I haven't flown in years. Is TSA as bad as they say or is

>>875958
No, they're generally pleasant unless provoked. DO NOT under any circumstances joke with them. Don't ask questions, don't slow them down in any way and just follow all the orders they give you. They have to deal with thousands of people every day, they're really bitter that their job sucks so they abuse their powers to harass you if you piss them off.

If they're being friendly with you, be friendly back. If they are being serious, don't try to lighten the mood. Answer only the questions you are asked and don't add any more info than needed. Try to control your nerves even if you are nervous about flying. This is the way to deal with border guards as well.

>>875963
So basically, treat it like you are getting stopped by local/state cops for for speeding?

Answer the questions, be courteous and it will pass over quickly?

Pretty much. It's not as bad as people make it out to be (At least not in any of the airports I've been in). Just do like the first poster said and you should be fine. Oh, and know exactly what you can/can't take onto planes. It saves LOADS of time.

I fly twice a month.

Never had an issue, even when I opt out of the backscatter machine, they don't touch your junk.

I'm not very political, but it's minor inconvenience, and once you know what you have to do, the process takes less than 5 minutes.

I can't say the same about Bolivian airport security. They are aggressive thugs and cut open my Nike sneakers with a box cutter just because they had an MP3 player in it, despite explaining it to them several times.

And they took my candles and first aid kit for no readily apparent reason.

>>875963
Also, if you've never flown after 9/11 read this:

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/air-travel/10-things-not-to-do-at-airport-security

>>875994
Kill them

Just don't be a dumbass, get your shit through fast, don't fuss if you get called for extra screening, take your shit and put it all together in the designated seating/putting shit back on area.

In my airport they're really friendly and social so if you smile and say "have a nice day" or pipe into their conversation they chat to you for a bit. Well, they all do it except the old white dudes, but I feel like they're ex-cops who took TSA jobs out of necessity and now take out their anger on passengers like they would civilians in their old job.

>>876000
A lot of them are frustrated because it's often a low paid, dead end job that they're going to do for the rest of their lives. And like you said, if some of them were failed ex-cops they would really be bitter about it.

>>876004
You do know they make at least 30k a year right?
They do take a lot of shit from people though, that would anybody bitter with humanity.

>>875963
Good advice. Being chatty is deemed suspicious. Be kind and respectful, patient, and move along.

I'd suggest you don't act like the amateur you are. Have you boarding pass and photo ID ready. Grab the bin, take off the jacket and fill up your bin with the usual. I open the side of my carry on, with my 1qt, but you can take yours out and put it on top. Next, use a second bin for your shoes if you want. Guide your bag and bins into the conveyor, and then go to the walk-through. Make eye contact if there is a choice. Obviously they want you to through the backscatter machine, but sometimes with eye contact, and your patient, they wave you through a faster xray. Never know.

Now, I watch my belongings like a hawk, which you should do too. Pack it up fast, or walk over to a bench with your shoes and stuff.

Pro: no belt, metal this or that like fake jewelry.Hair down. Shoes that you wear with socks, slip ons are best that you slide on. I've been wearing crocs lately, cause I don't need to worry about getting them all fungus-y from the walk of grossness. Otherwise, I suggest a spare pair of socks. Allow time for security if you haven't gone in a while. 2hrs for international, and 1hr for domestic is the golden rule, but break it for holiday weekends and play it safe if you know your airport has shitty overlapping flights and such. All that 3-1-1 quart bag stuff? Avoid it by checking your bag with whatever you want.

>>876328
The wages for TSA officers vary from 22 to 40k. That's really not a lot. I make more than that and I'm only a year out of university at a pretty much entry level position.

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>>875963
Don't forget to suck their cocks, faggot.

>2014
>using the avionic jew

>>876370
Go back to /pol/ faggot, I have to travel abroad for business and pleasure, and that means flying.

I refuse to stay quarantined in my mother's basement for fear of the little annoyances and low low risks of air travel.

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>>876377
good goy

>>876385
So how many countries have you experienced, anon?

>>876385
USA and Mexico. Why?

>>876390
No thanks, oh and how do you plan to visit your ancestral lands in Europe?

