Christmas in Memphis: Homeland Security edition.

[rivka]

Remember how I was concerned about the possible security ramifications of flying with Alex's liquid antibiotics?

Ha. I had no idea.

Late the night before we left, Michael printed out our e-tickets, which (unusually, for us) had been issued through a travel agency because we were using his father's reward miles to pay for some of our fare. Glancing at the tickets, he noticed that both of our tickets had been made out in his last name. Oops.

At the airport in the morning, we checked our bags at the curbside counter and then went in to the Northwest Airlines desk to see if they could manage to change the name on my ticket. I explained the situation to one of the ticket agents. Naively, I guess, I still didn't see it as a big deal - just an annoyance that it would be better to clear up before we flew. She adjusted my worldview quickly and brutally.

"Not only can't we change your ticket, we can't check you in. We can't allow you on the plane. Your only recourse is to get back to the travel agency and ask them to reissue the ticket. There will probably be a $100 fee."

"The travel agency is in the Central time zone," Michael said. "There's no way we're going to get hold of them before our flight."

The ticket agent shrugged. Nothing could be done at the airport. I simply wouldn't be able to fly.

"I guess you and Alex would go without me?" I asked Michael. "...And I would drive to my family in Elmira?" No, he said, he thought I would be able to get some flight to Memphis sometime - I would just need to work with the travel agency until they got me a ticket. We looked helplessly at each other.

Then I had a thought. "Let's try to check in using the automated machines. The worst that happens is that I get stopped at security, and then we're no worse off than we are right now."

We made sure that the ticket agent we'd talked to before wasn't looking at us, and fed our ticket numbers into the automated check-in machines. It spat out two sets of boarding passes for us. We walked to security, to the special entry chute for people with wheelchairs or strollers. Michael handed her both our boarding passes. We each showed our IDs. She glanced at the IDs, glanced at the boarding passes, thanked us, and waved us through.

That was it.

Once in Memphis, Michael called the travel agency to discuss, at length, what we should do about our return flight. (Among other things, the travel agent wanted to know why I hadn't changed my name when I got married. Not sure why that was relevant, unless she thought he might say something like, "She'd committed acts of terrorism under her maiden name, and wanted to be sure that all her works appeared together in databases.") It all came down to this, though: once you've already used half of a round-trip ticket, you can't change the identity of the passenger even if you're just correcting a mistake. The agent recommended that we arrive early at the airport and be prepared for extra security screening. She helpfully suggested that we present a copy of our marriage license - something that, unfortunately, we are not in the habit of carrying when we travel.

Instead, we showed up at the Memphis airport two hours before our return flight. We checked in at the self-service machines. Michael handed both our boarding passes to the security agent, and we each showed her our IDs. She glanced at them, glanced at the boarding passes, thanked us, and waved us through.

The TSAs in Memphis did open my backpack and visually confirm that the bottle of liquid inside was medicine. (In Baltimore, apparently, they didn't notice.) But that was it.

I was simultaneously relieved and unsettled by the whole business. Relieved because it would have been an awful nightmare to be stopped at security, and possibly to have to purchase an entire new ticket in my own name. Unsettled because, if security procedures are supposed to ensure that all tickets match photo IDs, it shouldn't have been so trivially easy for us to pass through unnoticed.

Comments

[journeywoman.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's disturbing. So much for improved security measures. Maybe the security personnel were more enlightened than your travel agent about the notion of a married woman keeping her name. Or maybe as long as the last name matched someone in the party, they were okay with it. But it seems weird that they didn't even ask.

Also: was Alex a lap child this time? Or did the travel agent get her last name right despite getting yours wrong? That would be truly strange.

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

I am shocked that, in this day and age, a travel agent wouldn't confirm a passenger's full name before issuing a ticket.

I'd go medieval on them. Just to make enough of an impression that they never, ever make that mistake again.

"It is more important to *look* secure, than to *be* secure, dahlink..."

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

Security theater (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/terrorism_secur.html), personified.

Ticket agents have a vested interest, these days, of convincing you This Is Important, Dammit, See How Important We Think This Is? -- regardless of whether the measure in question actually accomplishes anything. And, not unlike banks whose entire profit margin may well come overdraft fees, persuading you that the fee is both necessary and required (when it's just about pure profit) is also high up on the agenda.

Of course, your aggravation means you may be more reluctant to fly in the future... But the airlines have long been trapped into the mindset that it's better to make a nickel today than $100 tomorrow.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

What a perfect example of the ways in which the "new security measures" have greatly increased stress and hassle without actually improving security.... It's a shame you had to go through that.

