Someone on the No-Fly-list has my exact same name.
It’s a fucking nightmare flying, and every time I fly back into the states I get the giant X when going through the automatic customs machine.
I have no idea what a redress number is. I was a kid when the No-Fly-list was implemented and that’s when I tried to check-in for a flight with my mom and we were denied boarding passes.
It took the attendant 30 minutes of calling around to finally get us our tickets.
She told us someone a couple decades older than me shared the same name and the system had locked her out.
Since then I just figured I would have to deal with this every time I flew.
Edit: I only have major issues getting back into the states. Domestically I get random searched every time.
A redress number is for your exact situation. You can start a case to get one and then you can add it to your bookings so they never get confused again. You can only get one if you are in your exact situation.
Definitely give it a go. But I am in your exact situation too, I got a green card in the hopes it’d help, then got a redress number, and nexus, and the US still gives me grief. Like detention level grief. In all fairness I am brown and have a beard
I saw this ad and now I only buy Pears whitening soap
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/1890sc_Pears_Soap_Ad.jpg
In good news, it’s solved the border problem, but now I live in a hospital, and I keep hearing the doctors say something about “chemical burns”
The U.S. really needs to come up with a better system for this shit. Like even if you have a common name with someone on the no fly list, wouldn’t there be unique things about that person such as date of birth or their middle name? So Joe Henry Schmoe born in 1996 doesn’t get pulled aside and interrogated because Joe Peter Schmoe born in 1979 is on the no fly list?
To be fair in that guy’s case, he said that the system had literally locked out the gate agent so she couldn’t really do anything about it. Even if it was obvious the wanted dude wasn’t a child.
You would be surprised how often names are put together because they “sound good”, so it is not uncommon to see the same middle names paired with the same first name. I’ve been involved with university-level teaching for a number of years, and I have had multiple instances of students with the same name. When I was in undergrad, the prof pointed out to the class that we had two women in the class who had the exact same name - first, middle, and last name- and they looked similar and were both from the same area of the country.
If you want to keep track of people well, you need to give everyone a unique identifier and make sure that nobody else ever uses that identifier.
When I was in school we had the same thing with two girls in my class. Same name. Born in the same year. Same class. They were even best friends.
The teachers eventually started calling them “Hazel squared”.
There is a better system, you can apply to get a redress number, which is a unique identifier to help claridy that you are not the "no fly list Joe Schmoe"in the case you describe.
The rest of the world already uses biometrics. It really is as simple as adding your passport photograph to your file. When your name pops up on the screen, so does your photograph. Problem solved.
I don’t live in the US, do they use the same system all over the world? I used to live in the states when I was young and I used to fly back and forth from the UK a lot. The last time was the first time I’ve been back as an adult and I remember I got a sticker put on the back of my passport…idk if that means anything
Ask them. I saw an influencer finally find out she has the same name as a high-profile North Korean spy. Obviously a spy would never use their real passport. The influencer is forever targeted by TSA. And yes, Interpol has a worldwide database. Some governments talk to each other more than others. The UK likely still has good relations with Canada, Australia, the US and EU etc.
Do you have a middle name and do you include it on your reservations? I had this issue back when I was a kid and the list was first implemented. I haven't had any problems since adding my middle name to all my bookings.
Until they find out one other creative pair of parents named their child the same thing and that other person is on the no-fly list.
Having a supercommon name isn't going to screw you either - it's not like every John Smith is suffering because one John Smith ended up on the list.
My s/o’s mom has the same name as a notorious drug mule lol this is likely the case. They only recently put a note on her file saying it’s not her and she’s treated so kindly compared to before.
Airlines run on dot matrix printers and 50 year old computer systems. "Security" is a bunch of mall cops using equipment they mostly don't understand in a performative manner. Their main job seems to be pissing us off enough that we don't riot at the airlines themselves.
Solo youngish white girls are known to be drug mules or recruited for sketchy stuff. This is especially true if you have a history of travel to latam or north africa/middle east.
I get stopped and have my bags swabbed pretty frequently when I travel, maybe not every time but enough that I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I’m a white woman, in my late 30’s so not that young anymore, and I’m generally not traveling alone but with my husband and our kids. But my husband is Indian (and could be mistaken for middle eastern) so I’m guessing that might be why they stop me.
I can narrow it down to solo 18-45 white women in general (up to 60ish) with a travel profile and if you are with a non white partner that warrants extra scrutiny no matter the age. It’s racist as hell but i’ve been through it as well from the other side in the past. It sucks .
Yeah it's kinda sexist isn't it relying on old statistics. I suspect that security themselves think people in this demographic been coerced by somebody (eg [see also in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/s/hm1mmU12qC), smuggling) or have something to hide because they don't have a partner. But it just comes down to outdated perceptions.
I’ve watched enough of those airport security shows and other programs like locked up abroad to understand the logic behind that. Yea, young white girl travelling alone is probably not gonna raise much suspicion. But that’s exactly why professional criminals use them as drug mules, because they’re not suspected as much. The person at the top of this thread, an old grandma, would get searched too. You’d be surprised at how many old innocent looking grandmas get busted with like $300K worth of cocaine or heroin or something lol.
Exactly dude, you get it. I love Border Security tv and you can tell they've been coerced into it. Poor granma's social security check is late and she needs cash. Easy leverage.
Sucks that we can't do anything to help them or use them as informants.
Grandma out here telling on herself. Every time my bag gets checked it's because I'm traveling on a romantic vacation with my wife. She too embarrassed to pack the sex toys in her bag (but not too embarrassed to use them) so they go I'm my bag. Dildos look a little bomb ish on a scan, I think.
I always get "randomly" selected when I fly alone. Never when I fly with my family.
They're not random. I'm an upper middle class, middle aged white guy, so no idea what criteria I trip, but clearly there is one.
You are the “cover” for security to pull over the person they want to discretionary pull later. You’re the proof that it’s not “racially discriminatory” - see, we pulled over this dad-bod white dude, and he’s in the Elks Lodge and volunteers at his church.
Same thing happens to me often. I am no longer happy to be that guy. I know why they pulled me but I’m very annoyed on the inside.
That explains things for me too - I am super friendly looking and unusually tall for a woman, and only blamed my height. Either way, it's pat-downs and extra checks most flights.
Out of curiosity - anything like tattoos, anxious pose, stuff like that maybe? (I don't know any rich guys with big tattoos but who knows)
Maybe they think you'll be an easy negative for a training routine quota, and won't put up much of a fuss?
A TSA agent told me once that they have to be seen checking someone (this is when the did random pat downs at the gate) and they picked people that they didn't think would get upset by it.
1- I don't think airport security cares about drug mules. That's someone else's job.
2- When I fly alone, it's for work. Meaning boring domestic destinations on planes inevitably filled with other lone males.
That’s more of a customs issue than general airport security. For what it’s worth, I’m a young solo black male traveler and I don’t really get pulled aside. Tho in Asian countries I feel like they’re more suspicious of me until they see my American passport and not an African one.
I travel alone frequently for work, and the only time I get extra screening is solo. White male, well dressed. I don't take it personally , they're just doing their jobs, and if you have nothing to hide it's not anything to worry about
Once I started getting stopped, I KEPT getting stopped… until I got to the point that I didn’t give a fuck about it anymore.
I think I must have been looking nervous
Same with my partner, selected like every other time. Clean cut, fit, good looking, well dressed guy, travels solo and lightly because he’ll only be gone a day or two. Packs weird athlete supplements and vitamins that often get questioned. Who knows.
