TSA Question

[sam_gordon]

Not to start with whether TSA is security theater or not, I just have a question about a single procedure of theirs...

When I've presented my printed boarding pass at the ID check, they check the ID then initial the BP. What's the purpose of the initial? Yes, it shows you went through the security check, but when is the initialed BP checked again? And, if you use an eBP, you won't have an initial. So what's the point?

Please, keep this thread solely on the initialed BP. I just don't understand why they're initialing. Guesses are 5 for a nickel.

 

[goofy4tink]

Funny, but I had that same thought last week. I imagine that it shows that you've already gone through security once....so if you had to leave the 'secure' area, and reenter, they could see that you were there already and have made multiple trips thru.
Although, I'm not sure why they care...as long as you have your bp and proper ID.

 

[lylone]

Maybe in case someone later questions if you have been checked the initial is there? Like maybe when you are getting on the plane and the airline is questioning your identity?

 

[elfbo]

It could be for ... in case of any problem. They can use the inital to figure out who was on duty and passed you through!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

They don't always initial the boarding pass and they can't write on a mobile boarding pass, so whatever they are doing can't be that important. Plus, after security you can print a new boarding pass, get one from a gate agent, or use a duplicate you printed yourself at home.

 

[Princess on the Run]

Oooh, I want to play but I only have a dime. Can you make change?

1. To look fancy because people expect them to DO something, so they squiggle on it to look like they did something.

2. To let the gate attendant know you went through and if there's no squggle, the gate person should reasonably suspect you might be a terrorist or scofflaw.

3. It's their initials so they can track who checked you if you do turn out to be a terrorist or scofflaw.

4. I really do think #1 is right but feel obligated to list 5 options.

5. To prevent someone else from passing their BP to a friend after going through security so that the friend can enter the secured area using the same BP even though they aren't getting on a plane but might want to sit at Starbucks with you and wait for your flight.

 

[Princess on the Run]

They don't always initial the boarding pass and they can't write on a mobile boarding pass, so whatever they are doing can't be that important. Plus, after security you can print a new boarding pass, get one from a gate agent, or use a duplicate you printed yourself at home.

Which leads me back to my #1 guess. I am nearly positive that's it!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Which leads me back to my #1 guess. I am nearly positive that's it!

I would guess they make some kind of mark just to remind themselves of what they are supposed to be checking. Again, it can't be for anything else, because you don't need to use that particular boarding pass to get on the plane.

You guess #5 doesn't make sense.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I would guess they make some kind of mark just to remind themselves of what they are supposed to be checking. Again, it can't be for anything else, because you don't need to use that particular boarding pass to get on the plane.

You guess #5 doesn't make sense.

Well, the squiggle mark doesn't make any sense either. Might as well have a nonsensical explanation to match!

 

[bumbershoot]

They don't always initial the boarding pass and they can't write on a mobile boarding pass, so whatever they are doing can't be that important.

I agree. I was just thinking about this, after using the mobile boarding passes while coming home from Anaheim a couple weeks ago. It also shows that the marks they make do NOT signal extra searches, which should have been evident to me as soon as I realized that I don't show the boarding pass to anyone doing those extra searchers.

You guess #5 doesn't make sense.

Why doesn't it make sense? I'd love to go into the secure area of an airport to just hang out. The loveliest part of SeaTac, for instance, is through security. I would sit and watch planes out those windows for hours.

Apart from everythin else that was horribly awfully sickeningly bad about 9/11, one of the more paltry sadnesses I have had since then is that I don't get to go through to the gate, and thereby see more of airports, anymore. I like airports.

I mean, the idea would have to involve fake IDs or coincidental same names (I know of 3 of me in my area, which is weird b/c I have a silly name), but I don't think the PP's idea is nonsensical.

 

[Carriemel]

Elfbo is correct.

I work for TSA

 

[sam_gordon]

Elfbo is correct.

I work for TSA

I was hoping you were going to pop in here. I guess the initials came about before the eBP? The use of eBP (and therefore no initials) is what confused me about what purpose initialing served.

