Hestaman From United States of America, joined Jun 2008, 89 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2735 times:
In 2006 my wife and I were interviewing for a position close to TYS. The interview went well, and all was good until we got to the airport and could not find my wife's wallet and/or ID/Driver's License. We thought we were totally hosed, but the woman at the counter (Continental Express) quickly informed us it wouldn't be a problem but we'd have to go through extra screening at TSA. She printed her a boarding pass with the dreaded 'SSSSSSS'. So - I took all of our carry-on stuff, and she went through by herself. The whole ordeal cost us an extra 5 minutes of time if you consider both the extra TSA screening as well as a brief explanation to the counter agent.
Today - a friend of mine posted on facebook that he lost his DL while traveling in PDX. He said that a friend overnighted his passport so he could travel tomorrow. I relayed my story back to him - but then got to wondering if this is common procedure or not.
So my question - what are the official rules and/or common practices for airlines if a traveler comes to the counter w/o propper ID and a sob story about losing it? Look forward to reading your responses!
DurangoMac From United States of America, joined Dec 2006, 586 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2701 times:
ID is required to fly internationally for airlines to check you in, ID is not required to check in for domestic travel. ID is required to clear security with out extra screening. Selectee status is also now handled by TSA directly.
Hestaman From United States of America, joined Jun 2008, 89 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 2651 times:
Quoting DurangoMac (Reply 1): ID is required to fly internationally for airlines to check you in, ID is not required to check in for domestic travel. ID is required to clear security with out extra screening. Selectee status is also now handled by TSA directly.
So... doees my story which occurred 3 years ago apply to my friend's issue in 2009?
PHLJJS From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 412 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 2641 times:
Quoting Hestaman (Reply 2): So... doees my story which occurred 3 years ago apply to my friend's issue in 2009?
Some things have changed since 2006. There is no more SSSS. If you don't have ID, you must prove your identity to TSA before you are allowed through the checkpoint. This is done by giving them info such as your name, address, phone number, etc and they call an operations center and attempt to verify your identity with the info you provided as well as other personal info that comes up in the system. If you can't answer their questions to their satisfaction, you are denied entry and don't fly.
PHLJJS From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 412 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2476 times:
Quoting SA7700 (Reply 4): Was it a very recent change? I got SSSS on an AS flight LAX-SEA in November 2008.
TheGMan From United States of America, joined Nov 2008, 606 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2419 times:
Quoting PHLJJS (Reply 3): Some things have changed since 2006. There is no more SSSS. If you don't have ID, you must prove your identity to TSA before you are allowed through the checkpoint. This is done by giving them info such as your name, address, phone number, etc and they call an operations center and attempt to verify your identity with the info you provided as well as other personal info that comes up in the system. If you can't answer their questions to their satisfaction, you are denied entry and don't fly.
Quoting PHLJJS (Reply 5): Yes, I believe in March of this year.
SSSS is still around, at least for US. My mom almost had it when we were traveling in early May.
HAMAD From United Arab Emirates, joined Apr 2000, 1157 posts, RR: 7 Reply 7, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 2404 times:
Cubsrule From United States of America, joined May 2004, 21210 posts, RR: 19 Reply 8, posted (3 years 11 months 3 weeks 3 days ago) and read 2382 times:
Quoting HAMAD (Reply 7): what iknow for sure is that they removed it from one way tickets.... other than that, not sure
Yes, that took place in late 2006, I think. AFAIK, there are no longer any automatic ticketing-based triggers for SSSS (o/w tickets, cash payment, or late purchase). It used to be a real drag to get rebooked and then get the SSSS.
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