)

Kettle: it's a term of derision, used by people who know the ropes or who have finagled elite status to demean and belittle the others. See also "the great unwashed," etc. I don't think it's very empathetic or polite, I think using it says more about the insecurities of the user than the qualities of the infrequent traveler, and I don't use it.

Why are they called "Kettles"?
 

I thought it was a reference to the material kettles are made from, given that elite levels are commonly platinum, gold, silver, etc.

It was the name of the rubes in a book and also an old movie with Claudette Colbert and (I think) Fred MacMurray called "The Egg and I." Ma and Pa Kettle were neighbors of the young couple (yes, the movie is so old that Colbert and MacMurray were a young couple) who were both comic relief and who "schooled" the youngsters in the ways of the country.

The Kettles were originally country bumpkins but have since evolved into cluseless people who take commercial flights with way too much stuff on board.

Someone who adopts the values of the TSA clerks, denigrating their fellow citizens for not sufficiently adhering to those values, is definitely a Kettle. Someone who uses the term 3-1-1, I'd definitely call that person a Kettle. When I'm at an airport that doesn't have the magic lane, I take my time; I do things at my own pace. It's not my fault that the clerks don't pay attention in class and don't know which IDs are approved IDs. It's not my fault that the clerks yell at people to take their shoes off and that they see themselves as warriors in a fight against an enemy that uses cupcakes as weapons. I wear what I want to wear to the airport, I use the ID I want to use (and if the clerk is too lazy to have studied enough to recognize it, I try to find another clerk who will recognize it), I don't rush at the checkpoint, and if I take my shoes off, I minimize the walking I do on the dirty airport floor.

First, I clearly fly less than you based on our respective DL statuses. I hope my post didn't come off as trying to stick up for the TSA's policies. I think my views on them align with many on FT. However, my post should be taken in terms of the post I was quoting where jackal points out that reading the signs is important for inexperienced travelers.

I know that I have to take my laptop and liquids out of my carry-on when I'm not in the Precheck line. It doesn't do anyone any good to wait until I'm at the conveyor belt to start thinking about that. I know what it's like to have been stuck in traffic on the way to the airport or have a meeting go long before a flight, so I try to inconvenience my fellow passengers as little as possible.

What IDs have you seen TSA clerks have trouble with? I'm genuinely curious. I'm trying to think of what I've noticed in line, and it seems to be state licenses, military IDs, and passports.

By the way, fair point on my use of the term 3-1-1. :D I'm embarassed reading that.

NEXUS. Some of the clerks haven't known what it was, and looked it up in a book. But 2 times at JFK T2 I had clerks who didn't know what it was, asked me if I had something else, I said why should I produce something else. Thanksgiving 2011 I had 4 clerks, including a supervisory clerk, none of whom knew what it was. I couldn't manage to get through without providing a driving license.

Another time (Memorial Day weekend 2012?), also at T2 I had a clerk who didn't know what it was, asked for a DL, I said this is a legitimate ID why should I have to show anything else. Finally was going to let me pass, but I asked him why he didn't know something it was his job to know. He then stopped me and called for a supervisor, told the supervisor I was giving him a hard time. The supervisor didn't know what it was, refused to look at my phone when I attempted to show him, refused to admit there was a higher supervisor when I asked to speak to one. I asked the document clerk his name he said Jeffrey and pulled out his photo badge for about 1/2 second. I, however, memorized the number off his plastic badge and the supervisor's plastic badge and included them in a complaint. The clerk answering me said he didn't know why they didn't know what it was and they would investigate. He also said TSA "officers" were in the frontlines or something, signing his email as "officer X". I answered him back, addressing him as "clerk X" and told him that the idea that TSA clerks were in the frontlines of anything was a large part of the problem. They should tell them they are there to do X job and to do it right.

I have no idea if my complaint had anything to do with it, but I didn't have problems with getting people to recognize the NEXUS card after that. Now I tend not to use it because I put it in a pocket of my backpack and put the backpack in my rollaboard but I am going to start making it a point to use it more. (Although I can't imagine they won't know what it is at the magic lane - but if they don't, that will be good to know).