Holy cow...

[Vintage Computer Festival]

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004, Joe R. wrote:

> >You know when your bag was checked because the TSA puts a form in your bag
> >saying they did.
>
>    I beg to differ. I sat in Kansas City airport two years ago and spent
> abut 3 or 4 hours with the security people and watched as they opened
> numerous bags and I didn't see them put a sticker on ANY of them. Even when
> flying and reclaiming baggage I've never seen one of those stickers.

Have you flown recently?  This is standard practice as of at least 5 weeks
ago.

I know of what you speak, however, as I went through that nonsense myself
on plenty of occasions.  They are not doing that anymore.  I don't know if
it's because they have much better scanners at work now or if they just do
all the checking behind the scenes.

>   Important Lesson:  NEVER show up at an airport with a confirmed
> reservation! If you do, you're guaranteed to get the full treatment!

It also triggers alarms if you book a one way flight the same day you
travel and pay cash.  I'm sure it doesn't help if you're Arabic.  I did
this one time and got a personal escort to the security area.  I thought I
was special until they gave my bags extra scrutiny when I got to the gate.
I asked one of the attendants if I was flagged and she said, "I'm not
supposed to tell you but yes."  This was 1997 or so.

-- 

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger                http://www.vintage.org

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