Go in a longboat?

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>>876391
>Implying I'm white

>how do you plan to visit your ancestral lands?
by crossing a border

Europe?
Not interested.

>>876393
Oh, this guy's still rambling.

>>876349
> implying TSA requires more than a High school degree.
Did you enjoy wasting your money on that piece of paper?

>>876385

somebody ban this faggot

>>876385
Fuck off scum

>>875958
Mostly it's just the TIME dealing with them. Just follow the rules and don't be a douche, and you'll be fine. Just make sure you arrive at least 2 hours early, maybe 3 if you are going out of a large airport. As for the connections, as long as you don't go out of the security zones, you'll be fine.

>>875994
FWIW -- I had a similar experience flying our of Kuwait. They went confiscation-wild, and took all sorts of stuff I'd flown with many times before.

On two other trips, though, they were fine and polite and didn't take away all my stuff, including the same stuff.

There is some variation depending on who is working, what sort of day they are having, what sort of alerts they have had that I don;lt know about, how big a dick their boss was earlier, how big a dick the last few passengers were, etc.

>>876556
>As for the connections, as long as you don't go out of the security zones, you'll be fine.

True, with the proviso that if you are traveling Internationally, you may have to pass through security again as you enter new countries, sometimes even just in transit.

>>876588
Some shitty airports like MIA require you to exit the secure area, to go catch a flight in a different terminal, and do security again even on domestic flights.

I didn't want my wheelchair-bound grandmother to have to go through security again (it scares her half to death), so I convinced a local cop nice enough to escort us from the "Terminal D secure area", through the concourse all the way to Terminal H, and the TSA agents said no dice, "it doesn't work that way" and that they had to search us again.

The cop wasn't happy about wasting his time.

If you're brown skinned at all, do not grow a beard. I feel bad for sikh brahs who travel

>>876621
I'm pretty sure TSA have training regarding Sikhs. Now other passengers is another issue altogether.

>>876615
At least with an escort, there could be some line-skipping. Wheelchairs are pushed by people who don't have a lot of time on their hands.

Almost all US airlines/airports have different terminals for domestic and international. It's nice if you don't have to do TSA again, but odds are low. The international terminal usually has non-nationals segregated for reasons beyond the TSA, but for customs and immigration. If she had been on American or Delta, she wouldn't have left security, so you know.

>>876615
LAX is another shit airport like that.

Anyone in the Global Entry / TSA Precheck / Trusted Traveler programs yet? I'm looking to get a job that requires frequent travel and road warriors swear by it. Skips all the security theater, keep your shoes on and all, actually treated with human dignity.

>>877369
Precheck can makes you feel like a VIP (airline employee really), because you have you own queue, usually with no line, much like a pilot and flight crew, but it's still security as usual.

Using it somewhere like DCA, where anyone with security clearance for their job has precheck since the beginning of the program (half of metro DC I bet), there will typically be about 5 people using that line vs the 15 or so in the other line. They absolutely do stop the other line, and take you first, but you can still be behind someone who takes 5 minutes to remove their shoes or listens to instructions poorly. They're pretty efficient at that airport, anyway. However, over in Dulles, I have never not been irritated at TSA, and that "you will wait as long as I want you to wait" kind of attitude throughout the process. LGA, same issue. You can be missing a flight and they don't give a shit. My last three connections there, the TSA agent had never seen a standby ticket, and kept insisting I needed a boarding pass. Seriously dumb. I explained it over and over. When I standby on Delta in Atlanta, it's gotten to the point that 1/3rd a flight will be on buddy passes, and he's going to hassle me not for my ID and travel credentials, but the fact I don't know if I have an aisle or window seat yet? So, anyway, just keep in mind that your experience with precheck will be just as variable as the guy helping you that day in security.

>>876621
you fags complain too much.

I'm from the most innocuous country on the planet, am white skinned, and routinely have everything on my person thoroughly searched, including my protein powder and carry on clothes

>>876370

>avionic jew

toppest of keks

>>876615
Nita makes you pass through security in transit - you never get dumped back into the "Unscreened World," but you do get screened again.

>>877397
"Nita" should read "Narita."

