I'm not a plane often enough, but definitely on trains. My laptop has the privacy screen and the number of people you see leaning at odd angles trying to work out why I'm staring at a blank screen..... priceless. 🤣🤣
The TSA highlighting is to prove that the TSA agent actually bothered to look at the ticket, because they are rampantly incompetent. You are correct that the highlighting is rote, but now everyone in the TSA can point to the highlights and pretend it's proof they checked. The flight crew closes the bins without optimal space for a very good reason. You are a very intelligent and observerant person, and will be able to quickly assess whether you can stash a small bag or jacket in a bin, but you are not considering that some people are morons. Mr. Potatobrain will spend 15 minutes trying to fit his max-size case into a bin that, even if you turned everything else into goo so that every millimeter of open space was available for his bag, it *still* wouldn't fit. But if crew close the bins, Mr. Potatobrain will see the closed bin, hear the announcement, and find a bin that can fit his bag. Or at least potentially. While the smart people will open the bins, check if there's space, and be able to figure it out, you need something to corral Mr. Potatobrain and keep him from jamming up the entire airport. tl;dr: Very smart people often don't understand stupid people exist, and I had to learn the hard way.
So, I don't know if it's for this, but as a regular flier of southwest, where people are constantly trying to finesse one system or other, it makes a lot of sense to me. Now, I dunno if it actually works, because any sufficiently full flight I get on there's always some fool trying to smash everyone's stuff to the side because he decided his bag had to be RIGHT there instead of one or two bins down, but I get the attempt. I notice a similar thing as well with passengers who try to get through the gate with three or four bags sitting on top of their roller bag and they hold up the line while they have to be told they need to consolidate or check the extras.
flew to Switzerland on a mid-2000s A320 with cramped overhead bins. flew home on a shiny new A320neo with bigger bins and clear signs to put your cases on their sides - you can fit four big cases on their sides vs three cases lying flat. yet everyone put their cases flat with a few inches of wasted space between the case and the top of the overhead bin
Yeah, this. I don't deal with this exact issue in my line of work, but I do deal with some rhyming problems, where we have a certain procedure because ~10-20% of our customers are complete idiots whose answers to basic questions like "are you done shopping" and "which size would you like" are not reliable. And fairly regularly, I get some dude who wants to know "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET IT FOR ME NOW," to which the answer is, secretly, "because then I'd have to wait for you to remember the three other things you're buying and then follow you around the store," but publicly "because you, sir, of course YOU have YOUR act together, but a distressing number of our customers just don't and so we need to keep the system very simple so things don't get lost." It always amazes me that a guy who cannot figure out the correct answer to "am I ready to check out, yes or no?" somehow thinks that what this system needs is not for him to figure his shit out and just follow instructions from the people who do this for a living. No, no. What this system needs is for him to figure out the secret code that will let him outsmart me so he can waste his own time* trying to do things in a way that he thinks will be more efficient (but won't be) and then failing. *Not mine: I get paid the same whether I'm helping you, or whether you're wasting your time trying to outsmart me and keep me from helping you. I find it more satisfying to actually get shit done, so please keep your hands off the steering wheel unless you know the roads... but the only person you're actually hurting is yourself.
I fly a little too much and like asking questions. There is another reason why they do this and often start at the pointy end. It is so they can handle that last person on a full flight who has the maxi size roller (they were probably slow to the gate because they had to drag it across the airport). They are so late that all of the gate checks have been sent down to the ramp and they are being or are loaded. To save time and avoid a delay the cabin crew need to stash it. Well when they closed some bins early they created a bank of space and with some rearranging can fit at least a couple of late passengers luggage.
The way I've heard it put is this: You're an above average intelligence person, likely everyone you meet is an above average intelligence person. Imagine for yourself the most averagely intelligence person you can think off. Not dumb but really really average. Now realize that more than half the population is dumber than that. A quarter of them even WAY dumber than that.
5:13 "You know the best way you can indicate to passengers that the bin is full?" Let me guess: Make the bin cover out of transparent plastic instead of white plastic? That would also help with the "open bins carefully because the contents of the bins may have shifted during the flight and landing" danger... to some extent.
I once heard the entirety of a person's conversation with her accountant from halfway down a crowded bus. The accountant's side included. Mind-boggling.
The number of idiots I've seen face timing while walking down a street absolutely not looking where they're going is astounding. Well, maybe they aspire to get a Darwin award or something just like the selfie suiciders.
speculation: the reason they don't leave them all open and them do the "bam bam bam bam bam" strategy is customers will over stuff the bins and as the flight attendant goes down the isle they will find a handful of bins that wont close, thus delaying the flight as they frantically try to reorganize
Yeah, I think DeviantOllam's argument is based on all humans being reasonable people with similar concepts of fullness packing and respect for others luggage. This is usually fine, but get enough of us together in a small area and it falters in a way that makes dealing with as a matter of procedure faster for airline crews.
I believe it is part that and also part it gives the FAs a quick visual glance as to how much bin space they have left so they can 1. Tell the desk to start gate checking bags to save the time of people looking for bin space that does not exist 2. Find bin space for an extra bag easier. Additionally, some FAs will close the bins over bulkhead seats. This is to prevent people who do not have bulkheads from using these bins as people with bulkheads can't put items in front of them, so they need the extra space.
@Thaccus Assuming people are reasonable is NEVER a good starting point. Don't think I'm pessimistic. Sometimes, humans behave rationally & I'm pleasantly surprised. And that makes me happy...
Your faith that people will look at a full bin and conclude that it is indeed full is admirable. The same people who look at their boarding pass and proceed to very slowly walk down the aisle, looking at every row number when they are seated at 49E
Get something that doesn't look like a cabin case. On a recent flight, the flight attendant at the gate very elegantly directed people with cabin bags to a separate area where they needed to check it in - before they even realised what happened. And whenever someone with a rucksack, backpack or other softer bag came along, she stepped aside and directed them to the jet bridge.
100% agree with the overhead bins. I've noticed that Air Canada does exactly what you suggest: they leave the bins open during boarding and close them just before pushback when everyone is seated. Makes sense to my monkey brain :)
My experience with Air Canada too. Being one that boards last, mostly cause at the front of plane, but also cause why would I want to sit on plane? I've always have got my squishy personal item in a nearby bin (I don't do carry-on due to having regional Q400 connectors)
if you go back in time fifty years or so... ok, seventy years or so, the overhead racks were just racks, no doors. very convenient to see where there's space and to get concussion when there's turbulence and stuff falls off the rack
As a student of failure, having a paper boarding pass in my shirt pocket makes me feel better. Of course I have been flying before the Saber System so paper is natural.
Exactly-they do it because they can, and paper boarding passes didn’t or don’t always have a fully compatible barcode. You’d often see the gate agents look at your paper pass, then click a button on the mouse to mark you as checked-in. May have changed recently. For digital boarding passes, they scan it and the computer logs it in.
Just want to say that watching these videos puts me at ease when flying. I used to be fine in the air, but I for some reason I hit a point where I need to medicate before I fly. I’m still nervous, but watching these videos really helps me a bit. And I appreciate it!
