2 Questions About Going To The Usa

[lomatopo]

Don't pay cash for your ticket, use a credit card or check. I paid cash and they searched me at both US airports. When I ask them why they said it was because I paid cash for my ticket. go figure.

There was probably the dreaded "SSSS" ( Secondary Security Screening Selection ) designation on your boarding cards, definitely as a result of paying cash.

http://en.wikipedia....ening_Selection

Neither the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) nor the airlines publish the criteria that are used when boarding passes are issued to identify passengers who will be given extra screening or be denied boarding.

Some criteria are:

Passengers with a one-way reservation.[2]

Passengers who pay cash for their tickets.[3]

Passengers who book reservations the day of their flight.

Passengers who "no show" a single leg of their flight.

Random selection, according to TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter in 2004,[4] and as suggested by a 2003 DOI newsletter.[5]

Flight to specific final destinations.

Flying without ID

Having one's name on a list of names supplied by the government to the airlines, according to an airline staff questioned.

check Metro PCS for no contract fairly cheap prepaid or monthly service in USA

What frequencies does MetroPCS work on? Do they support GSM? And SIMs?

Edited February 8, 2013 by lomatopo

[RabC]

Don't pay cash for your ticket, use a credit card or check. I paid cash and they searched me at both US airports. When I ask them why they said it was because I paid cash for my ticket. go figure.

There was probably the dreaded "SSSS" ( Secondary Security Screening Selection ) designation on your boarding cards, definitely as a result of paying cash.

http://en.wikipedia....ening_Selection

Neither the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) nor the airlines publish the criteria that are used when boarding passes are issued to identify passengers who will be given extra screening or be denied boarding.

Some criteria are:

Passengers with a one-way reservation.[2]

Passengers who pay cash for their tickets.[3]

Passengers who book reservations the day of their flight.

Passengers who "no show" a single leg of their flight.

Random selection, according to TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter in 2004,[4] and as suggested by a 2003 DOI newsletter.[5]

Flight to specific final destinations.

Flying without ID

Having one's name on a list of names supplied by the government to the airlines, according to an airline staff questioned.

check Metro PCS for no contract fairly cheap prepaid or monthly service in USA

What frequencies does MetroPCS work on? Do they support GSM? And SIMs?

And in one answer you have stated my reasons for not flying via the USA. I fly on business, the tickets are normally bout less than 24 hours before by a third party and I am on a single ticket. Please now tell me that the USA is a wonderful place to transit through?

Once you are singled out for special attention your human rights seem to go out of the window or the authorities just select exceptionally obnoxious people to do the screening.

Edited February 8, 2013 by RabC

[GrantSmith]

Nothing wrong with the 'SSSS' if you know what's involved with it and you have nothing to hide.

I've had it done on numerous occasions and haven't had any unnerving experiences except one time leaving PBI, TSA seemed to take an eternity to find a male TSA agent to do the pat down and I was cutting it close on the departure time.

I also think (and I could well be wrong) that it has a lot to do with the arrival airport, I've found the TSA folks at JFK/LGA/EWR to be ultra friendly whereas their counterparts in say LAX have been less than emotionless.

YMMV

[lomatopo]

Nothing wrong with the 'SSSS' if you know what's involved with it and you have nothing to hide.

Agreed. Probably best to ignore the drama queens on this thread, apparently vying for a Best Supporting Actress nomination on ThaiVisa, who haven't been to the U.S. in years.

Not only is the SSSS designation not some violation of one's "human rights" , it is also increasingly rare. Some estimates are that as of ~ 5 years ago the rate was some 0.0045%, and even then it often just required an trace explosives check. Nothing to see here.

[RabC]

Nothing wrong with the 'SSSS' if you know what's involved with it and you have nothing to hide.

Agreed. Probably best to ignore the drama queens on this thread, apparently vying for a Best Supporting Actress nomination on ThaiVisa, who haven't been to the U.S. in years.

Not only is the SSSS designation not some violation of one's "human rights" , it is also increasingly rare. Some estimates are that as of ~ 5 years ago the rate was some 0.0045%, and even then it often just required an trace explosives check. Nothing to see here.

Selective quoting, what about the bit where he agrees LAX have been less than emotionless. I arrived twice in a three month period at LAX and had to change flights, and I will never ever do it again. I can and will take my business elsewhere. You are fine because you can pay to say you aren't a terrorist (USA money talks)