I've been selected 6 out of the last 7 times for special airport screening

[The Backlash Cometh]

Should I be worried?

There are some similarities in the circumstances. Most of the time, I've flown alone, except on two occasions. (Once, my entire family was special screened, and another time, my daughter and I were special screened when we flew together.) Another similarity is that on several occasions, I was flying on a one-way ticket. Yet another circumstance, as I've said many times on this newsgroup, I have a generic ethnic look.

This is what I don't understand: I live in a state which has a very high hispanic community. They can't possibly be screening EVERY hispanic woman who flies one way; yet, that's what they must be doing if the statistics of my experience hold true. And, why do they persist in telling me the counter, "Oh, you've been selected by lottery," when it's apparent by now that they're using a profiling system?

In addition to this, a few years ago, when I was immersed in community activism, we were flagged for IRS auditing two years in a row. Is there somewhere I can go to find out if I'm on some watch list?

[russian33]

1. I don't know, but from personal experience, I have no idea how they pick..

...my sister and I flew to Russia...I had a carry-on that could fit a small child, she had a purse.....she got searched, her purse got searched...I stood near by waiting, they couldn't care less...so not sure what their criteria is (mind you, this was a month after 9/11).

[Nashyra]

4. A one way ticket is an invitation

to a special screening no matter what you look like, also a common last name whether in any ethnicity. My son's last name is Johnson, all during the holidays he could not even check in by curbside he had to go to the counter, could not use the self service check in either. Even on our airline where we were traveling on standby, I could check in from home to get on the standby list but could not put him on the list. It is a apin in the ass.

[JackintheGreen]

2. You can only find that stuff out...

If you're not a commie red! ;)

(I tried myself, once, a few years back. Prolly just made things worse...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. on your ticket....

at the bottom, where the numbers are printed, if there is an S added, you will be searched... so check your ticket when you first get it, and you will have a little warning...

[Blue Wally]

5. One way tickets........

It is pretty axoiomatic that one-way tickets wil cause automatic screening. I helped (deck-handed) a professional yacht captain deliver a boat to the Bahamas last year and we were the only ones screened when we flew home despite several rather obvious middle eastern types on the plane. Also they will often flag what they consider to be "safe bets" to speed the departure because the safe bets can be gotten through quickly. I found that if I show my retired military ID, I am always screened while if I show my drivers license, I am rarely screened (although one Northwest ticket agent gave me a complimentary first class upgrade for my retired ID once).

[CalebHayes]

6. I'm a white male, and I've never had a problem....

not to say that they are picking you out because of your race.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Do you fly one-way or round ticket?

And, do you fly out of busy, international airports?

[Blue Wally]

8. I also am a white male....

with a recognizeable ethnic (Scandanavian) last name. I am selected for screening in seven out of ten flights.

[amazona]

9. it's the one way ticket

You are not on a watch list but, yes, any person of ANY ethnicity who flies a one-way ticket has a very high likelihood of being subject to secondary screening. My partner is as redneck white as they come, and when he flies on a one-way ticket for business, he gets extra screened. Once he was pulled over for additional screening on the way to his flight, after having already been secondary'd -- I mean he had only walked a few steps away from the screener.

There is nothing to be done. Most one way tickets cost substantially more than round-trip tickets. Therefore buying a one way ticket causes you to stick out as an anomaly. Most people who fly one way are doing it for business purposes. However, for a certain percentage of those people, the business is drugs or money-laundering.

Yeah, I'm guessing they DO flag every Hispanic woman who flies on a one-way ticket. And every white woman and every black woman as well. It's a trick bag, because the airline doesn't like it if you buy the cheaper roundtrip ticket and throw away the return...but you do get flagged by security if you buy the one way ticket.

TSA uses a combination of a profiling system AND a random lottery. The profile is not supposed to be based on race, gender, age. It is supposed to be based on behavior. They are not supposed to tell you what the profile says, because then the bad guys could work around the profile...but all America knows that buying a one-way ticket puts you in the category of "must be investigated further."

After my partner was super screened on the one flight I described above, I was pulled aside for secondary in several different airports, even international ones, even though I was on low fare round-trip tickets. Was it because I was his known associate? Was it just coincidence? Who knows. I just leave time when I go to the airport. Now that they have seen a lot of me -- I am a frequent flyer on an airline -- they are starting to let me through without secondary.

Probably the same will happen to you.

As far as auditing, the IRS is allowed to audit you up to four years in a row for the same complaint. They did it to me, they did it to my mom. Twice in a row is not weird or the sign of being on a list. It is just sensible if you think about it. Someone who makes a mistake in their paperwork one year is likely to have made it several years running if that mistake puts extra cash in their pocket. If they audit you four years in a row, and you have not made an error, you can file a complaint with IRS and they will stop pursuing you for that matter. My mom did that. They left her alone. I didn't worry about it. They got bored with me in time and also left me alone.

I don't think you can assume you are being cherry-picked for harassment because you are Hispanic or because of your political views. It's a hassle but, especially in regards to the airport screening, I don't see how we can fairly object to screeners double-checking people who fly on one-way tickets. It does make sense that a certain proportion of people on one-way tickets are up to absolutely no good.

Don't let it get to you. Keep flying, register for a good frequent flyer program with the airline you use most often, and let the folks at your home airport get to know you. It can really help.

