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HAVE you ever received the “SSSS” code on your boarding pass? Travelers find the code scary because it means extra security screening for passengers who get it.
That’s what happened to Jordyn Verzera and JT Mocarski, a traveling couple from Arizona, USA. They made a video on TikTok showing a boarding pass with the letters “SSSS” printed on it. The video has been viewed over a million times.
The creators of the travel blog “The Mobile Homie” have seen “SSSS” on boarding passes several times and posted them on social media. The first time Verzera and Mocarski found all four letters, only one of them was able to check in before the flight. Verzera tried to get her boarding pass on the airline’s app, but a message popped up telling her to check in with a gate agent, she said.
“They had to give me a printed boarding pass. He [Mocarski] could still use his digital boarding pass, and then I had to carry this boarding pass around with me. It was marked and circled, and I had to show it every time I set foot on the plane,” Verzera said.
Strict screening
The officers then conducted an extra-strict screening. “But the most important thing is that once we arrived, we finally had to go through customs … and that’s when the really thorough screening started,” he said.
Verzera said every item he packed had to be removed from his suitcase, including his toiletries. They were then placed on a conveyor belt where everything was swabbed. His laptop also had to be turned on to pass through security. It was a bit intimidating at first.
Verzera had to get to the airport early to pick up his boarding pass and wait in line for three hours. He said it took another hour to go through additional screening at customs.
Mocarski had also received an “SSSS” in Rome, Italy, but the process was much quicker. “It depends on the country … or where you’re going, like the severity of the screening, what’s required,” Mocarski told Fox News Digital.
What “SSSS” means
As reported by Fox News on Saturday, October 27, 2024, Zach Griff, senior aviation writer for New York-based travel blogs The Point Guys, said “SSSS” is indeed a scary four-letter word that no traveler wants to see on their boarding pass.
“It stands for ‘Secondary Security Screening Selection,’ and it is a measure implemented by security officials in the U.S. to screen certain passengers with additional scrutiny. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will screen passengers before the official departure of the flight,” he said.
Griff explained that people selected for enhanced security are chosen a few days before the flight when the airline distributes the manifest to U.S. security authorities. Most people who receive SSSS before their flight will not be able to check in online. They will receive a printed ticket from the agent.
A TSA spokesman said SSSS is intended to complete the agency’s transportation security mission. Security measures begin long before passengers arrive at the airport.
“TSA works closely with intelligence and law enforcement agencies to share information. Additional security measures are in place from the time passengers arrive at the airport until they reach their destination. In some cases, passengers are randomly selected for enhanced screening,” he concluded. [sources/photo special]