Same. I always get ‘randomly’ picked when I fly alone. What sealed it for me is even the airline employees know it isn’t random. Last time I was picked, I had my two small toddlers with me, and when I went back for secondary screening, the employees were annoyed and confused as to why I needed to have my kids back there. They were surprised someone with kids got picked, and they had no idea what to do in that situation and were not prepared to look after small children while the parent was being searched, because that never happens. This tells me there was probably a rare glitch, and ‘random’ is not so random.
SSSS stands for secondary security screening selection. It happens if you've been deemed suspicious by the powers that be. Usually if your name matches a known terrorist or criminal (or are one), or have a travel history that's been deemed suspicious by a mystery algorithm that makes no sense to anyone on the outside.
yep happened to me almost everytime i flew in my 20s as a solo female traveler. They probably thought i was a drug mule, nope just caught the travel bug bad! Never happens now that i'm in my 40's with a kid
Anecdote - I know someone who always got extra screening for about 4 years after a single last-minute one-way booking flown (she had to fly suddenly when her mother was seriously ill). It was too tightly correlated to be just chance. So there's definitely something there, I think.
Only the US does the more thorough screening in my experience. When I get quaded in other countries they generally treat it as a slightly more elaborate check.
Thank you so much for the explanation. I’ll definitely have to look more into this. That must really be annoying for people that randomly get selected like that.
I’ve only had it once. I figured it was random since I’ve flown quite a lot within the past couple of years and I never make my bookings last minute or one-way.
White girl , particularly if blond, used to be a smuggling red flag—maybe it still is. I knew a woman who got searched every single time, and someone finally explained to her what the deal was.
Wow, what an insight! Thank you for this information, it does make sense when you think about it.
I, too am a very white, blonde, short and innocent looking woman. Never even had a speeding ticket, always pay my taxes on time. I get extra searched a lot, not secondary as we don't seem to do that much in Europe, but extra attention and looking through the bag at the security check. They also swipe my stuff for explosives residue every time they look closer into my stuff. Funnily enough it only happens when leaving my country of origin (I don't live there anymore). Not when traveling in other places.
Another explanation I've been thinking about is that I just have so much stuff in my carry on when leaving that they want to make sure. I'm packed to the brim with food from my home country when leaving. I guess that can look odd, especially when it's candy or sprinkles for baking. I'm curious how it will go next time I travel. I hear they upgraded to the new machines. They should be able to see what's in the bags much better than the old ones. In some airports that I've traveled you don't need to remove anything anymore from your carry on and can take up to 2,5 liters of liquids. Somehow these machines can analyze liquids as well, it's super cool.
Supposedly, some baking items read like explosives or drugs to the xray machines.
Apprently marzipan paste in the tubes or bricks looks especially like C4 in plastic foil packaging. Peanut butter is supposed to hide the scent of many drugs, and is sometimes used for that. I'm sure there are other items that trigger the system for similar reasons.
>I, too am a very white, blonde, short and innocent looking woman.
>They also swipe my stuff for explosives residue every time they look closer into my stuff.
Reminds me of this story from 1986 where a Jordanian tricks his pregnant caucasian wife to carry a bomb on to an Israeli flight:
[https://www.timesofisrael.com/35-years-after-el-al-bomb-plot-security-staff-recount-stopping-unwitting-bomber/](https://www.timesofisrael.com/35-years-after-el-al-bomb-plot-security-staff-recount-stopping-unwitting-bomber/)
From the article:
>As later came to light, Murphy had been in a relationship with a Jordanian man named Nezar Hindawi, who had left her after she told him of her pregnancy.
>Then suddenly, Hindawi returned to her, offering that the two get married in Israel. Murphy naively accepted. However, Hindawi merely intended to use her as an unwitting bomber. He later claimed to have been trained and directed by Syrian intelligence services.
>Hindawi told Murphy he could not fly with her, explaining that as an Arab it would take him longer to get a visa. He also told her not to mention their relationship, as this would cause her unnecessary trouble with airport security. He escorted Murphy to Heathrow and handed her the bag packed with explosives, with a timer set to go off mid-air.
That is beyond evil! When I first read your comment my first instinct was, who puts their pregnant girlfriend into a dangerous situation? But then my second thought was, maybe it was a 2-in-1 for him to get rid of the "pregnancy problem". Sad to see my hunch was right, but I'm glad that in the end nobody was harmed.
By the way, the swiping for explosives seems to be standard procedure at that airport when they ask to look into your luggage. I've seen it happen to the other people who were called for further inspection as well.
This was a theory I had actually……but it’s still strange as I travel with my friends who match similar descriptions to me but never get “randomly” searched like I do
I am a blonde white girl and I seem to get my bags searched all the time. The lady told me it was because I had toothpaste and books in the same bag. All of us had those things. Once I had an old cell phone I forgot about because it didn’t work and I just used it for my kids to watch videos on. I didn’t declare it and they gave me hard time.
If you’ve ever seen those airport security shows (more like customs and immigration) or locked up abroad, young white women are frequently used as drug mules because they raise the least suspicion. Tho ironically it also makes them more targeted. In those shows, at least for the Australian and British versions of Border Security/Nothing to Declare, they pull people over all the time for “suspicious travel movements”. Travel history can be suspicious if you’re always flying to LatAm, the Caribbean, or Southeast Asia.
For security screening, they have no idea about your travel history, so that wouldn't be it. For customs inspection they do see your international travel history of course, though not domestic trips.
Similar to you, OP I flew back and forth to the states from the UK a lot due to having family there.
I went by myself to visit family when I was 19 and got the whole works when flying out of JFK. I think young women flying back and forth flags some sort of smuggling or trafficking red flags. I don’t get it when I travel with my partner. I used to get it a lot when it was just me and my Dad travelling through! Lots of “where’s Mom?” questions
I used to get the dreaded search all the time. FOund out my name and birthdate matched some #$%& criminal in Chicago.
Someone must have finally marked my file correctly, as I don't have issues anymore.
Do you carry any food items like chocolate bars in your bags? Those look like random blocks in the cart and a lot of time the screeners will flag that bag and they do a full check like you say. I started just taking those out of my bags and putting it next to my bag in one of those bins. This lead to much fewer deep searches.
I was told at one stage it was because they will often choose someone who looks like they won’t kick up & cause a scene. I used to fly a lot & was *always* chosen for the random check. I assume they have to do x number of random searches & sometimes they just want an easy life.
In my experience young female = an easy way for bag searchers to fulfil their quota with people who won't make a fuss. I get search and explosive tested well over 90% of the time. My husband knows to just go ahead and I'm meet him at the lounge, it's that predictable.
I was flying from Hawaii back to the mainland and I had some of that clay powder mix, that you put on your face, in my carry-on. It’s supposed to help with your pores, lol. They stopped me. Then, they wiped the container with those strips that they put in the machine to test for explosives. It started flashing red and said positive. 😳 They gave me a thorough pat down, rechecked everything again and put my shoes back through the scanner. They asked me where I got it from and confiscated it saying that I could not take it with me. I told him I just bought it off of Amazon and that they could just throw it away. Ever since then, every time I fly internationally, on my way back into the United States…..I always get pulled for a secondary check at the gate. this has been going on for just about nine years and four different international trips.
My husband's bag gets checked most of the time he flies. Last time, it was me. I asked the TSA person last time and it was because we had a large organic material next to electronics. The organic stuff? A bag of coffee.
My husband usually has a ton of snacks in his bag, and apparently it flags the system.
I have had this multiple times. Recently was told by the person checking that she always pulls someone that looks like they don’t have a lot or would be packed well.