I'm also continually amazed by the officious prying of people on the subject of name changes at marriage, given the supposed modern era (in which one would hope such disapproval of new options would go underground a bit more, if not truly disappear).

Airport Security

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't even know where to begin.

But it's best not to even try to divine a logic in any of it. It's best just to float above it.

B

Two Cents Outta My Mind Bank

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I'd call up Nortwest & complain about the ticket agent (maybe S/He was rushed, or whatever, but that's still no excuse. And give some grief to the travel agent (if you haven't already). It was their screw-up.

(This is what happens when someone works Customer Service for too long. They start to expect it regularly...)

[ahforgetit.livejournal.com]

Security Theatre has been latched onto by small-minded functionaries who are pleased to have an excuse to flex whatever tiny amount of authority that they might have an excuse to claim. In the UK these worms are known as 'Jobsworths,' from a consumer show that started mocking them in the Seventies. There was even a song; "Jobsworth? Jobsworth? It's more than my job's worth!. I don't care, rain or snow, whatever you want, the answer's NO!"

The benchmark Jobsworth in the UK is a Traffic Warden.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I'll bet that if you weren't white you could have counted on being stopped.

[ink-monkey.livejournal.com]

Really, I'm not surprised you got by so easily; the last time I had to fly (from Logan Airport in Boston, which supposedly has really stringent security measures), I forgot that I'd need a picture ID and had this horrible, frozen moment at the security checkpoint before my brother spoke up and said I was only fifteen. They just waved me through. I didn't know whether to pissed off that I still look like that much of a kid or relieved that there hadn't been some kind of hassle.

[browse.livejournal.com]

I have a firm belief that the additional security measures of the TSA are nothing but hollow window dressing. Stories like this do a lot do reinforce that belief.

[irismoonlight.livejournal.com]

In all of that, the statement that stopped me cold was that your travel agent wanted to know why you hadn't changed your name. What the heck makes that any of her business? She got your name wrong. Period. She should have been apologizing for making the assumption, period. Egad.

Today's security is mostly about inconveniencing people to make them feel safer. "See? We're doing something!" It will stop total idiots, and that's about it.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Eep! That IS scary! Not quite as scary as the time my mom got on a high-security international flight with a forgotten pair of nail scissors in her carry-on bag, but close. Those scissors made it past hte X-ray machine and the metal detectors, too.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

In the defense of the "travel agency"/frequent-flier-program rep, I talked to one rep when we made the initial reservation, and then a different one when I called to see if they could reissue the ticket. I'm pretty sure that I mentioned the "different last names" issue when I talked with the first rep, but not so sure that I'd bet money on it. My biggest concern was getting the right flights booked, and trying to work the timing so that Alex stayed on her regular sleep schedule. They did email the complete itineraries to us well in advance; I checked the flight times to make sure they were correct, but just didn't think of checking the names.

As far as the second rep knew, I was calling in reference to frequent-flier tickets purchased with someone else's card (my father's), in the middle of the busy holiday travel season, wanting to change a last name on the return half of a round-trip ticket where the first half had already been used. She wanted some kind of details to reassure her that it wasn't really as dodgy as it sounded. I was somewhat annoyed at the details she chose to ask about, but since I was asking her for a favor, I decided to not make an issue of it.

Since we showed up as an obvious family (toddler in tow and all the associated gear), and both had Maryland licenses with my unusual last name being the one listed on the ticket, none of the TSA screeners gave us any grief. I expect that by the letter of the regulations, they would have been within their rights to do so; however, they're trying to do a job, and they know that the stupid stuff isn't going to help. If we'd raised hell at a busy time, I suspect we might have gotten slapped down for "being uppity", but that wasn't even an issue.

Re: Two Cents Outta My Mind Bank

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

The Northwest agent advised us about the official policy, which is hard to fault her for. She didn't do a damn thing to be helpful, but I suppose that if she got caught advising people on how to get around TSA regulations, they'd tear a big strip off her ass.

About the travel agent... I'm pretty sure that I mentioned the different last names, but not so sure that I'm ready to start tearing new assholes over the issue. My big worry was the timing of the flights, and it's possible that I didn't mention the names prominently. Having been on the Customer Service side when a customer actually did make a mistake, I'm loath to get angry with someone without positive proof that the screwup was their fault. The initial agent worked with me on flight times, and the second agent gave me the most helpful solution she could come up with (which was still pretty feeble, but sometimes you just come up empty).