I don't do a ton of flying but I do sometimes and have NEVER been asked to hand over my phone. Scan the pass on the screen or show it to someone or something sure but it has never been handed over to someone else.
@@wingracer1614 It really can speed up boarding. As a backup, take a screen shot of the boarding pass so that is in your photos and in case the app misbehaves. I've actually had to use the photo before.
Laptop privacy screen -- great idea. I'm very selective about what I put on screen in close quarters, especially if using a work laptop. I remember a flight where a seatmate was an employee of the same company, using their work laptop. Nothing really sensitive on their screen, which was great since I was in IT security 🙃.
Sat on a train once next to a "UK minister of state" reading security briefings about some ambassador event coming up... Not even on a laptop, proper paper documents on the table.
@@_Steven_S I guess that makes a good reason I'm sadly saying it's good to have more car transit than dream transit over here in the US. Then I guess they could leave their paperwork in an Uber.
Some security scribbles are coded messages like "make sure to check this guy properly, foreign guy travelling without checked luggage one way or something". I got me a colored tick mark on my boarding pass once and asked. 😅
@@Don.Challenger Yes, but it was not like what is described in the video. They made a line with a text marker where there was no text when I checked in. I think the explanation was something vague like "for security purposes", and sure enough I was singled out for any test they had in security.
Quick hack for ya: I've learned that if i screenshot my boarding pass i can save it as my lock screen. That way I can have over my phone while its still locked.
What's this about handing phone over? Its a US thing with certain airports? Cause I've never have had to "hand over" my phone, either in my native Canada or when departing stateside. They just get their scanner and **beep** its scanned and they then just Passport/ID check. Nice thing about the app is that it will auto-brightness when the pass is active reducing complications with the barcode scanner
@@BryceCampbell I'm in the US and have flown for several years now using digital passes. I've never had to hand my phone over. You scan it yourself, even at the TSA counter. And at this point, most airports have moved away from passes at TSA and just check ID against the computer system, unless it's a child without ID. At worst, I've _shown_ my screen to an agent, but I'm pretty sure both TSA and airline agents have been trained not to touch them without a really good reason and permission (unless somebody's being forcibly detained).
@@bloodgain @BryceCampbell You guys are correct in that I havent had to hand my phone over in any recent trips either but it was a concern expressed in the video and I just mentioned my habit of making my boarding pass my lock screen while flying as a way to avoid needing to have an unlocked phone for access to the pass. If it helps someone great if not, no harm done in the suggestion.
Quick hack for you: photograph someone else's boarding pass to sneak onto their plane. If people are especially observant, this may even get you arrested. Point being: I'd be nervous with my boarding pass as my Lock Screen - seems grossly insecure.
@@Relkond I don't know about you but I'm not in the habit of leaving my phone freely viewable when locked and if someone took my phone I believe them having the QR code to my boarding pass on my lock screen is the least of my problems.
All valid points, especially with the bins, and great shirt by the way, I really hope it says on the back: “cause a clandestine entry don’t leave no trace”😂
Security Scribble seems like one of those RF ID Wand Readers that physical security uses. Just like those readers, it doesn't do a lot, but does show that someone has "been there."
The TSA is all about theater. They failed to catch 95% of weapons when the FBI tested them. The circling and highlighting is part of that theater. Look, they circled this and wrote down some cryptic nonsense that nobody ever looked at again, they must be checking all sorts of things, and definitely not bored struggling to stay awake at their podium.
AFAIK the reason they don't let you cram the overhead bis full to the brim is because if you do that enough times it starts to develop cracks along the mount points. less of an issue on regionals that don't have huge overheads to begin with but, on the bigger jets that have people shove suitcases full of lead bars into them, it becomes a mx issue. and its always awkward to have to grab a line mx person to come tag out an overhead cause it cracked and almost hit somebody in the head ya know
I could see an argument made for closing the overhead bins early, that they do it for better weight distribution. Close a few early and make people walk further, better distribute the weight. I dont know if theyre actually considering this, but its the first thing I thought of.
Regarding that 'security scribble,' because of the state of the industry for front-line security officers, there is absolutely a possibility that back in late 2001 there was someone who was trained for about 30 seconds on what to look for, and then they trained their replacement and they trained their replacement, and so on, every few months for the last 23 years, and now it's been turned into a ritual with no known meaning (Highlight everything with a hyphen in it or the demons will come out of the magic portal that beeps when you approach with metal) and no one with any ability to make decisions is actually paying any attention to its usefullness/effectiveness.
I was on a long-haul Amtrak route where a lady had several loud phone conversations about an inheritance situation involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. I really wish I had done the 'So, wow, you are really worried about Lucy getting that much money and what she'll do? Like, specifically, what do you think she might blow it on?' In general, people having loud phone conversations is so annoying, it's hard for me to focus on anything else. it's kinda funny, it's never kids being rowdy that are loud on trains and planes and in hotel lobbies in my experience, it's adults, mostly ones older than me.
I don't have memory of it much but I ran across some sort of thing talking about a study that said it irritates the brain to only hear 1/2 of the conversation. Yeah I understand the other side might not be able to hear you but be polite!
You aren't crazy about the bin closing. However, I have seen passengers try to put carry on pieces into places that to my eyes obviously won't fit them. That said, closing the bins doesn't help with that either.
Definitely enjoying these videos - also I was surprised to hear the GSX mention as I am here as well! Hope you are enjoying the show, this is my first time and it is quite an experience!
I fly quite often these days, and haven't run into the issue of premature bin closure but I totally agree that leaving them open is by far the best way to indicate they are full. I had a guy loudly finishing a work meeting during the safety demonstration today (which I found exceptionally rude) and he was openly talking about manufacturing details, clients by name, and manufacturing volumes loud enough I could hear him from 2-3 rows away.
I don't conduct business or anything overly sensitive in those spaces intentionally, because I'm usually watching other people do them instead. The level of complacency I get to witness from the public in airports after the screen security is wild. Hanging out at gates personal items unsecured, shoes off sleeping next to their phones they've plugged directly into a USB charging station that could be data tapped, plus all the things you've pointed out.
My absolute favorite example of emails being easily seen on a plane is the song Dear McCracken by Bug Hunter. It tells the story of a woman typing and retyping an email to an ex lover. It's unironically kind of a cute story but also a good reminder of how easy it for somebody to side eye an email.
Funny i see this video whilst at an airport, waiting for my gate to be announced. I always come back to CGP Grey's Video: "Front to Back, Row by Row - No slower could we go."
I think it's liability. TSA training requires you check certain information. How can you as the agent prove you checked that information? the training probably says to highlight it, so if there is an issue and they trace the entry back to you, you can prove you followed to procedure. It should also be captured on the security camera so when they review the footage, they can see you highlighted the information and followed the procedure. It's the same reason why NYC subway train conductors stick their arms out of the window and point to the zebra board at the train platforms. Prove you followed the procedure.
I work in the transportation industry and I believe the highlighting it to be sure that they confirmed the match. We use pointing and reading for trains.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noticed the airplane bin closing problem. As an introvert, I've spent most of my life being the fly on the wall, noticing things others don't.