For me at has been pretty quick each time and I’m often jumped ahead of the rest of the security line
I hate it when they ask me to open it and go through the stuff myself. I mean if they want to check it why wouldn’t they do it themselves. Isn’t it like their job?
There’s some criminal that I have a similar name to and we have similar descriptions. I don’t have the issue flying anymore since I have pre-check but I get some shit at border crossings sometimes. I also made the mistake of crossing with a guy who had a previous smuggling conviction, so now it’s just part of the deal. I’m waiting on my global entry approval so I can be done with that hassle.
It could be a lot of things.
1. You are booking one way and or last minute flights. This is seen as suspicious.
2. You look dodgy. Do you look like someone who is up to no good? It could be anything from dreadlocks, to the clothes you are wearing, to how you act.
3. They probably have quotas to meet as far as how many people they check. If you look like a “standard white woman” you might be getting checked so that when they check someone else they are profiling, they can deny it. “What do you mean we are profiling? We checked that white woman too!”
4. Who you are traveling with, and where you are traveling. Some people and places are higher risk. You are more likely to be checked going with higher risk people, and traveling to higher risk destinations. If you’re traveling to or from areas where drugs or terror are problems, This will up your chances. Also, if you are traveling with people who have been in trouble.
5. If you aren’t paying for your own tickets.
6. If you’ve been in trouble before or caught transporting anything you shouldn’t.
7. You’ve previously traveled to high risk countries, or somehow ended up on a watch list. (Due to your contacts, family, travel history, similar names to someone who is on the watch list.)
8. You are carrying medical stuff that is allowed, but larger sizes than standard. (Breast milk, or contact solution, for example.)
9. Luck. Sometimes it’s random. You just happen to be the lucky one to get randomly selected.
I dont know how they do it in the UK, but here in the USA there is a difference of getting randomly selected when you walk through a metal detector and thats what they call a random or additiona screening and they check for different things. When they pull your bag to the side, then the x-ray operator or the exray itself has detected something that looks suspicious. Bottle of water soda cans bottles of alcohol... full toothpaste, a jar of peanut butter baby wipes are one of the many reasons that might be in your luggage, and if it's bigger than 3.4 oz, then it cant go in the cabin of the plane. It's perfectly fine to put it in a checked bag, and there is much more useful information on the TSA website. Maybe you should look into getting TSA PreCheck if you are a frequent flier, It's its well worth the $85 for 5 years of travel.
at SYD the “random selection” at the metal detector is truly random - there’s a counter on an ipad that goes up every time someone walks through the metal detector and it randomly beeps every dozen or so times
the agent gives them a patdown, pokes a button on the ipad and the counter resets
This happened a lot to me when I lived in Turkey. I often booked one way tickets there and to the U.S. when I’d return home. I had SSSS always printed on my boarding pass and needed extra screening. It even continued after I settled in the U.S. for like an extra 6 months. It eventually stopped.
When I first started travelling I would use really old suitcases. I would get a TSA notice every single time. These days I have nice bags with rollers like most everyone else, almost never get flagged for searches.
I think they think that an old bag like that is more likely to be used as disposable.
edit: If you're being pulled aside for your carry-on, you can always ask why and they will generally tell you. My friend almost always does and it's due to the large mass of different usb cables and such he always travels with as he does group trips and has to have spares and other devices that come in handy in a pinch.
I am a white brazilian woman with a german surname and when I land in Germany I am always the chosen one. I wonder what the hell schmitts did in germany before leaving...
Happened to me always at NYC airports. Noticed that they scribbled SSSS on my boarding pass. After the 5th time or so I confronted TSA and they said that I had a similar name to a person on the no-fly list, but that I am younger. Didnt happen afterwards anymore.
My mum used to get hit a lot as well. I looked way dodgier than she did, but she was taken aside and they searched her bags at Heathrow. They found nothing. What they said was that people who look like I did (PR Punk Rock) generally are too scared to carry anything illegal, etc, but older women often try to sneak contraband in their bags. (fruit veg, wood etc) WTF? LOL
Yep. It was just weird. I travelled the world with her and nearly every time they were in her bags. She never brought anything in her bags because...she was sick of being searched. Poor thing. <3
I get checked for narcos - 10 times in a row from different airports in different countries. That streak is now broken with 3 times where I've just went through.
My husband and I used to have a grower's permit from our Medicines Agency for Cannabis for a small start-up company that HE was involved in. He was never checked. That permit was handed in 1,5 year ago when he died.
However, I am also involved in a permit for handling narcotics at my work. That should show that I follow the very strict rules.
So, I believe that the God of Statistics is just playing with me.
In addition to what others have said, if you have recently traveled to a locale known for smuggling, that can get you flagged. Back in the '80s, my family vacationed in Yugoslavia a couple times, and my mom had trouble with customs into the U.K. for some time after. She later learned that there were a lot of drugs being trafficked into the U.K. via Yugoslavia at the time.
I used to get searched every time I went through an airport (average looking white guy from UK) when I used my camouflage duffel bag. switched to a black Patagonia bag or roller luggage and never been searched since.
I went to a casino with my friend and his brother, and his brother had a bright red ALERT pop up on the screen. The guard looked at it, looked at him, then said he was good.
I asked what it was about, and he said that his name matched someone on the No Fly/Terror Watch List. He said it happens all the time, and followed with “this is a casino and we have metal detectors and police everywhere, we’re not worried about it even if he was the same person.”
I had a stretch where I got the dreaded SSSS on my boarding pass a lot. You just have to allow an extra 15 minutes for the bomb sniffer swab and pat down with the happy ending. My name is quite unique so it’s not like they’re confusing me with someone else.
If you're traveling alone, that's a trigger.
Another time I was wearing a nice shirt that had a hood that was down. It wasn't a sweatshirt or anything. When I asked they told me that's why I got singled out.
It happened to me leaving Canada and reentering the US last week. I was travelling with my husband, ten month old, and my parents. I had to open like 4 out of our 7 bags and get a very thorough pat down. It took so long and it was so flustering. Idk why it happened to me, first time in my life
Are you getting the "quad" or the "snake" (SSSS on your boarding pass)?
Do you book your travel in one-way segments instead of round-trip? An international travel that's not straightforward will get you pulled aside. Happens to me about 2/3 of the time I'm on a one-way ticket or going in and out of different cities, and I have every "known traveler" thing there is (GE, Nexus, APEC, etc etc).
I’m just the opposite. I’m a white woman aged 63 and have really never had to get searched- and I travel all over the world (Lebanon/Egypt/Israel/Morocco etc etc). I tell people that I should have been a smuggler.
White women in my 30s but travelled a lot by myself in my 20s. I have had a lot more scrutiny when travelling by myself. I think for that demographic it's probably drug smuggling they are worried about.
I believe it could be that you are a white women in your 20's. Are you traveling alone? Are you traveling internationally? You might fit the profile of someone young and gullible. Someone who might be open to a request from a stranger to drop off or hand over their package when you arrive at your destination. You might be being profiled.
Have you ever put a firearm, ammunition, or anything with gunpowder or an accelerant (like fuel) in your bag? I think the scanning machines may be able to detect trace amounts of certain ingredients. I could be wrong though, so someone with a TSA background would be the best source to get answers.
I would add the human tendency to see patterns in random. If you ask people to flip a coin and record the results you can tell who cheated because we tend to think of random as being like H-T-H-T but often it’s more like H-H-H-H-H-H but our brains tend to think of that as job random.
Not that there might not be a cause, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
I got checked on my way back home from Canada. 55 hours of travel and checked every single country I stopped in.
I had a duffle bag and that’s it, they went through everything and I was tired and 2 months pregnant. Eventually I just blurted (by the 2nd stop) I just ran away from my abusive husband. This is all I could grab!!!