>>877369
I got Global Entry about a month ago, which means I can use Precheck as long as it's with a US domestic carrier and a few international carriers. It's been pretty nice so far. Less then 20 minutes to get to my gate at Dulles (and if you know Dulles, that's pretty damned quick) and coming back into the country the one time I have since getting it I was able to get out of the airport in less then 15 minutes. It's damn nice being able to skip the lines coming in. Well worth it.

>>877374
Yeah, sadly, TSA has a LOT of turn over and it's pretty much fucked that you'll get rookie Bob looking at your credentials.

>>877459
I don't get it though, supposedly TSA hasn't been hiring new personnel since late 2012 (except for tiny airports), if turnover were such an issue, they would have no people left.

And honestly 40k for a job that can be done with a GED, a very limited background check, no skills and only 2 weeks of training would be one, you'd figure people would hold on for dear life.

Fees are going to be included on all USA flights to pay for TSA's billion dollar cost. Maybe only $4 a ticket, but its still annoying.
Usually the worst times dealing with TSA is during an unofficial threat warning of some kind against say: red pens. It's like a complete clusterfuck of whats allowed and whats no longer allowed and the confusion it causes.

>>877494
They don't make 40k at the start. They might earn over 40k if they do the job for 20 years.

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Security_Screener%2c_Airline/Hourly_Rate#by_Years_Experience

>>877675
>They don't make 40k at the start. They might earn over 40k if they do the job for 20 years.
>http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Security_Screener%2c_Airline/Hourly_Rate#by_Years_Experience
Your link isn't for TSA, but people that work for airlines.

All government salaries are known. It's by "government service level" aka GS level, and aside from a few exceptions for tech sector jobs, for instance, it's based upon years experience and years of education. It's all on the OPM website.
To complicate it further, many airports (for security job retention reasons) have minimum "living wage" ordinances for airport jobs. Even if someone is workign at the McD's or cleaning a bathroom through an agency, they must make enough money that they won't be prone to bribes or to look the other way for drugs, terrorism, etc. On top of that airports are typically a commute, as they are located away from cities.

There is currently some talks about privatizing this job due to the nasty attitudes of TSAs in airports which care about their business, such as a MIA vs FTL kind of competition. But, this has pros and cons. The con being that it can become an agency job where the employee is a subcontractor, making even less hourly, and thus the bigger turnover, or even bigger corruption.

>>877683
I remember there was a discussion over having Wakkenhut take over security in smaller/hopefully corrupt airports.

>>877788
Before there was even a TSA...airports did their own security just fine. I'm okay with federally trained well paid individuals, tbh, similar to customs. Go ahead and put guns on them and make them real police with college diplomas and some brains. I'm less okay with mediocre paid individuals, because any job where people are verbally abused and facing irritation, you have to have some balance you give them, and salary might be one way to do it. Having a real police officer, federal agent, frisk you might make people behave better anyway. Rent a cops get no respect, but when they have attitude? Ugh. Right now, even customs and immigration have shit attitudes...at least since the govt shutdown. They tend to forget that airports are a business too, as is the business of tourists in a country paying their damn salary. When immigration makes people stand around 2 hours, and speaks nasty to foreigners to stay behind some imaginarily important yellow line...it might as well be some joke of a country like mexico. To bring up MIA vs FTL, or JFK vs LGA....maybe big metro cities can lose significant airline contracts or traffic due to poorly run airports. There's more than one reason a commuter airline doesn't operate out of the big airport, and part of it is that things can run smoother enhancing the experience of the traveler.

It's not bad it's just to me it's a big waste of time and taxpayer money on something I feel could be done equally as well with metal detectors and drug/bomb sniffing machines/dogs. I don't think TSA has ever stopped a single terrorist.

For me the best part of traveling abroad is going through airport security in (most) other countries. Shoes stay on, belt stays on, lines are much faster, sometimes they even let me bring my drink in with me.

>>875958
> I don't think TSA has ever stopped a single terrorist.

That would be impossible to measure, if you consider there may be some number of terrorists who would have dashed off a quickie attack but didn't do so due to security.

I suppose you could run an experiment -- run half the airports without security, see what happens.