 

[sam_gordon]

I would guess they make some kind of mark just to remind themselves of what they are supposed to be checking. Again, it can't be for anything else, because you don't need to use that particular boarding pass to get on the plane.

You guess #5 doesn't make sense.

I didn't think so either, but it CAN make sense *IF* going back through security with an initialed BP means you don't need photo ID again. Here's my theory...

I go through security, get my BP initialed. I then leave security and give my BP to bumbershoot (since he likes looking at planes). I go back through security with another BP (whether eBP or freshly printed). He goes through security with the initialed one. Again, this only works if TSA accepts the initialed as already being checked.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I didn't think so either, but it CAN make sense *IF* going back through security with an initialed BP means you don't need photo ID again. Here's my theory...

I go through security, get my BP initialed. I then leave security and give my BP to bumbershoot (since he likes looking at planes). I go back through security with another BP (whether eBP or freshly printed). He goes through security with the initialed one. Again, this only works if TSA accepts the initialed as already being checked.

It would be impossible because EVERY time you go through security you must show photo id and the name on the id must match the boarding pass.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Why doesn't it make sense? I'd love to go into the secure area of an airport to just hang out. The loveliest part of SeaTac, for instance, is through security. I would sit and watch planes out those windows for hours.

See answer above. You can't get into the secure area of an airport without a boarding pass with your name on it and an id (except for airport employees and those with a gate pass accompanying minors or passengers who need assistance).

As I already stated, you can throw away your TSA inspected boarding pass as soon as you get through security and replace it with a new one, so any marks they make are meaningless.

 

[LadyBeBop]

It would be impossible because EVERY time you go through security you must show photo id and the name on the id must match the boarding pass.

No you don't. Technically, you don't need an ID to go through security. However, you'd be subjected to a thorough body screener. Guess it's up to you if you want to be subjected to the enhanced screening if you want to sit in the secure area all day and watch planes, or if you want to meet your friend at Starbucks and see him off.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

No you don't. Technically, you don't need an ID to go through security. However, you'd be subjected to a thorough body screener. Guess it's up to you if you want to be subjected to the enhanced screening if you want to sit in the secure area all day and watch planes, or if you want to meet your friend at Starbucks and see him off.

This is just silly, assuming you are speaking about going through security with a boarding pass which has been scribbled on by TSA. Going through again after supposedly going through recently with an id and then not having it would set off all kinds of red flags.

Yes, it is possible to go through security without a photo id. It doesn't involve a thorough body search, it involves trying to verify your identity by asking you questions.

http://www.corporatetravelsafety.co...entification-card-if-they-were-lost-or-stolen

http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/11/holiday-travel-refresher-what-if-i-lose.html

 

[sam_gordon]

This is just silly, assuming you are speaking about going through security with a boarding pass which has been scribbled on by TSA. Going through again after supposedly going through recently with an id and then not having it would set off all kinds of red flags.

Yes, it is possible to go through security without a photo id. It doesn't involve a thorough body search, it involves trying to verify your identity by asking you questions.

http://www.corporatetravelsafety.co...entification-card-if-they-were-lost-or-stolen

http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/11/holiday-travel-refresher-what-if-i-lose.html

Regarding the bolded... since when does TSA track which passengers have gone through? Assuming a busy airport (Atlanta, MCO, Denver) with multiple security lines, TSA wouldn't know whether you've been through security once, twice, or even 10 times.

 

[CPT Tripss]

It could be for ... in case of any problem. They can use the inital to figure out who was on duty and passed you through!

Elfbo is correct.

I work for TSA

Isn't that why TSA video records their checkpoints?

There is no real purpose to the markings. I seldom keep the BP with the squiggle for more than a couple minutes after passing the document moat dragon.

 

[sam_gordon]

Isn't that why TSA video records their checkpoints?

There is no real purpose to the markings. I seldom keep the BP with the squiggle for more than a couple minutes after passing the document moat dragon.

Now I'm curious... why? Do you hate the TSA so much you don't want a piece of paper with initials of a worker on it?