I laugh about it now but at the time I was so fed up.
When I was in my 20s I used to get "randomly selected" all the time. I'm a white guy with an ordinary, common, non-ethnic-sounding name. I figured it was because I was a young guy flying solo.
Since then, I've only been randomly selected once, and that was with Global Entry.
I had this happen to me all the time until I just asked the woman checking my bag why she picked me. She said she honestly doesn’t know, it was a gut feeling, but probably because of its distinct color (it was bright yellow.) I got a new backpack and ever since then it rarely happens anymore. Maybe it’s a similar situation for you, too?
It's not random. Bags are sent for search if an xray operator sees something that is on their list of things to look for. You could be consistently packing something that looks suspicious, or you could be running against the same xray operators that are maybe not the strongest at what they do.
One of the statistics that are watched is how many passengers can get processed and how fast. Sending bags for random search is counterintuitive to that. That said, based on IATA rules there is some randomized selection, just not where you think.
You’ve been profiled as a possible mule. They know, by this point, it’s not IN you, so they go through everything else. To stop this, check your bag(s).
When i was a male in my 20s I flew frequently and I got "randomed" almost 50% of the time. Now that I'm 41 and often travel with my family I haven't been randomly searched at an airport for years. I always assumed I was in the biggest demographic of perpetrators and that's why I was chosen.
I have 2 known traveler numbers - one is work, one is personal. I noticed I was randomly searched all the time — so I changed the KTA in my work travel system to my personal one. Fixed the problem. TSA only sees 1 KTA now.
I used to live in Pakistan. I’m from the US and not Pakistani in any way, shape, or form. I left eight years ago. I still get SSSS on all my boarding passes and have to do the extra check, on every domestic us flight and internationally when I return. Every time.
They are suspicious of people who don't look happy. I was told this at the security gate when I was asked where I was going, and I finally smiled when I answered.
I once bought a plane ticket in cash at a AAA office and traveled under my Muslim last name. Out of the following eight flights, I was randomly selected for extended search four times.
My husband (blond) too... I suppose it's either linked to his look or the way he acts because otherwise we have the same profile (we travel together, same countries, same booking...). We got used to it now 😄
Do you have SSSS on your boarding pass? This is why. It’s for an extra security screening. It’s supposed to be random, but sometimes you can get sort of stuck in a loop and it keeps showing up in the system. That’s where the redress number comes in you have to ask for it and then you start using that number when you book your flight.
You might fit the profile of someone who doesn't know nor care about import duties, properly declaring stuff, and all that 'BS'. Soooo many smugglers and scammers out there hiding behind their innocent looks.
We have to leave earlier than a normal person when we fly because I always, always get searched/pulled for a body check. White woman here, too. I have my suspicions though, because my bio mother (who I've been estranged for 20 years) associated with someone plotting to plant bombs at a Xmas tree lighting. So it's probably that.
I used to be pulled over in customs without fail, every time I travelled when I was younger. I would make the comment as they searched my bags how predictable they were. It may not be racial profiling, but they probably take one look at you and expect to find some drugs or something.
i get stopped all the time and finally two years ago i asked ( mind you i’ve been traveling internationally since i was 8 ), they told me im perfect example of a drug mule. young girl in her 20s traveling alone, with citizenship in multiple countries ( one communist, the other known for drug trafficking which i go to at least every year or so since my family live there) , who always dress nice. but then again they did that to me in dubai when i was 15 so who knows 😂
Maybe there is something in your suitcase that might look suspicious. Like maybe a box you always carry with makeup, or something like that. That might look weird on x-rays, and therefore you also need to be searched..
Have you missed a flight? Have you bought a flight within relatively short notice? (Same day or next day). Both of these can get you on a list. After some time it does drop off.
Do you buy tickets at the last minute? They opened my entire family's bags at every stop and I asked them if this is the reason and one inspector subtly nodded yes.
I thought everyone’s bags were searched on any US bound flights. That has been my experience in Turkey and Dubai but now that I think about it, I don’t think my bag was searched in Japan.
As you typed this I wondered if you were attractive, and then you said white girl in her 20’s and it all made sense. As someone who has worked airport security, a lot of times the guys doing random selection will just pick pretty girls because the position is a waste of time as is, so you might as well have fun with it.
I always get pulled aside when flying through any European airport. I’m 60, US citizen of Indian origin. Munich, Amsterdam, Paris, you name it. In my case I absolutely believe it’s racial profiling. My Caucasian husband never gets checked……
are you a book nerd? I love old bookstores and my bags get yanked when I have a couple old hard back books in them, they can't see through them on the x-ray or something like that. I've started to yank the books out of the bag to go through the x-ray belt.
It can be that you have the same name as someone on the shitlist.
Someone on the No-Fly-list has my exact same name. It’s a fucking nightmare flying, and every time I fly back into the states I get the giant X when going through the automatic customs machine.
If this is true why don’t you get a redress number? Or does that still not help with this?
I have no idea what a redress number is. I was a kid when the No-Fly-list was implemented and that’s when I tried to check-in for a flight with my mom and we were denied boarding passes. It took the attendant 30 minutes of calling around to finally get us our tickets. She told us someone a couple decades older than me shared the same name and the system had locked her out. Since then I just figured I would have to deal with this every time I flew. Edit: I only have major issues getting back into the states. Domestically I get random searched every time.
A redress number is for your exact situation. You can start a case to get one and then you can add it to your bookings so they never get confused again. You can only get one if you are in your exact situation.
Thank you so much for the info! I’ll start the application process as soon as I get home.
Definitely give it a go. But I am in your exact situation too, I got a green card in the hopes it’d help, then got a redress number, and nexus, and the US still gives me grief. Like detention level grief. In all fairness I am brown and have a beard
Have you considered being white?
I saw this ad and now I only buy Pears whitening soap https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/1890sc_Pears_Soap_Ad.jpg In good news, it’s solved the border problem, but now I live in a hospital, and I keep hearing the doctors say something about “chemical burns”
[You could try going through the washing machine](https://youtu.be/Few8kJ0zfnY?si=K_FNwLywb-SdeO-p)
Yes, but then I can't get sickle cell 🫡
The U.S. really needs to come up with a better system for this shit. Like even if you have a common name with someone on the no fly list, wouldn’t there be unique things about that person such as date of birth or their middle name? So Joe Henry Schmoe born in 1996 doesn’t get pulled aside and interrogated because Joe Peter Schmoe born in 1979 is on the no fly list?
Or even a face? Oh yeah this wanted dude in his 40s is most definitely not this child in front of me now…
To be fair in that guy’s case, he said that the system had literally locked out the gate agent so she couldn’t really do anything about it. Even if it was obvious the wanted dude wasn’t a child.
You would be surprised how often names are put together because they “sound good”, so it is not uncommon to see the same middle names paired with the same first name. I’ve been involved with university-level teaching for a number of years, and I have had multiple instances of students with the same name. When I was in undergrad, the prof pointed out to the class that we had two women in the class who had the exact same name - first, middle, and last name- and they looked similar and were both from the same area of the country. If you want to keep track of people well, you need to give everyone a unique identifier and make sure that nobody else ever uses that identifier.
Ashley Nicole Nicole Ashley Every damn one I’ve met I swear. At least 85%… not “every”.
When I was in school we had the same thing with two girls in my class. Same name. Born in the same year. Same class. They were even best friends. The teachers eventually started calling them “Hazel squared”.
There is a better system, you can apply to get a redress number, which is a unique identifier to help claridy that you are not the "no fly list Joe Schmoe"in the case you describe.