While not many business class seats have this problem, premium economy and standard economy seats often give the person in the row behind you a perfect view through privacy screens. Personally have some glasses from Epson that attach via USB-C that I use for anything sensitive. Run at 1080p, which is plenty for most tasks (simple Excel, a quick email, adding some stuff to slides, etc.). That they also double up as a nifty way to get a larger screen for viewing videos etc. is a nice bonus of course.
Most people don't know or care about privacy and yap about all sorts of sensitive things when they're alone and in public *all the time* ... airports / on flights is just one case. But at hotel bars, in cafés, on ships, on trains, in doctor's-office waiting rooms, etc., etc., they do exactly the same thing.
Ooh, which bit of my hellswamp are you in? I like the Amtrak silver service overhead storage. It's just a shelf with a rail. That probably wouldn't be enough for a plane, but it's very simple and you don't have to worry about people reopening it because it doesn't close.
I usually try to work on planes and trains whenever I can but will never do anything remotely sensitive. If anything, I'm happy when somebody strikes up a conversation about what I'm working on (usually fun open source stuff).
Hey, I know this one (re: the highlighting thing). It's a technique that was encouraged to help you keep track of checking a document against a screen or workflow where you need to verify what the paper document says against what the screen says. When I was doing controlled substance audits, before they burned a bunch of unsold out of date cocaine for eye surgery, we had a laptop a ticket from the lot. We had to on camera demonstrate we checked every number on the lots against the completely clean and unattached system that was maintained by an entirely different group of people. Every highlighter swipe signified your eyeballs looked at both pieces of data. If something didn't match the procedure was to call a supervisor who would either give you an orange highlight and keep going or stop you and you would jointly remove that box to a secured cage to be investigated if more than that one field was wrong. This was part of one of the accounting triangles (custody, authorization and accountability I think) to make sure nobody could walk off with anything fun. I could see an airline making the agent check the ticket against the screen like that for multiple reasons. If a supervisor thinks they are taking money to let randoms fly or something they can watch and make sure they are highlighting a real boarding pass and go up to the random and check it.
The security scribble is the same as Costco employees making a smiley on your receipt. They look for specific things and mark them off as part of a checklist.
My Costco just told me they check the item count and (supposedly) do a quick basket count. The mark just proves you didn't leave without getting checked, but how that helps anything, I can't say. At my BJ's, they scan your receipt and then randomly scan a few of your items. On the same day, I used the app for Scan & Go and came back for more things and used self checkout, and that was the drill at the door both times.
@@bloodgain yeah it sounds like they just have a few more creative folks up at Costco. Maybe if the stores stop putting goods that you could easily grab after the registers… Costco that I was going to started forcing the self checks to be basically not self checks, they had to like tag you in her machine and assist you it was ridiculous.
@@imark7777777 Yep, same here! I was fine with that, though, because they were just shuttling everybody toward the "self" checkout, but the cashier could do it so much faster by just using a scan gun, then let you pay at the kiosk. If you didn't have a full, stacked cart, it was still faster than regular checkout. They had 2 cashiers assisting, at that.
I generally agree about the bins, but I've also seen people spend minutes blocking the aisle trying to jam their bag into a full bin, so I can understand why they'd close them in hopes it will get people in faster.
The pre closing bins on exit rows are to leave space for the under seat items. I did have a flight attendant tell me they were pre closing to help with weights and balance.. it makes sense on a small double prop plane for 1x2 or 2x2, doesn’t make sense on a jet.
6:00 I feel like this is for the flight attendants to communicate to the purser (who’s stuck in front and not seeing all the bins themself, but can probably see what’s open vs closed) how full the overhead bins are for those sorts of announcements (so as to make people gate check their bag at the door, rather than wandering up and down the aisle and having to haul their bag back forward again.
Flying out of TLV, it doesn't matter if you're already checked in or have a mobile pass, the check-in agent will 100% of the time print out a paper boarding pass. But I've never had to hand over my phone to board using a mobile pass, I just hold my phone up to the reader and it scans the QR code.
@@dansaxe there's actually ZERO security scribble on your boarding pass. It's all in a sticker placed on the back of your passport before you even get to the airline agent, and that sticker gets verified by the security agents at the xray scanners. BTW, liquids are allowed and you don't need to take off your shoes when going through security in TLV, but if you're flying to the US they'll take your liquids at the hate because TSA/FAA requires it (so dumb, even if the liquid is from air side, unless it's sealed in a duty free bag)
Another bonus of the laptop privacy screen is being courteous to sleeping or trying to sleep neighbors when you want to watch a movie, but they want to sleep. Doesn't block all light, but it's a lot better than nothing.
I remember, when flying on a ticket purchased at the airport for a flight that day, getting a security scribble that I didn't normally get and being "randomly" selected for a baggage search. The normal security scribbles may be cover for the real ones.
I was once one a flight to a large conference, and the guy next to me didn't know who I was at the time, but he was reviewing confidential documents. Later he found out at the Conference that I worked for his competitor.
My husband took a flight once. He was seated behind two people from a rival company. They were discussing their pricing strategy, and how they would undercut his company (a company he worked for) and lure a client away from the company. He had a phone, and could have recorded the conversation but took notes instead. When he landed, he sent notes to the co-worker who managed the account the other company planned to poach.
Deviant, I hope this isnt weird, but you look like you have gotten into good shape since i discovered you on line. This is meant as a sincere compliment. How about a video on what you do to stay fit with your busy, always traveling life style?
I'm a mobile boarding pass user - I just can't be bothered with the paper ones. They get lost in a bag pocket or something, its just a hassle. As for the handing off the unlocked phone to someone, I've never have had to hand off my phone to be be scanned - I just open the app, which has the boarding pass already pre-cached, and it does the auto-screen brightness to allow the scanners to read it better. This is in Canada and with Air Canada - but even when I've departed US airports with Air Canada or Star Alliance/United, its been the same experience. Open the app, scan, board.
I travel between Boston and San Diego a couple of times a year. TSA doesn't even take your paper boarding pass anymore, they are only looking at your I.D. at both locations.
I like it when FA's close the bins, but only when they're truly full. Why? I have seen COUNTLESS times where people will try to cram impossibly too much stuff into an "open" bin that's already full... people simply do not use their mind half the time when traveling (or they're not used to it, or flustered). Not only that, but the temptation for folks to get out of their seat and rummage around in their stuff is much greater as well when the bin is open. A tiny deterrent is enough to ward off these folks from clustering the aisle. Also another protip: once landed and standing up, help those around you by opening up all the bins. This saves time so don't have to wait for everyone to manually open them.
you don’t have to unlock your phone if you add it to your apple or google wallet. I also haven’t had to hand over my phone. I’ve just had to scan it myself
The bins. The BINS. I mostly fly with BA and it IRRITATES ME SO MUCH. The best is at the gate "We have a very full flight today so we have limited space in the bins." Maybe, just maybe, you should either have more bin space or fewer seats! The free check in for the bag is nice instead (as it's first off the plane at the belt + I'm almost always waiting there for a bigger bag). It does irritate me though.
