As an airline employee I feel better that the security questions are asked rather than not. However one security thing that really bothers me is that many airport security personnel let people through the x-rays into the gate areas without asking that a ticket for current day travel be shown. I really feel that this is a breach of security. Hypothetically a person of true identity could check in up front with a piece of luggage, obtain a boarding pass and proceed to the gate. His or her friend (pre-planned)can then follow up to the gate and use that boarding pass to get on instead - (the true ID person would of course be inconvenienced by the check in process down below) but this may be a deal they have worked out for whatever reason. Now we have the wrong person traveling under false identity. And suppose these two were in cahoots to start some kind of ruckus in the gate area, hold hostages, secure the whole area or whatever - the potential is there - all because one or two or ten were let through that x-ray - people with no ticket in hand. I myself while dressed as a "civilian" (not in uniform) have tested this many times (many airports) and have never been challenged - they just let me through - not asked for ticket or identification at that x-ray!! Well, it was always nice when I want to see off or meet a friend or relative at the gate but ????

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misstree

Your point is well taken but my opinion is the advent of e-tkts has made the enforcement of checking tickets at security a much more hit/miss proposition. Personal experience -- we rarely check bags and have absolutely nothing that says we're booked on anything. We will typically just head for an RCC and check-in there.

You are correct that this is a "hole" in security but can you imagine getting off a plane and NOT having to wade through 200+ people greeting the 100+ people coming off the plane?

Requring a boarding pass to get to the gates only prevents well-inentioned people from greeting their friends and relatives, it does nothing to prevent people with sinister intentions from carrying on. Afterall, for as little as $50 they can buy an airline ticket that will get them access to the gate areas.

BTW, Some foreign airports do require passengers to show picture ID again in the jetway, as they board the aircraft.

British airports require you to show your boarding pass to enter the gate areas and only pax with valid boarding cards or employees with passes are allowed through. As a passenger you must also show your passport as you enter the actual gate/plane for international flights.



[This message has been edited by james (edited 02-15-2000).]

the concept of having a same day ticket and boarding pass to tenter the gate areas is found throughout the world. Actually the US is one of ew places that actually allow you in for whatever reason you want. In some airports the xrays are right at the gate - this is the case in AMS, BOM, DEL, SIN, DXB, etc.



[This message has been edited by indogulf (edited 02-15-2000).]

At Canadian airports we are required to present boarding passes to get to the gates. Special passes are issued by the airlines for non-travellers assisting or meeting people with disabilities or unaccompanied minors.
You can get used to not wading through large-scale family reunions as you come off the jetway.

When I enter the US on an international flight and fill in the I94W form, the immigration leaves the bottom half of the form in my passport. The other day when I flew out of SJC I expected to go through immigration again but just went through a rather ordinary x-ray and that was it. Only the agent at check-in checked my passport. Who is normally supposed to collect the bottom half of the form?

Aleph - it should be collected by the airline agent as you board the plane (usually with your boarding pass and ticket). Sometimes it is just collected by the desk agent in the gate area. If the agents don't ask for it from you, make sure you give it to them!

indogulf, I don't like the way US airports allow all and sundry in to the gate areas, both for reasons of convenience and security. However, I like the security system at Schipol (X-ray in the jetway) even less - really slow, uncomfortbale and inconvenient.

Thank you for your reply, James.
I will next time, but if I had seen anybody handing it to the check-in or gate agent, I guess I would have done the same. I am surprised to know about a somewhat lax procedure. Did anybody have a problem with entering the US the following time?

I would favor not allowing "non-ticketed passengers" past X-Ray. It would eliminate a lot of the longer lines. What's the difference of saying hello or goodbye to someone a few feet further?

Given the unpredictability of US immigration, I wouldn't be surprised. They have a 'the more we know about you, the more we want to know' mentality. On the other hand, if the immigration agent is nice, they might just take it and stamp it next time you go..

I have found the following situation bizarre.

NZ leaves from T2 from LAX, where you check in as per usual, show you passort, and give them the above mentioned green paper insert.

You then go through x-ray where nobody asks for a boarding pass/passport, then you board a plane to the uk, pacific, australia or nz.

The problem is that to get on the plane all you need is a boarding pass. There is no-one to stop you changing with some other person who does not not have a visa etc who will then cause all sorts of problems a the other end.

i.e. there is absolutely no gurantee that the person who checked in is the same person using that boarding pass.

Mark
ps. I suppose this is not overly different from two pax "swapping" boarding passes but at least they are both passengers.

Flying from east coast airports, mostly on BA and DL, I have never had the green card taken at check-in. It will either be left in my passport or will be stapled to my ticket and boarding pass to be collected at the gate. If it was left in my passport, I make a point of handing it in to the agents.

Also, those airlines are pretty strict about checking passports at or very near the gate for UK bound flights. That may be because they are fined ~2000 UK pounds for any passeneger who arrives in the UK with incorrect documentation. However, the airline is supposed to positively tally boarded passenegrs with checked luggage because unaccompanied luggage is not allowed on international flights with very few exceptions.

[This message has been edited by james (edited 02-16-2000).]

james - i fully agree with you that the situation at US airports is pretty awful -

have you ever been stuck in the jetway waiting to get OFF of a plane b/c someone decided to have a family reunion at the top of the ramp?? Definitely not fun I think the meeting point found in Europe are pretty useful for such occasions.

And I do agree that the x-ray at the gate can be inconvenient at times but still better than the crowds everywhere.

BTW INS knows you've left the states as it is in the declaration the airline has to make when the a/c leaves the US (which is why they check the card and should take it). They should collect your I94 form but it wont cause you problems if they dont. ( I know this b/c my cousin left and they didnt take it and when she came back a week later they didnt even ask) such is the state of the INS