I don;t think I'd use those airports, but to each his own.

>>877838
If the TSA ever actually caught someone with a bomb or plans to kill people they'd be plastering it all over the news for weeks nonstop in a desperate attempt to justify their existence.

Since that hasn't happened I'm going to conclude that they haven't actually done anything of note.

And I didn't say doing away with airport security. Believe it or not airport security existed before TSA. I'm simply saying that their security theatre is needlessly complicated, time consuming, expensive, ineffectual and disrespectful to human dignity.

>>877876
That's what people online say, but honestly, the average American thinks the TSA is fine.

You do forget that TSA is still an alphabet soup federal agency, and will keep that info completely tight-lipped.

I find it impossible to believe that in nearly 12 years, not a single terrorist tried an other airport/airplane attack on American soil.

Even before 9/11 there were the occasional terrorist attack in the air like Qaddafi's radio-bomb.

TSA must have caught or deterred at least one airbomb. It's undoubtable.

>>876414

Nowhere did that anon even mention he works at TSA. Why are you picking non-existent fights?

>>877893
> the average American thinks the TSA is fine

I don't believe you anon. Do you have any studies relating to this matter? I've heard that the TSA is the single most hated government entity.

I personally wish America would do away with the TSA and let airports handle their own security. I don't like people with a chip on their shoulders having authority over me.

>>877958

The TSA I don't have a problem with. It's every asshole that comes in dressed like they are going to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City sometime in the 50s. Example, flying back from Hawaii with my girlfriend. Couple in front of me are dressed like they are going on a date. Woman has on ear rings, which she has to take off. I counted three rings per hand, which she had to take off. High heel shoes with straps, that take forever to get off. A belt that did nothing but go with her outfit. Smelled like hell because of her shitty perfume. Husband had the same three rings per hand. Belt had to come off and laced up shoes that took him forever to take off. The other line had 6 people go before they where even ready to get scanned. And both of them had forgotten shit in their pockets and had to be rescanned, holding up two lines. Then they decided to get dressed at the belt instead of grabbing their shit and getting out of the way. I was done, muscled past them, grabbed my shit and went to my my shit back on in the area you are supposed to. The whore got uppity with me until a TSA agent told them both that I was doing it correctly and that they both were responsible for the line taking too long.

TSA? No problem. Other flyers? BIG problem.

>>877457
>Less then 20 minutes to get to my gate at Dulles (and if you know Dulles, that's pretty damned quick)
indeed! But, what i don't get is why TSA is just as thorough at DCA without the waits. It's better run.

>>877835
>I don't think TSA has ever stopped a single terrorist.
Oh that's simply not true. I would say probably once a month some homegrown idiot is caught redhanded with some crap. What is more dangerous is employees that would position banned materials beyond security for their buddies, and that's gotten much better. And, the amount of deranged people detained with weapons? I'm sure every major airport makes about 3-4 arrests a day. Not terrorists, per se, just people doing stuff like weapons hidden in their shoes or guns they didn't check or declare or else don't even have a license to use.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-arrested-detroit-airport-knife-artfully-concealed-shoe-n149641

Absolutely though, these routine arrests are not put out into the media.

>>877991
>TSA? No problem. Other flyers? BIG problem.
ROFL. Sad, but it's a 50/50 chance of getting behind these jokers.

I love that scene in the movie, "Up in the Air" where George Clooney tells his newb coworker how to navigate the line efficiently.
http://youtu.be/_uNPpFZLelE

Myself? Frequent flyer since birth. I get buddy passes on three airlines thanks to relatives. And, I wear slip on shoes, no belt, and I've never had to remove jewelry (and you shouldn't if it's real gold).

>>877376

Lel'd at this as well

>>878009
I agree, but normies don't get dressed for the plane ride, they get dressed for their destination.

I saw a woman sweating in a giant fur coat in the still very hot Miami "winter", because she had a flight to Russia. After I mentioned to her I'm on the same flight, she said: "you're going to freeze wearing that!". I told her I'll just put on my coat at the destination and she didn't understand me.

Or refused to, because she'd have to admit their stupidity.

>>878007
And again I have to ask why this couldn't have been stopped with simple metal detectors and drug/bomb sniffing stuff.