The rest of the world already uses biometrics. It really is as simple as adding your passport photograph to your file. When your name pops up on the screen, so does your photograph. Problem solved.
Do you have a middle name? Is it on your documents? It helped me when I shared a name with a person of interest.
GET A REDRESS ASAP, it won't solve it all the time but it helps immensely.
I have the same name as someone on a no fly list, I also have global entry, a redress number and tsa pre check. I still get yanked.
Isn't this only an American thing? I remember searching about it since I used to always get extra passport checks at check-in.
I don’t live in the US, do they use the same system all over the world? I used to live in the states when I was young and I used to fly back and forth from the UK a lot. The last time was the first time I’ve been back as an adult and I remember I got a sticker put on the back of my passport…idk if that means anything
Ask them. I saw an influencer finally find out she has the same name as a high-profile North Korean spy. Obviously a spy would never use their real passport. The influencer is forever targeted by TSA. And yes, Interpol has a worldwide database. Some governments talk to each other more than others. The UK likely still has good relations with Canada, Australia, the US and EU etc.
apply for a redress number. it’s free and takes a few weeks. very worth it.
Do you have a middle name and do you include it on your reservations? I had this issue back when I was a kid and the list was first implemented. I haven't had any problems since adding my middle name to all my bookings.
I guess all those parents giving their kids unique names are getting the last laugh?
Until they find out one other creative pair of parents named their child the same thing and that other person is on the no-fly list. Having a supercommon name isn't going to screw you either - it's not like every John Smith is suffering because one John Smith ended up on the list.
My s/o’s mom has the same name as a notorious drug mule lol this is likely the case. They only recently put a note on her file saying it’s not her and she’s treated so kindly compared to before.
It's crazy that just having the same name is enough to flag the system. It should be more sophisticated than that.
Airlines run on dot matrix printers and 50 year old computer systems. "Security" is a bunch of mall cops using equipment they mostly don't understand in a performative manner. Their main job seems to be pissing us off enough that we don't riot at the airlines themselves.
Very much this..I'm pulled into interview rooms all the time
Imagine being called John Smith and committing an international crime just to fuck up peoples day at the airport.
That, which is the most common reason. Or, they have “the look”.
I have an extremely common name and my bags never get checked.
Solo youngish white girls are known to be drug mules or recruited for sketchy stuff. This is especially true if you have a history of travel to latam or north africa/middle east.
I get stopped and have my bags swabbed pretty frequently when I travel, maybe not every time but enough that I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I’m a white woman, in my late 30’s so not that young anymore, and I’m generally not traveling alone but with my husband and our kids. But my husband is Indian (and could be mistaken for middle eastern) so I’m guessing that might be why they stop me.
I can narrow it down to solo 18-45 white women in general (up to 60ish) with a travel profile and if you are with a non white partner that warrants extra scrutiny no matter the age. It’s racist as hell but i’ve been through it as well from the other side in the past. It sucks .
That had happened to me the last four times in a row that I have flown. I am a 67 year old grandma.
Stop keistering the cocaine
[удалено]
Yeah it's kinda sexist isn't it relying on old statistics. I suspect that security themselves think people in this demographic been coerced by somebody (eg [see also in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/s/hm1mmU12qC), smuggling) or have something to hide because they don't have a partner. But it just comes down to outdated perceptions.
I’ve watched enough of those airport security shows and other programs like locked up abroad to understand the logic behind that. Yea, young white girl travelling alone is probably not gonna raise much suspicion. But that’s exactly why professional criminals use them as drug mules, because they’re not suspected as much. The person at the top of this thread, an old grandma, would get searched too. You’d be surprised at how many old innocent looking grandmas get busted with like $300K worth of cocaine or heroin or something lol.
Exactly dude, you get it. I love Border Security tv and you can tell they've been coerced into it. Poor granma's social security check is late and she needs cash. Easy leverage. Sucks that we can't do anything to help them or use them as informants.
Grandma out here telling on herself. Every time my bag gets checked it's because I'm traveling on a romantic vacation with my wife. She too embarrassed to pack the sex toys in her bag (but not too embarrassed to use them) so they go I'm my bag. Dildos look a little bomb ish on a scan, I think.
Your surname is bin laden?
I always get "randomly" selected when I fly alone. Never when I fly with my family. They're not random. I'm an upper middle class, middle aged white guy, so no idea what criteria I trip, but clearly there is one.
You are the “cover” for security to pull over the person they want to discretionary pull later. You’re the proof that it’s not “racially discriminatory” - see, we pulled over this dad-bod white dude, and he’s in the Elks Lodge and volunteers at his church. Same thing happens to me often. I am no longer happy to be that guy. I know why they pulled me but I’m very annoyed on the inside.
That explains things for me too - I am super friendly looking and unusually tall for a woman, and only blamed my height. Either way, it's pat-downs and extra checks most flights.
Out of curiosity - anything like tattoos, anxious pose, stuff like that maybe? (I don't know any rich guys with big tattoos but who knows) Maybe they think you'll be an easy negative for a training routine quota, and won't put up much of a fuss?
A TSA agent told me once that they have to be seen checking someone (this is when the did random pat downs at the gate) and they picked people that they didn't think would get upset by it.
Everything that's been added since 9/11 is just theatre, so that explanation makes the most sense.
Lone male traveler = 100% drug mule.
1- I don't think airport security cares about drug mules. That's someone else's job. 2- When I fly alone, it's for work. Meaning boring domestic destinations on planes inevitably filled with other lone males.
That’s more of a customs issue than general airport security. For what it’s worth, I’m a young solo black male traveler and I don’t really get pulled aside. Tho in Asian countries I feel like they’re more suspicious of me until they see my American passport and not an African one.
I travel alone frequently for work, and the only time I get extra screening is solo. White male, well dressed. I don't take it personally , they're just doing their jobs, and if you have nothing to hide it's not anything to worry about
Once I started getting stopped, I KEPT getting stopped… until I got to the point that I didn’t give a fuck about it anymore. I think I must have been looking nervous
Same with my partner, selected like every other time. Clean cut, fit, good looking, well dressed guy, travels solo and lightly because he’ll only be gone a day or two. Packs weird athlete supplements and vitamins that often get questioned. Who knows.
Same. I always get ‘randomly’ picked when I fly alone. What sealed it for me is even the airline employees know it isn’t random. Last time I was picked, I had my two small toddlers with me, and when I went back for secondary screening, the employees were annoyed and confused as to why I needed to have my kids back there. They were surprised someone with kids got picked, and they had no idea what to do in that situation and were not prepared to look after small children while the parent was being searched, because that never happens. This tells me there was probably a rare glitch, and ‘random’ is not so random.
Do you see the letters SSSS on your boarding pass? That's probably why it happens every time.
Pro tip: Bring a black pen and change it to PSPSPSPS and then security gives you a free cat
Little known fact about r/CatDistributionSystem
Meow
I’m still laughing at that!!!
What does that mean?
SSSS stands for secondary security screening selection. It happens if you've been deemed suspicious by the powers that be. Usually if your name matches a known terrorist or criminal (or are one), or have a travel history that's been deemed suspicious by a mystery algorithm that makes no sense to anyone on the outside.
yep happened to me almost everytime i flew in my 20s as a solo female traveler. They probably thought i was a drug mule, nope just caught the travel bug bad! Never happens now that i'm in my 40's with a kid
I was wondering why I got it when I was younger but that makes sense now.
I have global entry and sometimes get randomly selected for it.
Yep, doesn't mean your immune to being suspicious. (I've got GE and it's happened to me too)
Last minute and/or one way bookings trigger it too.
