For travelers lucky enough not to know, SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection. It’s the Transportation Security Administration’s way of flagging airline passengers for “enhanced” screening. An SSSS code stamped on your boarding pass overrides pre-approval through a Trusted Traveler Program such as TSA PreCheck and can add 15 to 45 minutes (or more) to your boarding process. Show Unfortunately, there are many groups of travelers who are no strangers to being flagged repeatedly for invasive TSA screenings. But for fliers privileged enough to have a usually smooth process through security, the SSSS codes can come as a shock. I’ve traveled to more than 70 countries but never encountered the SSSS code until my partner and I returned from a month-long trip to Turkey and Georgia last fall. Although we flew directly from Istanbul to Dallas and breezed through immigration without incident (thanks, Global Entry!), we have been SSSS’d three times since: flying from Dallas to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to New Orleans, and New Orleans to Minneapolis. In each instance, the first indication that something was wrong was our inability to check in online or at a self check-in kiosk. Only when an airline agent printed our tickets did we see it: SSSS. After approaching security, the TSA agent who scanned our boarding passes asked us to step aside while he radioed his supervisor. “We got a quad,” he said. That’s TSA shorthand for SSSS. “Years ago, you could travel like a rock star to wherever you liked, on short notice, with no itinerary, pay in cash, stay overnight in party destinations, and do it all on a one-way ticket,” says Frank Harrison, regional security director for North America and the U.K. at World Travel Protection. “The world has changed.” New Jersey-based travel agent and blogger Maddie Winters flies between 75,000 and 100,000 miles per year. Despite having Global Entry, she has been SSSS’d more than eight times. “It’s only on flights back to the U.S. and never domestic,” says Winters, who noticed the pattern after traveling through Africa and the Middle East. Her latest SSSS, however, came on the heels of a trip to Costa Rica in September. One potential trigger? Booking two weeks out. “Many travelers unknowingly flag themselves due to inconsistent but innocuous travel behaviors such as booking a last-minute ticket or paying in cash,” says Harrison, who suggests thinking of a travel profile like a credit rating. “If you exhibit behavior that is inconsistent with your profile—say, for example, suddenly adopting a jet-setting pattern—this is a red flag and a potential alert for drug or human trafficking. Consistency is king.” Travelers might also be marked for booking one-way tickets (common among mileage runners and points devotees), flying to or through countries deemed “high-risk” by the State Department, or if their name bears even a passing resemblance to someone on a Department of Homeland Security watch list. When Adam Morvitz, founder of award booking consultancy firm Juicy Miles, flew from Athens to the U.S. last September, he too got stamped. “I believe it was because the award opened just hours earlier and the ticket was flagged,” he says. “That, and it was a one-way international ticket from a different airport [Istanbul] than we flew into.” The first time Los Angeles-based travel influencer Michelle González encountered an SSSS code was after a 2017 trip to Greece with her husband. While she doesn't know exactly why she was flagged, she wonders whether her destination and layover in Istanbul had anything to do with it (Turkey is currently considered a high risk destination by the U.S. state department). After that many consecutive knocks, González and her husband applied for redress through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—the only recourse available to exasperated travelers. DHS responded within weeks, and the issue appeared to be resolved. But then the SSSS codes resurfaced last year, prompting González to document the run-ins in a series of viral TikTok videos. How do I know if I have TSA PreCheck on my boarding pass?Participating airlines display a TSA PreCheck® indicator directly on your boarding pass if you are eligible for TSA PreCheck based on your provided Known Traveler Number (KTN).
Why is my TSA PreCheck not showing on boarding pass American airlines?What should I do? First, check that your membership has not expired by looking up your account here. If still active, confirm with your airline that your KTN, name, and date of birth are accurate and that your airline participates in TSA PreCheck®.
What does TSA write on boarding pass?“They are placing their initials/name on boarding passes it to indicate which TSA officer reviewed the boarding pass. Some write neat, some sloppy—just like some people sign their signatures, some easy to read and some not as easy to read. But their supervisors are familiar with each person's initials.
What does a TSA PreCheck number look like?For members approved for the TSA PreCheck® Application Program, this number is 9 digits long, can be a combination of numbers and letters and typically begins with TT. For members approved for Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI, the KTN is the CBP PASSID.
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