I have tried all of the tips and I still get gate searched 75% (and 4 of my last 5 flights including connections where I never left the boarding area) of the time on ua, but never on us. I am 1K on ua and only silver on us, maybe this is one of the newer perks. On a recent ua short flight on a RJ, I was the last to board due to a last minute gate change and I still got it, even though the flight was ready to depart. Random, NO WAY. I know I am sick and tired of having my computer bag rearranged amoung other things. Anyone know where I can get a "cloaking device"?

[This message has been edited by laptop (edited 09-15-2002).]

I think I have done 60 to 70 segments since the implementation of gate seraches shortly after 9/11/2001. In that entire time, only *one* time. (knocks on wood). Every single time was with a Texas drivers license, excpet for two segments where I flew MIA-FPO and FPO-MIA.

I had you beat until a few weeks ago. I probably did about 160 flights or so until two weeks ago, when they randomed searched me. I was actually speechless (I didn't really discuss my good luck on FT/was afraid of jinxing my "run").

laptop,

On my last flight, I was the last to board - my wife was 2nd to last. I was picked for searched and I asked why. I was told it was because I was the last to board. I started to give-in to the search, but finally I gathered my dignity and said NO. I left the airport without being searched, went home, and am done flying!

One note: I did make the TSA employee put on CLEAN gloves (actually he was very nice about the whole situtation). But I still do not want to be searched by a nice person with clean hands - can't stand anyone rearranging my bags as it takes me forever to pack my bags so that everything is orgranized how I like it.

Aubie,

First of all, I admire your guts telling the screener to go pound sand. But, what happened to your wife? Did she proceed on to your destination without you? I haven't flown with my wife yet (one of the things we stopped doing because of airport hassle was to take trips together), but we have talked about separating ourselves and boarding as if we don't know each other.

If -- when -- I get searched again, I plan to demand that they use new gloves. Did the screener act indignant, put up a fight, or act like it had happened before? Demanding fresh gloves is something all of us FTers can do as a group to register our disgust and to push back. We can do this at the initial as well as secondary screening points.

On a somewhat related note, has anyone noticed that the quantity of gate screeners have decreased? There's now barely two per gate these days, down from the 3-4 I used to see. My theory is that the TSA is slowly pulling back secondary screeners to the main checkpoint to cover their hiring shortfall. Something tells me that the TSA will come out with a grand pronouncement eliminating the gate searches just about the time that they have to have enough screeners hired to take over all of the checkpoints with civil servants.

34 flights, no gate searches.

two laptop swabs, once because everyone got hit (friday at JFK when AF1 was hanging out on the tarmac) and once because they hadn't seen a computer like that before.

I've done about 30 segments. No searches, one bag swab, one body wand-ing.

Aubie,

I applaud you for your resolve and the guts to say, enough is enough. I still have to get from here to there, so I will continue to complain and do what I can for the "trusted traveler program". Maybe you would like to chair the executive committee? Perhaps we should start a TT thread (TT=trusted traveler) and try to get something done that enhances security by letting tsa focus on those who might be a threat and hence they might leave us alone. Profiling is definitely in.

Fliesway2much - I hope you are right and there is a shortage of yoyo's at main security so tsa has to recall some of the gate retards.

[This message has been edited by laptop (edited 09-17-2002).]

I have to ask -- what makes you think that potential terrorists won't be able to become "Trusted Travelers" under this proposal?
Perhaps this is a topic for another thread --- I don't know.

As far as being searched at the gate goes, I'm usually at the front of the boarding line, quite often with my wife and kids in tow. I've never seen them take the first person as their "random" searchee.

In ~25 flights over the last year I've never been searched at the gate. For a while, though I had to remove my sneakers 75% of the time when going through security. That stopped when I bought new ones -- same brand/color, just new. You've got to wonder...

I hadn't been searched in 45 segments until this past weekend, first at EWR security, second upon getting on the EWR plane and third on the return home to EWR. I am positive that searching my "undies" three times in three days helped get the bad guys.

OK, I bite, why the "(sic)"?

I've only flown about 30 or 35,000 miles since 9/11, but I'm batting 1.000 for avoiding searches. Lets hope it stays that way!!!!!

Just one more thought on "random-ness"... The government simply can't run a "random" program of any kind because there are no quantifiable metrics upon which to measure performance in an environment in which a variable or random-ness occurs.

Look closely and you'll find out that the gate searches are not random. We've already noticed some common themes --

1. Always picking the first person;
2. Always picking the nth person;
3. Always staying busy doing somebody during the boarding process;
4. Etc, etc...

The metrics for the day or week or month are there -- you just have to look hard enough or have hours to kill at an airport.

The criteria may change from day to day (and probably does), but I'll guarantee it's not random. The soon-to-be civil servants need some criteria upon which to be evaluated. The government's #1 criterion in developing metrics is to develop metrics that will insure the government stays out of EEO and discrimination lawsuits or grievances.

Sorry -- comes from decades of uniformed and civilian service & a techno-geek education.

I was on a DL flight out of SAN a few weeks ago and just prior to boarding the GA got on the PA and said that they had "randomly" selected the following people for search. He read off about 8 names and had them step to the side for search.

I'm not sure if he just picked names from a list or if DL "profiles" based on travel profiles. I have seen the machine at the gate select people by showing "Security" on the display even when there were 2 or 3 people waiting.

Back in August I flew HP from LAS to SNA. I got the whole shoes off and bag wipe down on my way down there. I got hand swiped on the way back.

I managed to skip the gate check both ways...America West sure does like to do a lot of gate checks.