SSSS - Lili on the Loose

27 02, 2017

Travel Missteps: Personal Time with TSA

By Lili|February 27th, 2017|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2016, airport, boarding pass, check in, chemical swab, Chemical Swab Test, Colorado, Denver, Disney, Disney World, EDS, ETD, Explosive Detection System, Explosive Trace Detection, false positive, Florida, full body scan, Global Entry, glycerin, Glycerine, Homeland Security, Magical Weekend, Nitrates, North America, Orlando, pat down, redress number, Secondary Security Screening Selectee, Secondary Security Screening Selection, security, SSSS, Trusted Traveler, TSA, TSA Pre-Check, Walt Disney World|0 Comments

I've talked about triggering the ETD system before, as well as getting the SSSS on almost every trip I fly. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. In May 2016, after reading all those articles of massive lines at TSA checkpoints (which disappeared later on in the year) paid $100 to apply for Global Entry and TSA Pre-Check. I didn't quite know what to expect. After being on the SSSS list, I decided against going through the lengthy "Redress" process. So I worried that I might be auto-denied for Global Entry. I waited a few weeks and

31 12, 2016

December 2016 Recap

By Lili|December 31st, 2016|Categories: Blog Recaps and Roundups|Tags: 2016, Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Blossoms of Light, California, California Academy of Sciences, Carrie Fisher, Castello di Amorosa, Chinatown, Christmas, Denver Botanical Gardens, Doctor Who, Fortune Cookies, Global Entry, Hippy Van, Hornblower Cruise, I left my heart in San Francisco, Japanese Tea Garden, Lucasfilm, Napa Valley, North America, Panel Shows, Petrified Forest, Rogue One, San Francisco, SSSS, Star Wars, TSA PreCheck, USA, Winchester Mystery House, Wine Tasting, Yoda|0 Comments

Ah the lovely Christmas season in December! I had a great month! Locally I went to the Denver Botanical Gardens Blossoms of Light for the first time! Travel I spent Christmas in San Francisco! This was my second time to San Fran, but the last time was after I recently had ankle surgery and so couldn't really walk that far. So this time I was all GO GO GO! I did and saw so much but still need to make it back! I also got approved for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck! So no more SSSS list cause I'm a Trusted Traveler now!!

1 08, 2016

Travel Missteps: Beware the Peanut Butter!

By Lili|August 1st, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2007, Hawaii, Maui, North America, Old Friends 2007, Pacific Ocean, Peanut Butter, security, SSSS, TSA, USA|1 Comment

Source Ah Peanut Butter! A tasty snack and critical component for cheap breakfasts and cheap sandwiches. Which is why my mother tends to pack a jar of it along with other cheap foodstuffs when we go on road trips. Always a great way to save money. However, she and my sister found out the hard way that while its a great idea for road trips, its a horrible idea of air travel. In my last year of college, we as a family decided to visit my Dad's best friend. He lived in Maui, Hawaii and so my mother

2 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 1 – Leaving Home

By Lili|February 2nd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Chophouse, Colorado, DEN, Denver, DIA, Dream of Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Ingress, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Movie, North America, security, SSSS, Super Shuttle, TSA, Uber|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Thursday October 22, 2015 Egypt: Day 1 - Leaving Home (Denver, CO) For a moment I enjoyed being alone and listen to the heavy rain on the window. It had been hard to sleep the night before with Tessa gone. (I had dropped my dog off the night before to my parents house and had also left them copies of my itinerary so they wouldn't be worried.) It had been already packed for almost a week, but my flight

10 09, 2015

TSA Chemical Swab Test False Positive

By Lili|September 10th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Tips|Tags: chemical swab, Chemical Swab Test, Colorado, Denver, EDS, ETD, Explosive Detection System, Explosive Trace Detection, false positive, glycerin, Glycerine, Homeland Security, Nitrates, North America, pat down, Secondary Security Screening Selectee, Secondary Security Screening Selection, security, SSSS, Travel Thursday, TSA|0 Comments

I've written before of how I'm on the "random" SSSS list and so get extra security every time I fly. What I forgot to bring up in that discussion was how once I accidentally set off TSA's Chemical Swab Test using Explosive Trace Detection (or Explosive Detection System aka EDS) to find explosive residue on your person or belongings. It was like any other travel day for me. I was getting my usual extra "random" security, and automatically presented my hands to be tested with their chemical swab. But this time it beeped, and the female TSA agent checked the machine. "Sorry,

14 01, 2014

What is this SSSS on my boarding pass?

By Lili|January 14th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Tips|Tags: airport, boarding pass, check in, chemical swab, full body scan, Homeland Security, pat down, redress number, Secondary Security Screening Selectee, Secondary Security Screening Selection, security, SSSS, travel, Travel Thursday, TSA|3 Comments

The dreaded SSSS, something no traveler ever wants to see on their boarding pass. Don’t know what it is? Consider yourself lucky. But for the curious it would appear in the corner of your boarding pass and it means “Secondary Security Screening Selectee” or “Secondary Security Screening Selection.” It means either you are “randomly” selected or are on the permanent Automatic Selectee list and will be subjected to extra security. This can include thorough bag searches, full body scans, pat downs, and chemical analysis tests, which can then lead to additional “back room” screening if the TSA agent feels it