The knife is metal. It really should be easily detected by a metal detector which is all that was used before TSA.

>>876389
Not him but I personally fucking hate the Avionic Kike as well as their goys working for the TSA.

That being said I have visited over 50 nations. Just because someone is "racist" doesnt mean they are some shut-in who has never experienced the world.

>back on topic, I have noticed the TSA asks alot of personal questions like:
>why did you go to china? Seems like a weird place for an american to go.
>What are your intentions for flying to Moscow?
>What is there for an american to see in Saudia Arabia? (even though that flight was only a connecting flight)

They generally are assholes, but they dont normally fuck you over unless you give them a reason to.

>>878058
TSA never asks questions about your passport.

Never.

You're confusing them with CBP (Customs)... all TSA does is checks it in case you want to use it as an ID (you can show your Driver's License as ID even in international flights).

But yes, I have seen many airport security in other nations ask questions like that, usually in Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Either you're confused or just pulled that out of your ass.

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>>876423
>>876547

>>876615
Really? I have flown through Miami level times, internally and internationally, never have run into that.

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>>877457
Got pre-check due to frequent flier status on a recent trip out of Dulles.

I could get used to that...

>>878005
DCA is also less traveled these days. Most people don't like the combat landings and take offs from DCA. And because DCA is the airport of the old bobble head himself, they staff it with twice the TSA agents as any other place.

>>878190
Yeah, lot of people seem to think that TSA and CBP are one and the same. A whole lot of stupid people out there.

>>877817
>Before there was even a TSA...airports did their own security just fine.

Actually no, on 9/11 the private model failed horrifically. You can't put security on a for profit system, because most companies will cut corners and offer the minimum amount of security they can get away with and pray nothing happens.

>>878417
>You can't put security on a for profit system
tell that to the privately ran prisons

>>878417
> You can't put security on a for profit system, because most companies will cut corners and offer the minimum amount of security they can get away with and pray nothing happens.

You're right. There is no incentive for an airlines to pay for security. Your airline becoming known for having it's planes flown into the ground because you don't give a fuck about security or safety doesn't create any marketing issues at all nor affect anyone's decision.

Please tell me you aren't actually this retarded.

>>878425
Well, it happened on 9/11 with United and American Airlines.

And before then with the Lockerbie bombing.

Private security was awful at providing security.

Anyone here who's old enough remembers the pre-9/11 security, where they did bare minimum security and made exemptions for everyone. If you were wearing a business suit, you wouldn't be checked, if you had something dangerous and kept complaining, the manager would wand you through. It's a mess. Plus most were illegal aliens and didn't speak English.

And the private security in France missed the shoe bomber, and the private security in the Netherlands missed the underwear bomber. Both attacks weren't carried out by sheer fucking luck.

Replace the current TSA with competent seasoned law enforcement officers with explosive ordnance training, and profiling... not replacing them with flimsy mall security guards, with no power.

Break away from the internet talking points and live in the real world.

>>878418
For profit prisons result in twice as many repeat offenders than public ones of similar size, area and demographics. For profit products are only good at one thing:

Turning a profit. The greater good can go fuck themselves.

>>878539
The problem was with the level of security and not whether it was public or private. Since the advent of TSA there have been plenty of cases of government testers getting nuclear (read: radioactive) material past TSA during tests, guns during tests, private citizens accidentally getting guns past security, etc. The current version is far from perfect and is totally reactionary. The 9-11 attacks had box cutters possibly already planted on the planes which would not have shown up in a screening.

And the biggest failure of 9-11 was all the intelligence organizations who couldn't coordinate. The FBI already had files on most of the terrorists but they all got on planes on the same day. The Boston Bombers should have been known to the FBI because the Russian government warned them about the Tsarnaev brothers. The "underwear bomber" had his own father warn the government that his son was planning something. But rather than coordinate its intelligence agencies and follow through the government prefers to screen 90 year old Grandpa and his colostomy bag 3 times over.