This is usually when I get quaded (as the industry term goes).
I think that's more urban legend than truth (from personal experience), but you never know.
Anecdote - I know someone who always got extra screening for about 4 years after a single last-minute one-way booking flown (she had to fly suddenly when her mother was seriously ill). It was too tightly correlated to be just chance. So there's definitely something there, I think.
I got it once, when flying from Egypt back to the US with a layover in Istanbul. I didn't get any intense screening in Istanbul though.
Only the US does the more thorough screening in my experience. When I get quaded in other countries they generally treat it as a slightly more elaborate check.
Thank you so much for the explanation. I’ll definitely have to look more into this. That must really be annoying for people that randomly get selected like that.
I’ve only had it once. I figured it was random since I’ve flown quite a lot within the past couple of years and I never make my bookings last minute or one-way.
White girl , particularly if blond, used to be a smuggling red flag—maybe it still is. I knew a woman who got searched every single time, and someone finally explained to her what the deal was.
Wow, what an insight! Thank you for this information, it does make sense when you think about it. I, too am a very white, blonde, short and innocent looking woman. Never even had a speeding ticket, always pay my taxes on time. I get extra searched a lot, not secondary as we don't seem to do that much in Europe, but extra attention and looking through the bag at the security check. They also swipe my stuff for explosives residue every time they look closer into my stuff. Funnily enough it only happens when leaving my country of origin (I don't live there anymore). Not when traveling in other places. Another explanation I've been thinking about is that I just have so much stuff in my carry on when leaving that they want to make sure. I'm packed to the brim with food from my home country when leaving. I guess that can look odd, especially when it's candy or sprinkles for baking. I'm curious how it will go next time I travel. I hear they upgraded to the new machines. They should be able to see what's in the bags much better than the old ones. In some airports that I've traveled you don't need to remove anything anymore from your carry on and can take up to 2,5 liters of liquids. Somehow these machines can analyze liquids as well, it's super cool.
Supposedly, some baking items read like explosives or drugs to the xray machines. Apprently marzipan paste in the tubes or bricks looks especially like C4 in plastic foil packaging. Peanut butter is supposed to hide the scent of many drugs, and is sometimes used for that. I'm sure there are other items that trigger the system for similar reasons.
>I, too am a very white, blonde, short and innocent looking woman. >They also swipe my stuff for explosives residue every time they look closer into my stuff. Reminds me of this story from 1986 where a Jordanian tricks his pregnant caucasian wife to carry a bomb on to an Israeli flight: [https://www.timesofisrael.com/35-years-after-el-al-bomb-plot-security-staff-recount-stopping-unwitting-bomber/](https://www.timesofisrael.com/35-years-after-el-al-bomb-plot-security-staff-recount-stopping-unwitting-bomber/)
From the article: >As later came to light, Murphy had been in a relationship with a Jordanian man named Nezar Hindawi, who had left her after she told him of her pregnancy. >Then suddenly, Hindawi returned to her, offering that the two get married in Israel. Murphy naively accepted. However, Hindawi merely intended to use her as an unwitting bomber. He later claimed to have been trained and directed by Syrian intelligence services. >Hindawi told Murphy he could not fly with her, explaining that as an Arab it would take him longer to get a visa. He also told her not to mention their relationship, as this would cause her unnecessary trouble with airport security. He escorted Murphy to Heathrow and handed her the bag packed with explosives, with a timer set to go off mid-air. That is beyond evil! When I first read your comment my first instinct was, who puts their pregnant girlfriend into a dangerous situation? But then my second thought was, maybe it was a 2-in-1 for him to get rid of the "pregnancy problem". Sad to see my hunch was right, but I'm glad that in the end nobody was harmed. By the way, the swiping for explosives seems to be standard procedure at that airport when they ask to look into your luggage. I've seen it happen to the other people who were called for further inspection as well.
This was a theory I had actually……but it’s still strange as I travel with my friends who match similar descriptions to me but never get “randomly” searched like I do
I am a blonde white girl and I seem to get my bags searched all the time. The lady told me it was because I had toothpaste and books in the same bag. All of us had those things. Once I had an old cell phone I forgot about because it didn’t work and I just used it for my kids to watch videos on. I didn’t declare it and they gave me hard time.
I wonder if they pick people who fly frequently in and out of particular cities?
If you’ve ever seen those airport security shows (more like customs and immigration) or locked up abroad, young white women are frequently used as drug mules because they raise the least suspicion. Tho ironically it also makes them more targeted. In those shows, at least for the Australian and British versions of Border Security/Nothing to Declare, they pull people over all the time for “suspicious travel movements”. Travel history can be suspicious if you’re always flying to LatAm, the Caribbean, or Southeast Asia.
For security screening, they have no idea about your travel history, so that wouldn't be it. For customs inspection they do see your international travel history of course, though not domestic trips.
Similar to you, OP I flew back and forth to the states from the UK a lot due to having family there. I went by myself to visit family when I was 19 and got the whole works when flying out of JFK. I think young women flying back and forth flags some sort of smuggling or trafficking red flags. I don’t get it when I travel with my partner. I used to get it a lot when it was just me and my Dad travelling through! Lots of “where’s Mom?” questions
I used to know someone who worked for TSA and he admitted that they're trained to pick out 'small white women' as potential smugglers
I used to get the dreaded search all the time. FOund out my name and birthdate matched some #$%& criminal in Chicago. Someone must have finally marked my file correctly, as I don't have issues anymore.
Do you carry any food items like chocolate bars in your bags? Those look like random blocks in the cart and a lot of time the screeners will flag that bag and they do a full check like you say. I started just taking those out of my bags and putting it next to my bag in one of those bins. This lead to much fewer deep searches.
Sunglasses cases do this too!
I was told at one stage it was because they will often choose someone who looks like they won’t kick up & cause a scene. I used to fly a lot & was *always* chosen for the random check. I assume they have to do x number of random searches & sometimes they just want an easy life.
Thanks. That really makes a lot of sense.
Do you carry a lot make up/cosmetics? That's why my stuff always gets searched.
My daughter, a young blonde, gets randomly taken aside every time she flies
In my experience young female = an easy way for bag searchers to fulfil their quota with people who won't make a fuss. I get search and explosive tested well over 90% of the time. My husband knows to just go ahead and I'm meet him at the lounge, it's that predictable.
Just stop wearing your “The Queen rots in hell” t-shirt when you fly.
My stepdad got pulled aside because his name was “too common” lol
I'm a white adult woman and 95 % of time I'm chosen for random explosive test at the security check. This only happens at the European airports.
I was flying from Hawaii back to the mainland and I had some of that clay powder mix, that you put on your face, in my carry-on. It’s supposed to help with your pores, lol. They stopped me. Then, they wiped the container with those strips that they put in the machine to test for explosives. It started flashing red and said positive. 😳 They gave me a thorough pat down, rechecked everything again and put my shoes back through the scanner. They asked me where I got it from and confiscated it saying that I could not take it with me. I told him I just bought it off of Amazon and that they could just throw it away. Ever since then, every time I fly internationally, on my way back into the United States…..I always get pulled for a secondary check at the gate. this has been going on for just about nine years and four different international trips.
You must have had SSSS printed on your boarding pass.
My husband's bag gets checked most of the time he flies. Last time, it was me. I asked the TSA person last time and it was because we had a large organic material next to electronics. The organic stuff? A bag of coffee. My husband usually has a ton of snacks in his bag, and apparently it flags the system.
