I was "pre-selected" by my airline to be completely searched at the security check-point. It was no big deal but I learned a couple of tips to pass along.
First of all, they politely informed me that the "ssss" on my Boarding Pass meant that the airline had chosen me for any number of reasons. I could have made a one-way ticket (nope), changed my ticket or itinerary (nope again; my whole family has had the same tix since January), or jsut because they needed to meet a quota (most likely). They "wanded" me and my shoes and then took everything out of my purse. The lady was always friendly and explained everything. This was also done in an open area, in view of everybody, and did not involve any removing of clothes (whew!).
Two things I learned:
1) She loved that I had most of my make-up and travel stuff in clear, ziplock bags. She said that it made the process twice as fast. She could look at it without taking the extra time to pull every item out.
2) When she was done, she used a special-shaped hole punch (which I WILL NOT describe to preserve the security of the system) to show the gate personnel that I was searched. She told me that, if that that punch was not on my Boarding Pass, the gate personnel are required to call the TSA to come to the gate and search me again. She said that I would definetly miss my plane because of the time required to find a free TSA agent and to get to the gate.
It only took 10 minutes and was not a big deal. The only flaw that I saw was that they asked me which was my bag, when it was obvious that our family had multiple bags and I could have easlily lied. I didn't lie but they did certainly did not question my selection either.
Hope this helps somebody.
First of all, they politely informed me that the "ssss" on my Boarding Pass meant that the airline had chosen me for any number of reasons. I could have made a one-way ticket (nope), changed my ticket or itinerary (nope again; my whole family has had the same tix since January), or jsut because they needed to meet a quota (most likely). They "wanded" me and my shoes and then took everything out of my purse. The lady was always friendly and explained everything. This was also done in an open area, in view of everybody, and did not involve any removing of clothes (whew!).
Two things I learned:
1) She loved that I had most of my make-up and travel stuff in clear, ziplock bags. She said that it made the process twice as fast. She could look at it without taking the extra time to pull every item out.
2) When she was done, she used a special-shaped hole punch (which I WILL NOT describe to preserve the security of the system) to show the gate personnel that I was searched. She told me that, if that that punch was not on my Boarding Pass, the gate personnel are required to call the TSA to come to the gate and search me again. She said that I would definetly miss my plane because of the time required to find a free TSA agent and to get to the gate.
It only took 10 minutes and was not a big deal. The only flaw that I saw was that they asked me which was my bag, when it was obvious that our family had multiple bags and I could have easlily lied. I didn't lie but they did certainly did not question my selection either.
Hope this helps somebody.
