Long queues, being packed cheek-by-jowl with other passengers, hand luggage rulings and restrictions that seem to change with the weather, generalised anxiety about the flight ahead, being barked at by overzealous staff: going through airport security is often a stressful and frustrating experience for the average traveller.
But if the prospect of being directed to remove your shoes to pass through the body scanner feels like an affliction, it’s worth taking a look at your boarding pass for a code that could make a significant difference to your airport experience.
Passengers flying into or within the US may have the misfortune to discover the letters SSSS on their flight documentation.
It stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection and means you can expect to be subjected to a much more intensive screening.
What is SSSS?
SSSS was introduced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the branch of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over transportation security.
The TSA was established in response to the September 11 attacks in New York in 2001. Its website states that its “mission” is to “protect the nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.”
Read more: Why are airport queues so long and what are passengers’ rights if they miss a flight?
What does an SSSS screening involve?
People selected for SSSS can expect a much more extensive screening, with a full-body pat down, mandatory metal detector and body scanning, hand and foot swabs and a thorough unpacking and searching of both hand and checked luggage.
Passengers are often taken aside into a private room for the screening, which can add significant time to the pre-flight experience, with some travellers claiming that the delay has almost led them to miss their flight.
“I’ve gotten SSSS several times flying back from Europe,” wrote one user on Reddit.
“Once, the extra security screening (done before getting to the boarding gate in my case) was so slow that my flight left. United booked my partner and me on new flights for the next day and got us a hotel. We couldn’t get seats on the same flights, however, so she left earlier than me.
“Next day, we go back to the airport, I get my new boarding pass, and SSSS is on it again.”
Why…
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