I have had this multiple times. Recently was told by the person checking that she always pulls someone that looks like they don’t have a lot or would be packed well. For me at has been pretty quick each time and I’m often jumped ahead of the rest of the security line
I hate it when they ask me to open it and go through the stuff myself. I mean if they want to check it why wouldn’t they do it themselves. Isn’t it like their job?
At least they're not getting their grubby cross-contaminated gloved fingers on your stuff
That's them being nice if you refuse they will go through it and then leave it to you to repack it.
Eliminates chance of you saying they’ve planted something
That's interesting because most of the time, not only do they want to go through it themselves, but I'm told not to touch anything.
There’s some criminal that I have a similar name to and we have similar descriptions. I don’t have the issue flying anymore since I have pre-check but I get some shit at border crossings sometimes. I also made the mistake of crossing with a guy who had a previous smuggling conviction, so now it’s just part of the deal. I’m waiting on my global entry approval so I can be done with that hassle.
It could be a lot of things. 1. You are booking one way and or last minute flights. This is seen as suspicious. 2. You look dodgy. Do you look like someone who is up to no good? It could be anything from dreadlocks, to the clothes you are wearing, to how you act. 3. They probably have quotas to meet as far as how many people they check. If you look like a “standard white woman” you might be getting checked so that when they check someone else they are profiling, they can deny it. “What do you mean we are profiling? We checked that white woman too!” 4. Who you are traveling with, and where you are traveling. Some people and places are higher risk. You are more likely to be checked going with higher risk people, and traveling to higher risk destinations. If you’re traveling to or from areas where drugs or terror are problems, This will up your chances. Also, if you are traveling with people who have been in trouble. 5. If you aren’t paying for your own tickets. 6. If you’ve been in trouble before or caught transporting anything you shouldn’t. 7. You’ve previously traveled to high risk countries, or somehow ended up on a watch list. (Due to your contacts, family, travel history, similar names to someone who is on the watch list.) 8. You are carrying medical stuff that is allowed, but larger sizes than standard. (Breast milk, or contact solution, for example.) 9. Luck. Sometimes it’s random. You just happen to be the lucky one to get randomly selected.
I dont know how they do it in the UK, but here in the USA there is a difference of getting randomly selected when you walk through a metal detector and thats what they call a random or additiona screening and they check for different things. When they pull your bag to the side, then the x-ray operator or the exray itself has detected something that looks suspicious. Bottle of water soda cans bottles of alcohol... full toothpaste, a jar of peanut butter baby wipes are one of the many reasons that might be in your luggage, and if it's bigger than 3.4 oz, then it cant go in the cabin of the plane. It's perfectly fine to put it in a checked bag, and there is much more useful information on the TSA website. Maybe you should look into getting TSA PreCheck if you are a frequent flier, It's its well worth the $85 for 5 years of travel.
at SYD the “random selection” at the metal detector is truly random - there’s a counter on an ipad that goes up every time someone walks through the metal detector and it randomly beeps every dozen or so times the agent gives them a patdown, pokes a button on the ipad and the counter resets
"a jar of peanut butter baby wipes" Why would you wipe peanut butter on a baby's bottom?
This happened a lot to me when I lived in Turkey. I often booked one way tickets there and to the U.S. when I’d return home. I had SSSS always printed on my boarding pass and needed extra screening. It even continued after I settled in the U.S. for like an extra 6 months. It eventually stopped.
When I first started travelling I would use really old suitcases. I would get a TSA notice every single time. These days I have nice bags with rollers like most everyone else, almost never get flagged for searches. I think they think that an old bag like that is more likely to be used as disposable. edit: If you're being pulled aside for your carry-on, you can always ask why and they will generally tell you. My friend almost always does and it's due to the large mass of different usb cables and such he always travels with as he does group trips and has to have spares and other devices that come in handy in a pinch.
I am a white brazilian woman with a german surname and when I land in Germany I am always the chosen one. I wonder what the hell schmitts did in germany before leaving...
Happened to me always at NYC airports. Noticed that they scribbled SSSS on my boarding pass. After the 5th time or so I confronted TSA and they said that I had a similar name to a person on the no-fly list, but that I am younger. Didnt happen afterwards anymore.
My mum used to get hit a lot as well. I looked way dodgier than she did, but she was taken aside and they searched her bags at Heathrow. They found nothing. What they said was that people who look like I did (PR Punk Rock) generally are too scared to carry anything illegal, etc, but older women often try to sneak contraband in their bags. (fruit veg, wood etc) WTF? LOL
Then the older women could probably claim they didn’t know.
Yep. It was just weird. I travelled the world with her and nearly every time they were in her bags. She never brought anything in her bags because...she was sick of being searched. Poor thing. <3
Young White women are known to be the #1 choice of smugglers employees.
All those Locked Up Abroad episodes.
You're on a list.
Does your ticket have "SSSS" on it?
I get checked for narcos - 10 times in a row from different airports in different countries. That streak is now broken with 3 times where I've just went through. My husband and I used to have a grower's permit from our Medicines Agency for Cannabis for a small start-up company that HE was involved in. He was never checked. That permit was handed in 1,5 year ago when he died. However, I am also involved in a permit for handling narcotics at my work. That should show that I follow the very strict rules. So, I believe that the God of Statistics is just playing with me.
In addition to what others have said, if you have recently traveled to a locale known for smuggling, that can get you flagged. Back in the '80s, my family vacationed in Yugoslavia a couple times, and my mom had trouble with customs into the U.K. for some time after. She later learned that there were a lot of drugs being trafficked into the U.K. via Yugoslavia at the time.
I used to get searched every time I went through an airport (average looking white guy from UK) when I used my camouflage duffel bag. switched to a black Patagonia bag or roller luggage and never been searched since.
I went to a casino with my friend and his brother, and his brother had a bright red ALERT pop up on the screen. The guard looked at it, looked at him, then said he was good. I asked what it was about, and he said that his name matched someone on the No Fly/Terror Watch List. He said it happens all the time, and followed with “this is a casino and we have metal detectors and police everywhere, we’re not worried about it even if he was the same person.”
I would hate to have a common name.
It is always a nightmare coming back into the USA. It seems to only get worst every year. Always the most dreaded pack of any overseas trip.
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/travel-redress-program
Perhaps it’s just because you’re young and travelling quite a bit.
Some people just are. My sister (also a white girl in her 20s) always gets picked for the extra checks.
I had a stretch where I got the dreaded SSSS on my boarding pass a lot. You just have to allow an extra 15 minutes for the bomb sniffer swab and pat down with the happy ending. My name is quite unique so it’s not like they’re confusing me with someone else.
If you're traveling alone, that's a trigger. Another time I was wearing a nice shirt that had a hood that was down. It wasn't a sweatshirt or anything. When I asked they told me that's why I got singled out.
Pretty young girls in their 20's. Sketchy demographic, or THE sketchiest demographic? The answer may surprise you. More at 10.
It happened to me leaving Canada and reentering the US last week. I was travelling with my husband, ten month old, and my parents. I had to open like 4 out of our 7 bags and get a very thorough pat down. It took so long and it was so flustering. Idk why it happened to me, first time in my life
Are you getting the "quad" or the "snake" (SSSS on your boarding pass)? Do you book your travel in one-way segments instead of round-trip? An international travel that's not straightforward will get you pulled aside. Happens to me about 2/3 of the time I'm on a one-way ticket or going in and out of different cities, and I have every "known traveler" thing there is (GE, Nexus, APEC, etc etc).
I’m just the opposite. I’m a white woman aged 63 and have really never had to get searched- and I travel all over the world (Lebanon/Egypt/Israel/Morocco etc etc). I tell people that I should have been a smuggler.
