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It’s not because of what you imagine. It’s because you’re Canadian. We’re just annoyed by your politeness. That, and the Bacon hoarding thing.
Erm… that’s what it was about.
Ever wonder why your carry on gets searched
- Thread starter formernuke
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It’s not because of what you imagine. It’s because you’re Canadian. We’re just annoyed by your politeness. That, and the Bacon hoarding thing.
Erm… that’s what it was about.
ThatDogDontHunt
Oscar Meyer Weiner
Do not confuse "visual screening" with x-ray screening. You may be over thinking if you think you are being visually selected.
In a modern busy airport the x-ray screener has no idea whose bag they are currently looking at. They are focused on the machine, not the passengers.
A side effect of the new fancy Smiths system is that the carryon of 4 (potentially more if someone is slow) people is intermingled through the x-ray machine. I am sure they did some kind of study, but the new system makes it hard to collect your carry on bags when there are multiple people mixed together. Sucks to be us.
Even on older single file x-ray systems there is generally 2 to 3 people waiting for their bags. The x-ray screener has no idea which bags belong to you. They don't care about "you", they just look for "bad" colors on the screen.
divinh
Contributor
There's an agent that checks the ID/passport and flight documents. That is the person that does the visual screening and decides whether there's enhanced screening or not, even before x-ray screening. This agent directs which line is to be followed or writes a code for another agent pull the person aside.
I flew with my BP/W, with the weighted STA attached, in my carryon. Even with all my other gear including regs in my checked bag, they needed to see what on earth was going on in that backpack. The agent was a sweet older woman; she seemed dubious at first, but once I explained what I was doing with that bizarre contraption she gushed about how brave I must be to dive, and did I see that thing about the lady who helps the sharks who get caught on fish hooks, gosh she's brave, that is so cool...
jonhall
Contributor
My checked bag used to get tossed every time we traveled. After a few trips and just by chance, I changed the way I packed things and started carrying a certain item in my carryon suitcase - my checked bag was no longer checked, but my carryon was. I had a suspicion and put the certain item in my backpack - carryon was no longer checked even though reg is in it, but backpack was pulled aside to be checked. Now I automatically take this certain item out of my backpack and send it through the scanner in a tray. None of my bags get checked anymore. The certain item was a small travel size ((maybe 3"x3"x6") cloth container of dominoes!
ThatDogDontHunt
Oscar Meyer Weiner
jonhall
Contributor
Years before my dominoes fiasco (a couple of posts up) I had been pulled out of the line immediately after presenting my ticket at the gate - happened twice - both in the Caribbean somewhere. As was explained to me, there was a pre-printed code letter on the ticket which was the indicator to pull me out and check the bag(s) I was carrying. On future flights I looked for the code on tickets with the idea of handing my bag to my wife so I wouldn't have anything to check.
ThatDogDontHunt
Oscar Meyer Weiner
To clarify - you likely had a preprinted code on your boarding pass. That is for extra hand screening of carryon luggage.
In the Caribbean it is common for the extra hand screening to be done at the boarding gate, not at security. You will already have passed through the normal security x-ray checks. In some airports they are proactive and call you about 15 minutes prior to the start of boarding and then segregate you. Other places they simply pull you out of line at boarding time.
In the US and Canada the hand screening is normally done at the regular security x-ray station. In these cases you will also get an extra physical pat down.
A potential advance warning is the inability to generate your own boarding pass. Every time we have had the special screening the only way to obtain a boarding pass was to see a check-in agent. I believe the code is $$$$$.
I recall it as "SSSS," as mentioned by @Ayisha above. I got this on my boarding pass during a time when I would sometimes travel one-way by myself with no checked bag (everything was in my backpack, which I carried on). This was only a few years after 9/11/2001, and I was appreciative that they would flag someone like me.
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