>>878372
>I came in on American at Concourse D and had to take US Airways at Concourse J.
Oh, you changed airlines. It was your fault. Not MIA. This is how all large metro airports operate with more than one or two terminals. Airlines lump their rented space, their gates together, and segregate international and domestic within it. Whenever you book an itinerary on two airlines, you are subject to change terminals. No one tells airlines they have to smash together with all the other airlines, share the same furniture and art, and old terminals. Delta and American, both, spent $$$$$ redesigning their exclusive Miami terminals to boost their sales, including choosing the restaurants/stores within them. I personally love the terrazo floors AA did. USAir, ehh, they share a terminal with a dozen foreign airlines, leaving the decor up to the aviation authority. It's not a major hub for them, like AA and DL chose to do in Miami.

The only thing you can't control in MIA is the quality of the govt officials. Back in the olden days, pre TSA, there were security agents who in fact treated you better for these two airlines because there was some oversight between the airline managers who could complain to the airport authority and vice versa. Ever since govt shutdown days, all that budget friction, I don't think any US airport has sweet and welcoming customs/immigration. The experience could be better'd by flying into, say, Houston, where the southern hospitality is bred in the people. This is a cultural (and in some cases racial) thing, where some cities are simply filled with nicer federal employees, everywhere from the post office to the airport, you get what you give in some cities.

>>878552
>The problem was with the level of security and not whether it was public or private. Since the advent of TSA there have been plenty of cases of government testers getting nuclear (read: radioactive) material past TSA during tests, guns during tests, private citizens accidentally getting guns past security, etc. The current version is far from perfect and is totally reactionary. The 9-11 attacks had box cutters possibly already planted on the planes which would not have shown up in a screening.

I agree, the current system is still insufficient, but we shouldn't take a huge step backwards and go with map cops, and the 9/11 attackers had the box cutters on them, we know this from the 9/11 report.

The "underwear bomber" was a Dutch failure, perhaps if they had competent law enforcement officers, they could've received intel and dealt with the threat, but they just provided the barebones private approach.

I'll repeat, I'm not saying the current system is perfect, your idea would be a huge step back. We need a dedicated team of LEOs working directly with the info at the airports, not sleepy Jose in his little blazer with a twenty year old handheld metal detector the private company bought at the pawn shop.

>>878387
>Most people don't like the combat landings and take offs from DCA.
I adore those exciting moments! And, the beautiful views of the buildings, or the Potomac.

The TSA is fine, just remember... if you are not in a TSA precheck line
>all liquids must be 3.4 oz or less in a single 1 quart bag, this bag must be put into a bin for screening
>laptops go in their own bin
>shoes and belts off
>ipads and tablets can stay in your carry own
>nothing in pockets or you'll trigger the body scanner

If you get in the precheck lane, none of this applies unless you have multiple laptops.

It's a government handout to reduce unemployment and provide a sense of security to the public. Most transportation security officers are nice, just don't make stupid jokes.

>>878594
Agreed. I hate gate 35A with a burning passion, but you get some awesome views going in/out of DCA.

>>878630
>I hate gate 35A with a burning passion

Expound?

>>878639
It's the US Airways get they use with the CRJ200s and Turboprops (regional jets seating 50 or less) and you have to board an itty bitty shitty bus to get to and from them. A lot of times you have to get on a itty bitty shitty bus to get to the airport and then your connection is back at 35A, so you get on another itty bitty shitty bus to go back to the same goddamn plane. 5 planes are serviced out of 35A so the boarding is typically slow and a mess.

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>>878646
Ahh, got you. Referred to in my family as "Airplane Hell" in other airports we've been through -- the one in Miami for United used to be the most awful ever, in my experience at least. I have not been through Reagan, so did not know that was the Gates of Hell there...

>>877369
Precheck is helpful at most airports because you can keep shit in the bag and usually it's more seasoned travelers in the line, plus the line is usually shorter. Just put your PASSID from the CBP website or the back of your card into the known traveler field at your travel agent or on the frequent flyer site you frequent (wherever you book your tickets) and you'll get it on your boarding pass.

>>878425
Actually airlines wouldn't have their own security, it would be a company with a contract that covers either an airport, a cluster of airports or a region.

If you've actually traveled abroad, you'd notice most nations use private security guards at airports and they usually are just as bad or worse than TSA.