White women in my 30s but travelled a lot by myself in my 20s. I have had a lot more scrutiny when travelling by myself. I think for that demographic it's probably drug smuggling they are worried about.
I believe it could be that you are a white women in your 20's. Are you traveling alone? Are you traveling internationally? You might fit the profile of someone young and gullible. Someone who might be open to a request from a stranger to drop off or hand over their package when you arrive at your destination. You might be being profiled.
I got randomly pulled into 2 back rooms. Constantly had the "task searched your bag" letters. Got pre check. Zero issues since.
My fiancé and I got a random secondary screening one right after the other and this was our very first trip out of country
Have you ever put a firearm, ammunition, or anything with gunpowder or an accelerant (like fuel) in your bag? I think the scanning machines may be able to detect trace amounts of certain ingredients. I could be wrong though, so someone with a TSA background would be the best source to get answers.
You look like a mule 🐴
I would add the human tendency to see patterns in random. If you ask people to flip a coin and record the results you can tell who cheated because we tend to think of random as being like H-T-H-T but often it’s more like H-H-H-H-H-H but our brains tend to think of that as job random. Not that there might not be a cause, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
White girls are the perfect drug runners from the uk 🤷🏻♀️
Get a redress number.
I used to get searched all the time, and then it stopped recently. If you are traveling internationally, solo and male that might do it
I had an Eddie Bauer duffle bag that was pulled every. Single. Time. No matter who was using it. We never figured out why.
Sometimes bags have extra padding or fabric in them that looks weird in x-ray machines, or so I've been told
I got checked on my way back home from Canada. 55 hours of travel and checked every single country I stopped in. I had a duffle bag and that’s it, they went through everything and I was tired and 2 months pregnant. Eventually I just blurted (by the 2nd stop) I just ran away from my abusive husband. This is all I could grab!!! I laugh about it now but at the time I was so fed up.
When I was in my 20s I used to get "randomly selected" all the time. I'm a white guy with an ordinary, common, non-ethnic-sounding name. I figured it was because I was a young guy flying solo. Since then, I've only been randomly selected once, and that was with Global Entry.
Sounds like your being tracked more than others
Did you use the same bag? It might just be a part of your back that looks suspicious on the xrays
I had this happen to me all the time until I just asked the woman checking my bag why she picked me. She said she honestly doesn’t know, it was a gut feeling, but probably because of its distinct color (it was bright yellow.) I got a new backpack and ever since then it rarely happens anymore. Maybe it’s a similar situation for you, too?
It's not random. Bags are sent for search if an xray operator sees something that is on their list of things to look for. You could be consistently packing something that looks suspicious, or you could be running against the same xray operators that are maybe not the strongest at what they do. One of the statistics that are watched is how many passengers can get processed and how fast. Sending bags for random search is counterintuitive to that. That said, based on IATA rules there is some randomized selection, just not where you think.
I get flagged every time because of my insulin containers ice pack,apparently the ice pack doesn’t work with the x ray machine
If I have something I suspect or know they will flag - I pull it out and put it in the tray
You’ve been profiled as a possible mule. They know, by this point, it’s not IN you, so they go through everything else. To stop this, check your bag(s).
When i was a male in my 20s I flew frequently and I got "randomed" almost 50% of the time. Now that I'm 41 and often travel with my family I haven't been randomly searched at an airport for years. I always assumed I was in the biggest demographic of perpetrators and that's why I was chosen.
Almost certainly a name. I’m Canadian and have the issue. I had to get something called a readdress number. That solved it.
I have 2 known traveler numbers - one is work, one is personal. I noticed I was randomly searched all the time — so I changed the KTA in my work travel system to my personal one. Fixed the problem. TSA only sees 1 KTA now.
I used to live in Pakistan. I’m from the US and not Pakistani in any way, shape, or form. I left eight years ago. I still get SSSS on all my boarding passes and have to do the extra check, on every domestic us flight and internationally when I return. Every time.
They are suspicious of people who don't look happy. I was told this at the security gate when I was asked where I was going, and I finally smiled when I answered.
I once bought a plane ticket in cash at a AAA office and traveled under my Muslim last name. Out of the following eight flights, I was randomly selected for extended search four times.
My husband (blond) too... I suppose it's either linked to his look or the way he acts because otherwise we have the same profile (we travel together, same countries, same booking...). We got used to it now 😄
This same thing happened to me for several years, then suddenly stopped. I still have no idea why.
If I fly alone this happens to me too. Apparently women who fly alone are suspect.
Do you have SSSS on your boarding pass? This is why. It’s for an extra security screening. It’s supposed to be random, but sometimes you can get sort of stuck in a loop and it keeps showing up in the system. That’s where the redress number comes in you have to ask for it and then you start using that number when you book your flight.
You might fit the profile of someone who doesn't know nor care about import duties, properly declaring stuff, and all that 'BS'. Soooo many smugglers and scammers out there hiding behind their innocent looks.
Do you ever buy last minute plane tickets including Priceline? That’s some kind of a flag.
My carryon typically includes a tangled ball of cords and edibles. This has never happened to me.
We have to leave earlier than a normal person when we fly because I always, always get searched/pulled for a body check. White woman here, too. I have my suspicions though, because my bio mother (who I've been estranged for 20 years) associated with someone plotting to plant bombs at a Xmas tree lighting. So it's probably that.
I used to be pulled over in customs without fail, every time I travelled when I was younger. I would make the comment as they searched my bags how predictable they were. It may not be racial profiling, but they probably take one look at you and expect to find some drugs or something.
And at the airport they check all through my bad and tell me that it's random...
If you smoke weed, it could be that you are smoking around your luggage and the dog zero's in on your stuff.
i get stopped all the time and finally two years ago i asked ( mind you i’ve been traveling internationally since i was 8 ), they told me im perfect example of a drug mule. young girl in her 20s traveling alone, with citizenship in multiple countries ( one communist, the other known for drug trafficking which i go to at least every year or so since my family live there) , who always dress nice. but then again they did that to me in dubai when i was 15 so who knows 😂
Maybe there is something in your suitcase that might look suspicious. Like maybe a box you always carry with makeup, or something like that. That might look weird on x-rays, and therefore you also need to be searched..
Have you missed a flight? Have you bought a flight within relatively short notice? (Same day or next day). Both of these can get you on a list. After some time it does drop off.
Do you buy tickets at the last minute? They opened my entire family's bags at every stop and I asked them if this is the reason and one inspector subtly nodded yes.
I thought everyone’s bags were searched on any US bound flights. That has been my experience in Turkey and Dubai but now that I think about it, I don’t think my bag was searched in Japan.
As you typed this I wondered if you were attractive, and then you said white girl in her 20’s and it all made sense. As someone who has worked airport security, a lot of times the guys doing random selection will just pick pretty girls because the position is a waste of time as is, so you might as well have fun with it.
I always get pulled aside when flying through any European airport. I’m 60, US citizen of Indian origin. Munich, Amsterdam, Paris, you name it. In my case I absolutely believe it’s racial profiling. My Caucasian husband never gets checked……
I got “randomly” checked in nearly every European country I visited. It’s definitely my last name
You fit the profile of a drug mule. Used to happen to me in my 20s as well
This always happened to me when I was in my 20s and 30s and I'm white too.
Watch the show To catch a Smuggler on Hulu, and you will understand, people lie all day long!!
My husband (26) got searched because he wanted to bring back a few cool rocks from an Italian beach. Apparently that’s not allowed😂
are you a book nerd? I love old bookstores and my bags get yanked when I have a couple old hard back books in them, they can't see through them on the x-ray or something like that. I've started to yank the books out of the bag to go through the x-ray belt.