I always thought that the reasons for security marking up boarding passes was for one of two reasons. The first was to prove that the guard was doing their job - much like night watch having to punch a code when doing night rounds to prove they were actually patrolling the perimeter. The second was if any other airport security official asked to see my boarding pass, they could tell at a glance that I had entered the air side of the airport through regular screening. Those airports that don't do this have automated boarding pass check ins and these passes are scanned when entering air side where the pass is matched by facial recognition to my passport image.
I don't fly that much but it's incredible the stuff you see on the Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains with all the bigwigs traveling from NYC to DC with Big Business they just have to conduct en route.
Not going to fix people and bags. I follow the get in my seat and shut up methodology. I find it funny what goes on in the airport (you talked about abuse of gate agents in your Alaska video - it's real). But the conversations and often the computer screens and audio are another level. Happy travels.
Security scribble: When you're talking about boarding passes, some agents will check the parts that they know they need to. It's like when some train engineers in Japan/China will point and announce what they're looking at.
God… I have been struggling to wait patiently for that BSides implant talk… it is what it is… *Smiles patiently and supportively* *also climbs walls when not being observed*
Haven't flown in a couple years, but the times I've flown Southwest, the overhead bins stay open until the FAs make their final pass. People generally squimch their bags in if they'll fit and move on if they don't.
Good ideas are never accepted by people or big corporations that didn't think of them first. I've thought the same about overhead bins, as my last flight the same thing happened and I started opening them up and rearranging so mine could fit ... Some people just can't pack/fit stuff and totally clueless and selfish when considering others. I starting asking everyone loud enough they could all hear "is this yours" as I rearranged and they all just stared at me. I just gave one guy a bag to hold while I rearranged and then took it back. Like no one wanted to get involved ... Guess what we don't take off until everyone is ready and shit is packed away. People can really suck and make traveling more of a pain than it needs to be for sure.
A thing that makes me laugh at airports is when they have an announcement on the loudspeaker, way out in the terminals, far past security, that it's prohibited to bring firearms or weapons, etc. Because if a person made it that far and they're just hearing the announcement, it's too late and their best bet is to just play it cool and avoid being caught.
I believe the security scribble is a cya Incase someone gets thru who shouldn’t. As for people working on sensitive stuff. Yep see it all the time. I will generally leave my laptop in my bag or work on something trivial on planes. As for the closing the overhead is a way for flight attendants to get people especially with huge bags (or who carry on 3 or more) to gate check them rather than slow the entire plane down.
agreed on paper boarding passes. i had a moment's panic recently when i realized the phone with the airline app had no international data plan and would not bring the boarding pass up without it.
Some security scribbles are a note to later security personnel. Once upon a time I left Stockholm early in the morning. For whatever reason I got pulled for a secondary check. That person made a scribble at the top of my boarding pass. When I got to the USA I got pulled again and this time the check was fairly intensive. I have Global Entry so I was surprised. I asked what was up and was told the mark at the top indicated I should be checked upon arrival in the USA. I too still like paper boarding passes. Much of your video makes an assumption that is untrue. In general people are not that intelligent. You are observant and intelligent and that is rare. For us there is much head scratching about things of the world!
If the security scribble is such an integral part of the process, how is the process coping with the fact that many people use their smartphone exclusively and don't carry a paper boarding pass anymore?
@@DeviantOllam No idea! If I had known I could have tried to get boarding passes reprinted or switched over to phone. Perhaps there is an electronic tag as well. I guess... it is need to know only!
With TSA it is two things, One sometimes there is a screening code. The second is it is a way for the supervisor to confirm The screener looked at the items to be looked at.
Yep, just recently got off a flight with someone in the aisle seat diagonally from me who was definitely writing Java code for an Android app for a very large and well known company. 😏
I'd guess the scribble is a way for them to know a boarding pass has been through a gate before. If it has, they'd probably want to pay more attention than usual.
I have seen people walk away from laptops in an airport without locking the laptop. That is inexcusable to me. I also have heard some interesting phone conversions in airports too. Nothing major on the plane. I am usually reading a book with noise canceling headphones. I like the big obvious ones that say I am otherwise engaged. 😅
Last time my family and I travelled somewhere, we had paper boarding passes--was a LOT easier because we had two kids, and agree with you in regards to handing a digital device over to somebody :|
The only way to end overhead bin insanity is to give one small bin per sit. This will immediately remove any need to measure cabin luggage during boarding and any disputes about size of cabin luggage. This will remove problems with people who buys 15 bags in duty-free and stuff them all in bin taking up all space. It will speed up boarding because there will be no need to search for empty bin. And for people that need more space for cabin luggage should be options buy bigger extra bins that is additional to 1 bin per sit that everyone have.
I've been taking my backpack as a carryon for years and can always find a place to Tetris it into the overhead bins next to all the people with their hardshell wheeled monstrosities that are somehow three times as large as my bag so yeah the overhead bin thing has been a problem. I will admit one reason why I think they say this and this does seem to be backed up in practice is the latches get broken when people overload the bins and even though everything technically fits it requires more force than the week latch can handle then no one can use the bin for days until they maintenance to come in and fix it. I did figure out once that I bought a few last minute trips and got marked with an "SS" on my boarding pass that would get highlighted by TSA and then I'd have to go through the "enhanced" bullshit every time so got used to adding a few minutes to my expected pre-flight getting to the gate time any time I got those boarding passes marked like that when I didn't buy 60 days in advance.
I used to fly a LOT. and would watch as countless passengers would board the plane, toss their luggage in the overhead sideways and slam it shut. Effectively rendering three cases worth of space unusable. Drove me NUTS
RE: Paper tickets, yeah. I prefer to have them, if only as a backup. Most of my flying is across the U.S./Canadian border and, with my cellphone roaming "plan," it's a total crap-shoot whether or not the ticket images will display on my phone. I have to check bags anyway, so might as well get the paper boarding-slips, if only as backup. Fortunately, the bag that goes under my seat has a wide pocket that keeps them flat and safe.
I thought good SOP is always have phone powered off when going through screening. Limits the number of possible unlock attacks they can run if they get physical access. Also, I always see RF surveillance vans driving around major airports (usually a black SUV with enough antennas and radomes it'd attract LE attention if it wasn't one of theirs), and I'm pretty sure the FCC doesn't have that kind of money.
Is there a difference between how staff at different airports mark the ticket up? my local airport security once explained why they required particular behaviours (e.g. remove belt, remove boots etc) while other airports imposed other requirements to clear security as it being part of the process that might throw off a nervous attacker who'd been primed to expect a different challenge - the mark up might be something similar to ensure that people aren't substituting cloned boarding passes based on other airports. Of course - after flying through that airport most weeks for 18 months, that security team were fairly relaxed about winding me up about things so airmiles may vary...
I've never (as far as I remember) encountered what you call "the security scribble", i.e. you're correct: It has no practical use. ... which should also be clear as TSA has no business with where and when you're going. It also wouldn't make sense as many airlines work with / allow having only a scanable code on your phone, so nothing to scribble on for bored TSA guys. BTW: Scanning a boarding pass code on your phone works totally fine without you handing over your phone (which I also never would). You just hold your phone display over the scanner at the gate, get a reassuring beep and move on just as with a paper ticket (at least in the airports in Germany I've flown from and to in the last couple years before Covid).
