Do not fear the SSSS

When I've had to have the SSSS pat down (at LGA, JFK, BOS, DCA, ORD, LAX, PHX, AUS and PWM), the TSA agents have been very respectful and polite. In fact, I typically say to the agent that I enjoy a good massage before flight; it just adds a little lightness. While there are examples of negative incidents, there are also positive incidents so a broad stroke of negativity isn't accurate. When I fly within 48 hours of purchasing a ticket, I find that I am more likely to get marked for SSSS.

Positive or just no-issue experiences also don't get the buzz on social media.

Despite being enrolled in Global Entry, this year I was selected for Secondsry Security Screening Selection upon returning to America. It was done professionally and fairly quickly. My assumption such was a random computer generated selection and unrelated to any travel or profile aspects.

With the caveat that I may wind up eating my words (later), when my spouse (we are both Global Entry) had the SSSS on his boarding card a year or two ago coming back from Europe (I think we connected thru Toronto...flying AirCanada), I asked the flight attendant what it meant, and she just smiled and said, "Oh, it means he's special." Well we found out just what THAT meant.

We used our passports for an easy immigration/customs processing, but he was routed to a different line for the security screening. Before he entered that line, I (luckily) had the forethought to have him hand me his tote bag (which contained the camera, netbook, cell phone, chargers, etc. and to also give me the change in his pocket/money clip/money belt, etc.), so I could send that thru with me. He gave me a puzzled look at the time, and I just told him it would make it go more quickly for him. It did.

Seems the in-depth screening took just a few extra minutes for him, and they did it right there on the spot, no separate room, etc.

On the lighter side, a several years ago in Amsterdam, I recall an extra gate-side screening (or maybe it was the only screening but by the gate, since the SSSS was not on my boarding pass, or maybe the SSSS designation was not in use at that time), and I joked with my husband and the airport screener that my GYN clinical breast exams were not THAT thorough.....seriously!! A younger version of me would have been horrified.

Whatever it takes to keep us all safe in the air!!!!

Despite the fact that the extra security is a pain (sometimes literally), I agree with Maggie's outlook. If it keeps us all safer, then so be it.

If it keeps us all safer, then so be it.

Does it? Had SSSS ever uncovered anything? That should be an easy yes/no question.

Amsterdam, I recall an extra gate-side screening

Delta does additional screening for everyone at AMS.

As to the OP, TSA procedures vary so every SSSS is different.

I experienced the SSSS once. It paled by comparison to this, as reported in another thread:

I have driven from New England to Montreal numerous times. Last fall,
I crossed the border at a small town for a more scenic drive. Three 30
something Canadian immigration officers detained me for over an hour,
questioning me why I picked this route. During that time, there were
only half a dozen cars going through. My explanation that it was a
foliage photography tour only led them to browsing through every image
on my cameras' memory cards. I didn't think that they were wowed by my
shots. What is this world coming to? For the times they are a-changin'

Overall I expect tight security and appreciate it done well. But why must there be pat downs? Shoes and belts off, pockets emptied, coats and jackets off, jewelry removed and then we step into an X-ray machine to be studied. Is a random pat down really necessary.

The deal with my ssss was that I was selected going over in SFO and coming back in Munich. Also unusual was that I was swabbed for explosives on my hands both times. No pat-down, just wanded, swirled through the X-ray machine, shoe removal, and bags looked at.

But twice in one trip.

When I go through the TSA at the airport, I always opt for a pat down, no peek a boo machine for me when the pat down is an option...very professional, perfunctory, ie, I have only had one time I was ticked with the TSA, all the others were basically satisfactory.

When I go through the TSA at the airport, I always opt for a pat down,
no peek a boo machine for me when the pat down is an option...very
professional, perfunctory, ie, I have only had one time I was ticked
with the TSA, all the others were basically satisfactory.

Exactly. My negative experiences with security being obnoxious especially when doing the 'pat down' is at stadiums and ballparks -- not the airport.

I know they like to keep us guessing. Still unclear on what they're really screening for, when only one member of a traveling party is selected and can easily hand all possessions to a partner, as Maggie reported and as I could have done recently.

I got the extra security check in Madrid last week and it was really upsetting - a stranger feeling the underwire of my bra, rolling down the top of my pants and touching my pubic hair - it really did feel like a sexual assault. For the first time in my life, I had a panic attack in an elevator a few minutes after that ordeal. I don't know what the airport personnel expected to find with a hand-mauling that their sophisticated equipment couldn't discover.

Now I understand the stories of people freaking out during an "enhanced pat down".