Featured Image Credit: X/@hessla_
Topics: Social Media, Travel
Anish Vij
Plane passengers are calling the 'SSSS' code on boarding passes a 'kiss of death' after finding out what it means.
Just getting to the airport is stressful enough, arriving four hours early 'in case' you miss your flight, and then nearly missing it.
Or how about heading through security, never knowing how to stand on the body scanner, while simultaneously feeling like you accidentally smuggled something illegal, such as water.
Along with paying £7 for a meal deal, the struggles before you even get onto the flight are very real.
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But to top it off, if you're a passenger with a SSSS code on your boarding pass, then you might be in for a rough ride.
Over on social media, people have only just realised what the code means, and the many different ways it can affect your journey.
So, SSSS stands for 'Secondary Security Screening Selection' and it happens to be a security protocol implemented by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
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The TSA apparently put this code on the boarding passes of people who need to be inspected further by security personnel.
The procedure was implemented as an extra security measure following the 9/11 attacks.
While the TSA hasn't publicly revealed the exact criteria for SSSS selection, there is said to be a number of factors at play.
The extra screening process can involve carry-on luggage inspection, personal questioning, enhanced pat-downs and electronic device screening.
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• Passengers who book last minute tickets
• Passengers who purchase tickets with cash
• Frequent trips to destinations deemed 'high-risk' by the US
• Passengers on watchlists
• Random selection
On Reddit, one person said: "I’ve gotten SSSS several times flying back from Europe.
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"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."
Whilst one person called it 'the kiss of death', another added: "22+ hours of travel ahead of me and I already know that SSSS designation is going to make this hell."