I'm not a plane often enough, but definitely on trains. My laptop has the privacy screen and the number of people you see leaning at odd angles trying to work out why I'm staring at a blank screen..... priceless. 🤣🤣
I'm NEVER a plane 😟
The TSA highlighting is to prove that the TSA agent actually bothered to look at the ticket, because they are rampantly incompetent. You are correct that the highlighting is rote, but now everyone in the TSA can point to the highlights and pretend it's proof they checked.
The flight crew closes the bins without optimal space for a very good reason. You are a very intelligent and observerant person, and will be able to quickly assess whether you can stash a small bag or jacket in a bin, but you are not considering that some people are morons. Mr. Potatobrain will spend 15 minutes trying to fit his max-size case into a bin that, even if you turned everything else into goo so that every millimeter of open space was available for his bag, it *still* wouldn't fit.
But if crew close the bins, Mr. Potatobrain will see the closed bin, hear the announcement, and find a bin that can fit his bag. Or at least potentially. While the smart people will open the bins, check if there's space, and be able to figure it out, you need something to corral Mr. Potatobrain and keep him from jamming up the entire airport.
tl;dr: Very smart people often don't understand stupid people exist, and I had to learn the hard way.
So, I don't know if it's for this, but as a regular flier of southwest, where people are constantly trying to finesse one system or other, it makes a lot of sense to me. Now, I dunno if it actually works, because any sufficiently full flight I get on there's always some fool trying to smash everyone's stuff to the side because he decided his bag had to be RIGHT there instead of one or two bins down, but I get the attempt.
I notice a similar thing as well with passengers who try to get through the gate with three or four bags sitting on top of their roller bag and they hold up the line while they have to be told they need to consolidate or check the extras.
flew to Switzerland on a mid-2000s A320 with cramped overhead bins. flew home on a shiny new A320neo with bigger bins and clear signs to put your cases on their sides - you can fit four big cases on their sides vs three cases lying flat. yet everyone put their cases flat with a few inches of wasted space between the case and the top of the overhead bin
Yeah, this. I don't deal with this exact issue in my line of work, but I do deal with some rhyming problems, where we have a certain procedure because ~10-20% of our customers are complete idiots whose answers to basic questions like "are you done shopping" and "which size would you like" are not reliable. And fairly regularly, I get some dude who wants to know "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET IT FOR ME NOW," to which the answer is, secretly, "because then I'd have to wait for you to remember the three other things you're buying and then follow you around the store," but publicly "because you, sir, of course YOU have YOUR act together, but a distressing number of our customers just don't and so we need to keep the system very simple so things don't get lost."
It always amazes me that a guy who cannot figure out the correct answer to "am I ready to check out, yes or no?" somehow thinks that what this system needs is not for him to figure his shit out and just follow instructions from the people who do this for a living. No, no. What this system needs is for him to figure out the secret code that will let him outsmart me so he can waste his own time* trying to do things in a way that he thinks will be more efficient (but won't be) and then failing.
*Not mine: I get paid the same whether I'm helping you, or whether you're wasting your time trying to outsmart me and keep me from helping you. I find it more satisfying to actually get shit done, so please keep your hands off the steering wheel unless you know the roads... but the only person you're actually hurting is yourself.
I fly a little too much and like asking questions. There is another reason why they do this and often start at the pointy end. It is so they can handle that last person on a full flight who has the maxi size roller (they were probably slow to the gate because they had to drag it across the airport). They are so late that all of the gate checks have been sent down to the ramp and they are being or are loaded. To save time and avoid a delay the cabin crew need to stash it. Well when they closed some bins early they created a bank of space and with some rearranging can fit at least a couple of late passengers luggage.
The way I've heard it put is this:
You're an above average intelligence person, likely everyone you meet is an above average intelligence person. Imagine for yourself the most averagely intelligence person you can think off. Not dumb but really really average. Now realize that more than half the population is dumber than that. A quarter of them even WAY dumber than that.
5:13 "You know the best way you can indicate to passengers that the bin is full?"
Let me guess: Make the bin cover out of transparent plastic instead of white plastic? That would also help with the "open bins carefully because the contents of the bins may have shifted during the flight and landing" danger... to some extent.
My gripe is speaker phone conversations. Just blabbing out their entire life on speakerphone.
I once heard the entirety of a person's conversation with her accountant from halfway down a crowded bus. The accountant's side included. Mind-boggling.
Seriously and if it is noisy enough every third word is huh what because they can’t understand each other.
Or watching videos on phone speakers/no headphones.
Yep, I miss the times when phones were attached to somewhere or at least had a limited length wire.
The number of idiots I've seen face timing while walking down a street absolutely not looking where they're going is astounding. Well, maybe they aspire to get a Darwin award or something just like the selfie suiciders.
speculation: the reason they don't leave them all open and them do the "bam bam bam bam bam" strategy is customers will over stuff the bins and as the flight attendant goes down the isle they will find a handful of bins that wont close, thus delaying the flight as they frantically try to reorganize
Yeah, I think DeviantOllam's argument is based on all humans being reasonable people with similar concepts of fullness packing and respect for others luggage. This is usually fine, but get enough of us together in a small area and it falters in a way that makes dealing with as a matter of procedure faster for airline crews.
Yeah, and I've been on flights where people would TAKE STUFF OUT OF THE BIN to fit their own shit in.
Experiment: They did the bam bam bam thing on all the flights I've ever been on (25ish), but I live in Europe. Never been an issue
I believe it is part that and also part it gives the FAs a quick visual glance as to how much bin space they have left so they can
1. Tell the desk to start gate checking bags to save the time of people looking for bin space that does not exist
2. Find bin space for an extra bag easier.
Additionally, some FAs will close the bins over bulkhead seats. This is to prevent people who do not have bulkheads from using these bins as people with bulkheads can't put items in front of them, so they need the extra space.
@Thaccus
Assuming people are reasonable is NEVER a good starting point. Don't think I'm pessimistic. Sometimes, humans behave rationally & I'm pleasantly surprised. And that makes me happy...
Your faith that people will look at a full bin and conclude that it is indeed full is admirable. The same people who look at their boarding pass and proceed to very slowly walk down the aisle, looking at every row number when they are seated at 49E
I hate it when they force me to check my carry-on at the gate because the flight is "full." Then I get on and see all the open spaces. FML
Get something that doesn't look like a cabin case. On a recent flight, the flight attendant at the gate very elegantly directed people with cabin bags to a separate area where they needed to check it in - before they even realised what happened. And whenever someone with a rucksack, backpack or other softer bag came along, she stepped aside and directed them to the jet bridge.
Also has to do with weight distribution. If they've got a light cargo hold, you don't want a top heavy plane, it won't be a fun flight.
Two choices: Buy a more expensive seat and board earlier or deal with it.
100% agree with the overhead bins. I've noticed that Air Canada does exactly what you suggest: they leave the bins open during boarding and close them just before pushback when everyone is seated. Makes sense to my monkey brain :)
My experience with Air Canada too. Being one that boards last, mostly cause at the front of plane, but also cause why would I want to sit on plane? I've always have got my squishy personal item in a nearby bin (I don't do carry-on due to having regional Q400 connectors)
if you go back in time fifty years or so... ok, seventy years or so, the overhead racks were just racks, no doors. very convenient to see where there's space and to get concussion when there's turbulence and stuff falls off the rack
As a student of failure, having a paper boarding pass in my shirt pocket makes me feel better. Of course I have been flying before the Saber System so paper is natural.