I got searched six (6!) times coming back from Amsterdam. Yes, six times on the same journey. I can't even figure out where I was supposed to acquire the drugs/money/weapons that they'd already screened me for the first time. And I am as blonde as they come.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Thank you!

And thanks to everyone else posting their experiences.

[txaslftist]

11. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I've never even been selected once. Darn it, I've even let my hair grow. You lucky ba*tard!

[davoarid]

13. txaslftist....

Hvae you considered wearing an "Allahu Akbar" tee-shirt? I'm sure that would do the trick. ;-)

[newyawker99]

18. Hi davoarid!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[pippin]

12. Same experience

The responses here so far still don't say why and how some of us consistently get picked off the line. Last week in Florida on the way home to California via Dallas I was again picked for a search. Ahead of me was an African American woman in a wheel chair(!!) who must have been at least eighty years old! The idea of her being a security risk was pretty iunlikely, but they frisked, patted and searched her bag all the same. They next searched my tiny purse but spouse who is a big while male carryig our carry-on wasn't searched. After I was let through they punched my boarding pass leaving a hole that had a particular pattern.

I believe ethnicity has something to do with it as spouse has never ever been stopped. Heard from a cab driver in Florida who is of Midle Eastern descent as to how his family were pulled aside and roughly handled. The incident got onto local tv where it casued sometyhing of a ruckus with threats of lawsuits for the way the women were patted down by men and how the guys in the cab driver's party were asked to take off their clothes in public.

Have to say the airport people were very polite in my case but it is never a pleasant experience.

[elehhhhna]

14. my blonde Cybill Shepard looking sister...

get the full body check at O'Hare EVERY TIME SHE FLIES.
What's up with that? Can you say Harrassment?

[jdonaldball]

15. Maybe the guards just think you're cute and want to touch you

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. LOL!

Er, I don't think so. YOu know that crabby ole lady on the American Greeting Cards? Yep. That's my inner child.

[Patiod]

16. I used to get searched EVERY SINGLE TIME

because I fly multiple-leg trips, which appear to the computers as one-way (I fly Phila - Tampa - Houston - Phila, for example)

It's the one-way trips that are getting you flagged.

They stopped doing it for a while for a while, but I noticed I'm being searched again, which is a major hassle, since I often pack 7+ days of clothing in one small carry-on.

As someone mentioned, it's almost 100% business travelers who get pulled out, because we're most likely to be flying multi-leg trips.

It's probably not ethnicity because, I look as whitebread as you could look. The only way I'll get on any alert list is if the IRA starts their nonsense back up and somebody with a similiar sounded O'Name bombs something.

[elsur]

17. I'm a white male but used to get selected alot ...

... I assume it was the one leg tickets and the last minute purchases.
I think I ran a streak of being selected five times in a row. I haven't been searched for nearly three months now (knock on wood).

[Plaid Adder]

19. It's probably the one-way ticket.

Every time I've flown on a one-way ticket I've gotten the special screening treatment.

C ya,

THe Plaid Adder

[Dorian Gray]

20. The one way ticket is also a big factor....

Whenever I've flown on a one-way ticket, I've been stopped by screeners, too. It's a big red-flag for people.

That, plus a little bit of profiling, sounds like it's done "wonders" to enhance your flying experience.

(I have a friend who is also Hispanic. (From the DR.) He is regularly confused for being Arabic, also. At all airports, he, too, is pulled over at security and questioned. You are right... the profiling exists.)

[Vidar]

22. Inconvenient, but take it as a mark of pride.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. Well, I did notice the searchers look bewildered when I answered them

They started to explain what they were doing by putting me in the special search line and asked "have you ever been through this before." When I said, "Yeah, 6 out of the last 7 times I've flown. I seem to get profiled a lot," you can almost see two of the searchers almost get upset that I had been singled out again. One was a black male who swabbed my purse, probably for drugs or explosive residue and then he pulled out a handful of Christmas receipts I hadn't yet filed. He spoke to no one in particular (maybe on mike?), "There's nothing here but receipts."

The blonde woman also looked confused. She gave me a thorough search and looked at the Vietnam P.O.W. bracelet that I wear and asked if it was in support of the troops. I was confused by the question because it seemed anachronistic. I replied, "It's a 60's P.O.W. bracelet," She asked again, "Is it in support of the troops because there are bracelets in support of the troops?" I replied, "I wear it to remind me that our country has done this once before." She replied, "Yes. Yes it has." Then she looked in my things. Maybe she saw my copy of "Against All Enemies," I don't know, but she shook her head and said, "YOu can go."

[Cleita]

23. There was a story about a DUer from Eugene, Oregon

who was selected for special airport screening each time she flew. I think it was around a week ago. Maybe we need to put up an airport screening thread in the Meeting Room or other appropriate forum to compare notes.

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Not a bad idea.

But how can we determine if more left-leaning individuals are getting selected that right-wing?

The only thing I have noticed about right-wingers getting selected is that they are far more indignant about the experience. "How dare you consider me a criminal. Go after the dark colored ones!"

[MsTryska]

26. A former Coworker of mine used to get flagged every time he flew

for work. Actually one time i got flagged instead of him when we were flying together.



it's because a lot of time our tickets were refundable, last minute, an/or multi-leg.


he was a white male with a murkan name.