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

I think the security screeners were as task-focused as they were permitted to be; since we were obviously together, and the surname matched one member of the party, they didn't sweat it. Alex was indeed a lap child (and this is probably her last time flying that way), so we didn't even have a ticket or boarding pass for her. I don't ever remember mentioning her name to the travel agency, although I did mention "my daughter, who is not quite two, so she'll be on our laps".

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Ditto, and ditto. Also, yet another note of mental reinforcement to take the train instead - though next time, I may invest in a sleeper car, rather than trying to get a restless nap on the floor in the darkened playroom.

[bosssio.livejournal.com]

glad to know that you didn't get bounced off the plane. Airline security won't be 100% foolproof (fortunately? Unfortunately) but since the best security actually involves learning about plots well before anyone even gets to the airport, I am not personally too concerned about non-matching names on a plane ticket. Anyway, the reason why tickets are non-transferable (the policy well before our post 9/11 age) is for airlines fare policies, since they have so many different fare rates - you don't want just anyone buying in bulk and passing them out - keeps the management of the tickets to the airlines directly or to travel agents.

I got a story for ya - American friend of mine used to work in Ukraine in the early 90s - after the fall of the Soviet Union, but before they actually got rid of most of the Soviet era policies. In Ukraine (like the rest of the former USSR), you used to need papers - if you are a foreigner, usually your passport - to do anything or go anywhere within the country, including spend the night at a hotel. Officially the law had changed after the fall of the Soviet Union, but most places still demanded papers.

Well my friend needed to travel to another city within Ukraine by plane and forgot his passport. At the airport, for some bizarre reason, they didn't ask him for it but rather let him on the plane. He arrived in the city, had his meetings/visited the factory his company had just purchased, and then went to check into his high-priced European owned hotel. No luck - no passport = no room at the inn. Threats and rants didn't work. He ended up having to sleep on a dingy cot in the factory overseers office (which he strongly suspected the overseer was using to cheat on his wife).

The next morning, he goes to the airport - and they refuse to let him on the plane without his passport. He cites the law which says he doesn't need one. They don't believe him. He shows them his plane ticket from the day before, to prove that he flew without his passport. No dice.

He then lies, "Well, the XYZ hotel let me stay there without a passport!" The airline agent says "REALLY? Oh, well in that case, I guess you DON'T need a passport to fly". And lets him on the plane.

[ckd]

Considering that the ID checks came in after TWA800 as a "security" measure which was really more a "stop people from reselling nonrefundable tickets" measure, I can't say I'm too surprised, or too concerned. (Online check-in + text editor = boarding pass in any name, anyway.)

Re: Airport Security

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I've read Beyond Fear; I do understand that the ID-must-match-ticket rule is security theater which primarily just benefits the airline's bottom line.

But, regardless of whether or not a security measure is stupid, they should implement it well. If they don't implement the rules that I don't care about, it makes me lack confidence that they'll implement the rules that I do care about.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Alex isn't required to show a photo ID in any case, so even if she'd had a ticket the last name would have been irrelevant.

I think what benefited us is that, as Michael said, we were obviously a family. I had him give the boarding passes to the security agent (instead of holding my own, as I would normally do) to underline that we were together and that I was his wife.

I think, unfortunately, that we were also helped by our manifest white upper-middle-classness.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I completely agree.

Re: Airport Security

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It's even weirder than that. And yes, you should have absolutely no confidence that they're implementing any security rules well.

B

Re: Two Cents Outta My Mind Bank

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

re: Travel agent. You're a better person than I am. But I think I would have really lost it when they insisted on knowing why the name was changed. "I really don't think that matters; nor do I think it's any of your business."

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Among other things, the travel agent wanted to know why I hadn't changed my name when I got married.

Oh, for GOD'S SAKE.

People suck.

-J

[brooksmoses]

Heh. On our flight, we got stuck in Vegas overnight, and apparently the resulting last-minute changes put us on the "extra security checks" list for the rest of the flights. This meant that they looked at my boarding pass several times, and punched special holes in it.

A few minutes later, I got to the gate, and only then noticed that the boarding pass I'd been handing to the security people wasn't the one for that airport, but was for the connecting flight.

[bosssio.livejournal.com]

well, there was the true story from the mid 90s of the guy who was trying to fly from LA to Oakland but ended up on a flight to Aukland, Australia. He didn't realize the mistake until they got to cruising altitude and the pilot announced the flight would take 19 hours...

Not only did he not have a passport with him, but the flights weren't even on the same airline.