I believe it is to prove to their cameras and bosses that they actually checked.
Along similar lines I was guessing perhaps they are doing it as a sort of checklist... confirm this detail, and highlight it to mark it off.
Exactly-they do it because they can, and paper boarding passes didn’t or don’t always have a fully compatible barcode. You’d often see the gate agents look at your paper pass, then click a button on the mouse to mark you as checked-in. May have changed recently.
For digital boarding passes, they scan it and the computer logs it in.
sounds to me like sky club is the perfect location for a watering hole attack
Just want to say that watching these videos puts me at ease when flying. I used to be fine in the air, but I for some reason I hit a point where I need to medicate before I fly. I’m still nervous, but watching these videos really helps me a bit. And I appreciate it!
Yes to printed paper boarding passes. Never willing hand over your phone,
I don't do a ton of flying but I do sometimes and have NEVER been asked to hand over my phone. Scan the pass on the screen or show it to someone or something sure but it has never been handed over to someone else.
@@wingracer1614 It really can speed up boarding. As a backup, take a screen shot of the boarding pass so that is in your photos and in case the app misbehaves. I've actually had to use the photo before.
"on the road" he says
>Talks about planes
He never claimed that the planes are flying. They're just rolling on the freeways
Laptop privacy screen -- great idea. I'm very selective about what I put on screen in close quarters, especially if using a work laptop. I remember a flight where a seatmate was an employee of the same company, using their work laptop. Nothing really sensitive on their screen, which was great since I was in IT security 🙃.
Sat on a train once next to a "UK minister of state" reading security briefings about some ambassador event coming up... Not even on a laptop, proper paper documents on the table.
Same minister who left security briefings on the train?
@@_Steven_S No, fortunately for them.
I've had similar experience in Denmark. I've also sat next to the Greenlandic leader of government who worked on papers.
@@_Steven_S I guess that makes a good reason I'm sadly saying it's good to have more car transit than dream transit over here in the US.
Then I guess they could leave their paperwork in an Uber.
Some security scribbles are coded messages like "make sure to check this guy properly, foreign guy travelling without checked luggage one way or something". I got me a colored tick mark on my boarding pass once and asked. 😅
Yeah, it's not like they can just openly write "liar" on the back of your hand...
@@ok9nja741 As a middle-aged white guy, I don't get "profiled" often, but in this case I was the strange foreigner on the American plane. 🥸
Do you think what they told you is why they do it? Clarity or Proprietary?
@@Don.Challenger Yes, but it was not like what is described in the video. They made a line with a text marker where there was no text when I checked in. I think the explanation was something vague like "for security purposes", and sure enough I was singled out for any test they had in security.
Quick hack for ya: I've learned that if i screenshot my boarding pass i can save it as my lock screen. That way I can have over my phone while its still locked.
What's this about handing phone over? Its a US thing with certain airports? Cause I've never have had to "hand over" my phone, either in my native Canada or when departing stateside. They just get their scanner and **beep** its scanned and they then just Passport/ID check.
Nice thing about the app is that it will auto-brightness when the pass is active reducing complications with the barcode scanner
@@BryceCampbell I'm in the US and have flown for several years now using digital passes. I've never had to hand my phone over. You scan it yourself, even at the TSA counter. And at this point, most airports have moved away from passes at TSA and just check ID against the computer system, unless it's a child without ID. At worst, I've _shown_ my screen to an agent, but I'm pretty sure both TSA and airline agents have been trained not to touch them without a really good reason and permission (unless somebody's being forcibly detained).
@@bloodgain @BryceCampbell You guys are correct in that I havent had to hand my phone over in any recent trips either but it was a concern expressed in the video and I just mentioned my habit of making my boarding pass my lock screen while flying as a way to avoid needing to have an unlocked phone for access to the pass.
If it helps someone great if not, no harm done in the suggestion.
Quick hack for you: photograph someone else's boarding pass to sneak onto their plane. If people are especially observant, this may even get you arrested.
Point being: I'd be nervous with my boarding pass as my Lock Screen - seems grossly insecure.
@@Relkond I don't know about you but I'm not in the habit of leaving my phone freely viewable when locked and if someone took my phone I believe them having the QR code to my boarding pass on my lock screen is the least of my problems.
All valid points, especially with the bins, and great shirt by the way, I really hope it says on the back: “cause a clandestine entry don’t leave no trace”😂
Security Scribble seems like one of those RF ID Wand Readers that physical security uses. Just like those readers, it doesn't do a lot, but does show that someone has "been there."
The TSA is all about theater. They failed to catch 95% of weapons when the FBI tested them. The circling and highlighting is part of that theater. Look, they circled this and wrote down some cryptic nonsense that nobody ever looked at again, they must be checking all sorts of things, and definitely not bored struggling to stay awake at their podium.
AFAIK the reason they don't let you cram the overhead bis full to the brim is because if you do that enough times it starts to develop cracks along the mount points. less of an issue on regionals that don't have huge overheads to begin with but, on the bigger jets that have people shove suitcases full of lead bars into them, it becomes a mx issue. and its always awkward to have to grab a line mx person to come tag out an overhead cause it cracked and almost hit somebody in the head ya know
The lack of a privacy screens drives me up the wall. I don’t wanna look at your spreadsheets or PowerPoints but it’s right there!!
I'm nosy and want to see what sort of dipshit 'decks' people are working so earnestly on.
I could see an argument made for closing the overhead bins early, that they do it for better weight distribution. Close a few early and make people walk further, better distribute the weight. I dont know if theyre actually considering this, but its the first thing I thought of.
Regarding that 'security scribble,' because of the state of the industry for front-line security officers, there is absolutely a possibility that back in late 2001 there was someone who was trained for about 30 seconds on what to look for, and then they trained their replacement and they trained their replacement, and so on, every few months for the last 23 years, and now it's been turned into a ritual with no known meaning (Highlight everything with a hyphen in it or the demons will come out of the magic portal that beeps when you approach with metal) and no one with any ability to make decisions is actually paying any attention to its usefullness/effectiveness.
I was on a long-haul Amtrak route where a lady had several loud phone conversations about an inheritance situation involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. I really wish I had done the 'So, wow, you are really worried about Lucy getting that much money and what she'll do? Like, specifically, what do you think she might blow it on?' In general, people having loud phone conversations is so annoying, it's hard for me to focus on anything else. it's kinda funny, it's never kids being rowdy that are loud on trains and planes and in hotel lobbies in my experience, it's adults, mostly ones older than me.
I don't have memory of it much but I ran across some sort of thing talking about a study that said it irritates the brain to only hear 1/2 of the conversation. Yeah I understand the other side might not be able to hear you but be polite!
You aren't crazy about the bin closing. However, I have seen passengers try to put carry on pieces into places that to my eyes obviously won't fit them.
That said, closing the bins doesn't help with that either.
some people are short,
sometimes its not possible to see how much space is actually aavailable in the overhead bin.
