Thanks to all for the congrats and the comments. My wife booked this trip back in June and paid with a credit card. No changes to the flights or anything. I didn't really meet any of the typical SSSS triggers. I'm a 48 year old white guy from East Tennessee.

I specifically asked the TSA supervisor if this was a random selection and she said no, but at the time I didn't know what was going on. She blamed it on the airline and the airline blamed in on the TSA (I asked both of them). I did think it was interesting that I was selected for both flights (there and the return). I was thinking that if it was random, it wouldn't happen twice in a row.

Also interesting was the gate agent at Knoxville left the ticket counter and took our IDs with him and was gone for about 5 minutes. When he returned he acted nervous and kept saying "there's nothing to be worried about". At the time I had no idea what the "SSSS" meant, so I had no reason to be "worried" and thought his behavior was odd. I told my wife, "something is wrong"...

One thing that was interesting is that - in Knoxville - I stole a glance at the piece of the paper the TSA supervisor was writing information on and down at the bottom it said "target". At my DOE facility, I am responsible for the replacement of what we call the "target module". We just had a target fail. How in the world could the TSA make this connection, though?!?!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/712168-facebook.html

Don't need to have SSSS on your boarding pass to get special treatment - just be an insulin dependent diabetic. I get swabbed and patted down every time I go through security. I wonder if the ADA has any say in this. Apparently because I carry my spare insulin with me - which is far less than the 3oz bottle of hand sanitizer that anyone can bring on a plane - I am more likely to carry explosives hidden in my insulin.

-Z-man

You are either in a database or you got the "random flag" situation.

Whenever you are going on an airplane, get your boarding pass and look at it. If it has the frigging SSSSS on it, then head to security immediately as you know you have been flagged and its going to take longer.

The TSA pukes are idiots but you cannot argue with them as they are now federal agents. The sooner we get rid of the TSA the better IMHO but then I just fly airplanes for a living. Am hoping to retire in 3 years and then will NEVER airline anywhere again...

OK, Special Security Screening what is the 4th S?

Super or Secret? How is a three letter phrase a 4 letter acronym?

Sucker

I got the SSSS from florida to Cleveland. Standing there half naked I had to beg them to hold the plane. I was zipping up my pants running down the jetway.

This is why I have a high level of disgust for those for who cost us our freedom.

yeh, but they are suspicious how you knew about the S's...

the 4th S is for Squirrel - where is OJU?

sorry to hear it, Mike - the 2nd may have occurred only b/c of the 1st one

you don't happen to have any radioactive dust in your beard, do you??

You have it happen to you ONE time and you know what it is from there on out.

What will flag you is if you have been working in the garden or yard the day before. Fertilizer tests the same as explosive with their test machines and red lights will start flashing...

And everybody will vote for the 2 candidates that want to extend or expand these violations of our civil rights.

Similar thing happened to me in 2010. I purchased a truck in North Carolina so I booked a one way flight from Toronto to Asheville North Carolina.
I haven't flown to the States in years so I get handed a declaration form. The U.S. Customs agent asked me what/where I was doing in the States. I told her I purchased a vehicle and was flying down to drive it back. I showed her all the paper work.
Next question where are you staying? I told her I wasn't sure. (I really didn't know) Wrong answer.
She lets me go after giving me crap about not knowing where I was going to stay for the night.
When I went to the x-ray they made me remove shoes, belt, wallet, check laptop, phone,counted my money, and checked my credit cards.
This only happened to me.
They let me fly.
I found out when I landed in Asheville that Obama was arriving shortly after my flight arrived.

As a pilot, I always get alerts for TFR's which can mean slowdowns in air travel if the VIP's are going to the same place I'm going. Not a big deal but at least you know they are in the area and can plan accordingly.

I check a gun almost every time I fly. And they walk with me over to the TSA screener by the ticket counters and make me wait while he goes through everything in my luggage, even swabs it. Why? I already told them there was a gun and ammo in there. I shoot all the time. Of course, there's powder residue on my things. Why search my bag when I've already shown the ticketing agent the gun, that it was unloaded and the case had proper locks on it? It's unreal. Is someone who checks a gun more likely to try to sneak a bomb onboard? Who comes up with this security regime?

One time a nice female TSA screener told me, when she flies with guns, she uses one of those long padlocks some guns come with in the case from the factory to secure the gun case to the inside of the suitcase. I thought that was a good idea. Otherwise, I just hold my tongue and try not to get too angry at these incompetent monkeys pretending to keep sheeple safe.

What level of competence do you expect from barely-highschool-grads? They would rather collect a check and not ask questions of their superiors.

It's called "Security Theater" for a reason.

That's happened to me quite a few times. The joys of working abroad.:rolleyes:

Try flying single with a CPAP device and camera gear. The last time I flew the ticket counter called me and another single guy over and told us they were upgrading us to first class tickets and by the way would you both step into the room over there. We were both escorted into a room with a large table and a half dozen security people. We had to remove everything from our pockets, shoes, belt we were patted down and had to open our trousers for the wand sweep. Agents, with rubber gloves, went through everything in our bags and my CPAP was tested and found to have traces of a chemical used to make bombs. A supervisor was called in and finally cleared my CPAP device and we were allowed to board the plane. I've decided it's time to see the USA by car, bus or train because the neo nazi's have taken over air travel.

Take a look at this...

BBC News - Boarding pass barcodes 'can be read by smartphones'

Joe, We'll never learn. Scary shlt!

TSA: Big government expansion which restricts American civil liberties. Also great theater.

I must admit that I blame George W. Bush for entire Homeland Security fiaso. I don't often lay blame on the former president, as I generally supported his politics. Still, the creation of an entity to which we have no choice but to surrender our civil liberties (free association, search/seizure, you name it) for the "privilege" of air travel, instituting a management structure reminiscent of the Nazi regine wherein no fair common sense decision can be made at a lower echelon but must await approval from higher ranking officials, then staffing it with the lesser motivated of our hardcore unemployed... definitely a recipe for disaster. Then, to have this entity elevated to cabinet level, and having venerable institutions like the Coast Guard under it's banner, it couldn't have gotten much scarier... that is until the recently re-elected president assigned "Big Sis", a politically connected yet much loathed former governor to lead it. Arrgh!