Air transportation is the fastest means of transportation but the rigorous process involved before one can travel by air is tiresome. Booking cheap and affordable flight is not the end of the journey. The arduous process passengers pass through at the airport is the real deal especially the screening process.
To worsen the whole issue, there is this mysterious code tagged SSSS that can keep you at the airport for another thorough searching. If the code appears on your boarding pass, don’t panic just get ready for additional screening at the airport.
In a statement sent by TSA spokesman to Business Insider, ‘’The SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection and it appears on a passenger’s boarding pass when they’ve been selected by TSA’s Secure Flight system for enhanced security screening,”
When the code SSSS appears on a passenger’s boarding pass, it means that the passenger has been selected by the TSA for further screening after the normal full-body pat-down scrutiny and luggage inspection.
TSA further stated that the mode of selection is done randomly. The programme used to select the passengers gathers passenger’s basic information like full name, date of birth, and gender, “necessary to conduct effective matching,” the TSA told us. In addition, Secure Flight is also used to prevent those on the No Fly List and the Centers for Disease Control’s Do Not Board List from getting on planes.
“Secure Flight is a risk-based passenger pre-screening program that enhances security by identifying low and high-risk passengers before they arrive at the airport by matching their names against trusted traveller lists and watchlists,” the agency said.
I’m SSSS on EVERY flight. Special treatment includes @TSA feeling & squeezing you & every single item in the luggage pic.twitter.com/O2K5KPx0Zt
— Bahman Kalbasi (@BahmanKalbasi) August 5, 2017
Passengers that have SSSS on their boarding pass won’t be able to print out their boarding pass online but they can do it at the airport. For those that like going to the airport late, the moment SSSS code appears on your boarding pass, it is advisable you arrive at the airport early enough to go through the additional screening process.
If you want to get the SSSS of your boarding pass, all you have to do is to apply for a Redress Number.