Definitely enjoying these videos - also I was surprised to hear the GSX mention as I am here as well! Hope you are enjoying the show, this is my first time and it is quite an experience!
I fly quite often these days, and haven't run into the issue of premature bin closure but I totally agree that leaving them open is by far the best way to indicate they are full.
I had a guy loudly finishing a work meeting during the safety demonstration today (which I found exceptionally rude) and he was openly talking about manufacturing details, clients by name, and manufacturing volumes loud enough I could hear him from 2-3 rows away.
I don't conduct business or anything overly sensitive in those spaces intentionally, because I'm usually watching other people do them instead. The level of complacency I get to witness from the public in airports after the screen security is wild. Hanging out at gates personal items unsecured, shoes off sleeping next to their phones they've plugged directly into a USB charging station that could be data tapped, plus all the things you've pointed out.
My absolute favorite example of emails being easily seen on a plane is the song Dear McCracken by Bug Hunter. It tells the story of a woman typing and retyping an email to an ex lover.
It's unironically kind of a cute story but also a good reminder of how easy it for somebody to side eye an email.
Funny i see this video whilst at an airport, waiting for my gate to be announced.
I always come back to CGP Grey's Video:
"Front to Back, Row by Row - No slower could we go."
I think it's liability. TSA training requires you check certain information. How can you as the agent prove you checked that information? the training probably says to highlight it, so if there is an issue and they trace the entry back to you, you can prove you followed to procedure. It should also be captured on the security camera so when they review the footage, they can see you highlighted the information and followed the procedure.
It's the same reason why NYC subway train conductors stick their arms out of the window and point to the zebra board at the train platforms. Prove you followed the procedure.
I use paper passes to avoid handing my phone over to anyone.
I keep the digital pass on my phone too for gate updates.
I've wondered these things man! I think the confusion is meant to keep us all distracted and conversing between each other.
I've never had the battery die on a piece of paper. That and for other reasons, like those you mentioned, always paper.
I work in the transportation industry and I believe the highlighting it to be sure that they confirmed the match. We use pointing and reading for trains.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noticed the airplane bin closing problem.
As an introvert, I've spent most of my life being the fly on the wall, noticing things others don't.
While not many business class seats have this problem, premium economy and standard economy seats often give the person in the row behind you a perfect view through privacy screens. Personally have some glasses from Epson that attach via USB-C that I use for anything sensitive. Run at 1080p, which is plenty for most tasks (simple Excel, a quick email, adding some stuff to slides, etc.).
That they also double up as a nifty way to get a larger screen for viewing videos etc. is a nice bonus of course.
Most people don't know or care about privacy and yap about all sorts of sensitive things when they're alone and in public *all the time* ... airports / on flights is just one case. But at hotel bars, in cafés, on ships, on trains, in doctor's-office waiting rooms, etc., etc., they do exactly the same thing.
Ooh, which bit of my hellswamp are you in?
I like the Amtrak silver service overhead storage. It's just a shelf with a rail. That probably wouldn't be enough for a plane, but it's very simple and you don't have to worry about people reopening it because it doesn't close.
The guy sitting down on the phone is Greg Benson
I usually try to work on planes and trains whenever I can but will never do anything remotely sensitive. If anything, I'm happy when somebody strikes up a conversation about what I'm working on (usually fun open source stuff).
Hey, I know this one (re: the highlighting thing). It's a technique that was encouraged to help you keep track of checking a document against a screen or workflow where you need to verify what the paper document says against what the screen says.
When I was doing controlled substance audits, before they burned a bunch of unsold out of date cocaine for eye surgery, we had a laptop a ticket from the lot. We had to on camera demonstrate we checked every number on the lots against the completely clean and unattached system that was maintained by an entirely different group of people.
Every highlighter swipe signified your eyeballs looked at both pieces of data. If something didn't match the procedure was to call a supervisor who would either give you an orange highlight and keep going or stop you and you would jointly remove that box to a secured cage to be investigated if more than that one field was wrong.
This was part of one of the accounting triangles (custody, authorization and accountability I think) to make sure nobody could walk off with anything fun.
I could see an airline making the agent check the ticket against the screen like that for multiple reasons. If a supervisor thinks they are taking money to let randoms fly or something they can watch and make sure they are highlighting a real boarding pass and go up to the random and check it.
The security scribble is the same as Costco employees making a smiley on your receipt. They look for specific things and mark them off as part of a checklist.
My Costco just told me they check the item count and (supposedly) do a quick basket count. The mark just proves you didn't leave without getting checked, but how that helps anything, I can't say. At my BJ's, they scan your receipt and then randomly scan a few of your items. On the same day, I used the app for Scan & Go and came back for more things and used self checkout, and that was the drill at the door both times.
@@bloodgain yeah it sounds like they just have a few more creative folks up at Costco. Maybe if the stores stop putting goods that you could easily grab after the registers…
Costco that I was going to started forcing the self checks to be basically not self checks, they had to like tag you in her machine and assist you it was ridiculous.
@@imark7777777 Yep, same here! I was fine with that, though, because they were just shuttling everybody toward the "self" checkout, but the cashier could do it so much faster by just using a scan gun, then let you pay at the kiosk. If you didn't have a full, stacked cart, it was still faster than regular checkout. They had 2 cashiers assisting, at that.
I generally agree about the bins, but I've also seen people spend minutes blocking the aisle trying to jam their bag into a full bin, so I can understand why they'd close them in hopes it will get people in faster.
The pre closing bins on exit rows are to leave space for the under seat items.
I did have a flight attendant tell me they were pre closing to help with weights and balance.. it makes sense on a small double prop plane for 1x2 or 2x2, doesn’t make sense on a jet.
6:00 I feel like this is for the flight attendants to communicate to the purser (who’s stuck in front and not seeing all the bins themself, but can probably see what’s open vs closed) how full the overhead bins are for those sorts of announcements (so as to make people gate check their bag at the door, rather than wandering up and down the aisle and having to haul their bag back forward again.
Flying out of TLV, it doesn't matter if you're already checked in or have a mobile pass, the check-in agent will 100% of the time print out a paper boarding pass. But I've never had to hand over my phone to board using a mobile pass, I just hold my phone up to the reader and it scans the QR code.
Same here, not once have I had to hand my phone to someone. Scan it yes.
At TLV, there IS value to the security scribble.
@@dansaxe there's actually ZERO security scribble on your boarding pass. It's all in a sticker placed on the back of your passport before you even get to the airline agent, and that sticker gets verified by the security agents at the xray scanners. BTW, liquids are allowed and you don't need to take off your shoes when going through security in TLV, but if you're flying to the US they'll take your liquids at the hate because TSA/FAA requires it (so dumb, even if the liquid is from air side, unless it's sealed in a duty free bag)
Another bonus of the laptop privacy screen is being courteous to sleeping or trying to sleep neighbors when you want to watch a movie, but they want to sleep. Doesn't block all light, but it's a lot better than nothing.
I remember, when flying on a ticket purchased at the airport for a flight that day, getting a security scribble that I didn't normally get and being "randomly" selected for a baggage search. The normal security scribbles may be cover for the real ones.
