What mysterious 'SSSS' code on boarding pass really means as it's branded 'kiss of death'
Be on the lookout for it if you're travelling to the US
Should you be fortunate, or perhaps increasingly unfortunate given the recent developments over there, to be travelling to the US then you might want to check your boarding pass for the code 'SSSS'.
There have been plenty of events which have diminished the US as an appealing tourist destination, not least the risk that you could spend weeks in a detention facility courtesy of ICE having done absolutely nothing wrong.
If you do want to risk it and go over there then check that your boarding pass doesn't say 'SSSS' on it, a code which has been referred to as the 'kiss of death' by some travellers.
That's because this thing is a security protocol put in place by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which stands for 'Secondary Security Screening Selection'.
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Basically, it means you've been picked out by the TSA for further inspection by security and are going to have to endure more checks at the airport, which means a longer waiting period before being able to actually get where you're going.
Who might be selected for SSSS?
A longer wait is basically nobody's idea of a good time, and while the exact criteria which causes this code to be stuck onto your boarding pass isn't known it's thought there's a few reasons why it might happen.
TSA agents might also call it a 'quad', a reference to the number of 'S' letters in the code.
As for the criteria, they include:
• 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
Why not to throw it away
You might want to get rid of the 'kiss of death' boarding pass but you definitely shouldn't chuck it away if you realise you've got the code on your card.
According to The Sun, travel experts warn that nefarious types can use discarded boarding passes to get details on people's journeys and potentially even identify frequent flyers.
In the worst case scenario they can even get into airline accounts, so chucking away the boarding pass might seem like discarding a thing you no longer need but it could come back to bite you.
The same goes for taking a picture of it and sticking it on social media, with travellers encouraged to shred their old boarding passes once they have no more use for them or stick to digital methods which won't leave a paper trail.
Joe Harker