Would be so *amazingly* satisfying to see the bins full and the doors being latched closed bambambambambam. This whole thing makes sense!
I was once one a flight to a large conference, and the guy next to me didn't know who I was at the time, but he was reviewing confidential documents. Later he found out at the Conference that I worked for his competitor.
My husband took a flight once. He was seated behind two people from a rival company. They were discussing their pricing strategy, and how they would undercut his company (a company he worked for) and lure a client away from the company. He had a phone, and could have recorded the conversation but took notes instead. When he landed, he sent notes to the co-worker who managed the account the other company planned to poach.
Your "nothing video" is a great video - highlighting systems and poor op-sec in the wide-world. Thanks!
Deviant, I hope this isnt weird, but you look like you have gotten into good shape since i discovered you on line. This is meant as a sincere compliment. How about a video on what you do to stay fit with your busy, always traveling life style?
Oooo... time at Crowded Barrel. That throne is surprisingly comfortable.
I'm a mobile boarding pass user - I just can't be bothered with the paper ones. They get lost in a bag pocket or something, its just a hassle. As for the handing off the unlocked phone to someone, I've never have had to hand off my phone to be be scanned - I just open the app, which has the boarding pass already pre-cached, and it does the auto-screen brightness to allow the scanners to read it better.
This is in Canada and with Air Canada - but even when I've departed US airports with Air Canada or Star Alliance/United, its been the same experience. Open the app, scan, board.
In the air transport biz and as baffled as you. Love the shirt! Is that available to the general public?
I travel between Boston and San Diego a couple of times a year. TSA doesn't even take your paper boarding pass anymore, they are only looking at your I.D. at both locations.
I like it when FA's close the bins, but only when they're truly full. Why? I have seen COUNTLESS times where people will try to cram impossibly too much stuff into an "open" bin that's already full... people simply do not use their mind half the time when traveling (or they're not used to it, or flustered). Not only that, but the temptation for folks to get out of their seat and rummage around in their stuff is much greater as well when the bin is open. A tiny deterrent is enough to ward off these folks from clustering the aisle. Also another protip: once landed and standing up, help those around you by opening up all the bins. This saves time so don't have to wait for everyone to manually open them.
you don’t have to unlock your phone if you add it to your apple or google wallet. I also haven’t had to hand over my phone. I’ve just had to scan it myself
The bins. The BINS. I mostly fly with BA and it IRRITATES ME SO MUCH.
The best is at the gate "We have a very full flight today so we have limited space in the bins." Maybe, just maybe, you should either have more bin space or fewer seats! The free check in for the bag is nice instead (as it's first off the plane at the belt + I'm almost always waiting there for a bigger bag). It does irritate me though.
I always thought that the reasons for security marking up boarding passes was for one of two reasons. The first was to prove that the guard was doing their job - much like night watch having to punch a code when doing night rounds to prove they were actually patrolling the perimeter. The second was if any other airport security official asked to see my boarding pass, they could tell at a glance that I had entered the air side of the airport through regular screening.
Those airports that don't do this have automated boarding pass check ins and these passes are scanned when entering air side where the pass is matched by facial recognition to my passport image.
I don't fly that much but it's incredible the stuff you see on the Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains with all the bigwigs traveling from NYC to DC with Big Business they just have to conduct en route.
Being from Philadelphia and having routinely gone to New York and DC on the train, I totally agree!
I constantly ask little questions like this and everybody looks at me like I'm a crazy person.
I don’t fly much but I really enjoyed the recent plane travel videos.
Two words. Security theater.
How did i miss plane week? Love planes. Love em so much i recently learned to operate them.
Not going to fix people and bags. I follow the get in my seat and shut up methodology. I find it funny what goes on in the airport (you talked about abuse of gate agents in your Alaska video - it's real). But the conversations and often the computer screens and audio are another level. Happy travels.
Not sure about Android, but boarding passes go into Wallet on iOS, you can display it from the Lock Screen - no need to unlock.
Security scribble: When you're talking about boarding passes, some agents will check the parts that they know they need to. It's like when some train engineers in Japan/China will point and announce what they're looking at.
God… I have been struggling to wait patiently for that BSides implant talk… it is what it is…
*Smiles patiently and supportively*
*also climbs walls when not being observed*
Haven't flown in a couple years, but the times I've flown Southwest, the overhead bins stay open until the FAs make their final pass. People generally squimch their bags in if they'll fit and move on if they don't.
Good ideas are never accepted by people or big corporations that didn't think of them first. I've thought the same about overhead bins, as my last flight the same thing happened and I started opening them up and rearranging so mine could fit ... Some people just can't pack/fit stuff and totally clueless and selfish when considering others. I starting asking everyone loud enough they could all hear "is this yours" as I rearranged and they all just stared at me. I just gave one guy a bag to hold while I rearranged and then took it back. Like no one wanted to get involved ... Guess what we don't take off until everyone is ready and shit is packed away. People can really suck and make traveling more of a pain than it needs to be for sure.
Really enjoyed this one... OH bins commentary was spot on (to me, anyway).
Safe travels!
I'm always down for a morning ramble. Have a good day.
A thing that makes me laugh at airports is when they have an announcement on the loudspeaker, way out in the terminals, far past security, that it's prohibited to bring firearms or weapons, etc. Because if a person made it that far and they're just hearing the announcement, it's too late and their best bet is to just play it cool and avoid being caught.
I believe the security scribble is a cya Incase someone gets thru who shouldn’t.
As for people working on sensitive stuff. Yep see it all the time. I will generally leave my laptop in my bag or work on something trivial on planes.
As for the closing the overhead is a way for flight attendants to get people especially with huge bags (or who carry on 3 or more) to gate check them rather than slow the entire plane down.
agreed on paper boarding passes. i had a moment's panic recently when i realized the phone with the airline app had no international data plan and would not bring the boarding pass up without it.
Some security scribbles are a note to later security personnel. Once upon a time I left Stockholm early in the morning. For whatever reason I got pulled for a secondary check. That person made a scribble at the top of my boarding pass. When I got to the USA I got pulled again and this time the check was fairly intensive. I have Global Entry so I was surprised. I asked what was up and was told the mark at the top indicated I should be checked upon arrival in the USA.
I too still like paper boarding passes.
Much of your video makes an assumption that is untrue. In general people are not that intelligent. You are observant and intelligent and that is rare. For us there is much head scratching about things of the world!
If the security scribble is such an integral part of the process, how is the process coping with the fact that many people use their smartphone exclusively and don't carry a paper boarding pass anymore?
@@DeviantOllam No idea! If I had known I could have tried to get boarding passes reprinted or switched over to phone. Perhaps there is an electronic tag as well. I guess... it is need to know only!
With TSA it is two things, One sometimes there is a screening code. The second is it is a way for the supervisor to confirm The screener looked at the items to be looked at.
Yep, just recently got off a flight with someone in the aisle seat diagonally from me who was definitely writing Java code for an Android app for a very large and well known company. 😏
Good ol' shoulder surfin'
I once had brunch with that prankster. Greg Benson is the best.
I'd guess the scribble is a way for them to know a boarding pass has been through a gate before. If it has, they'd probably want to pay more attention than usual.
I have seen people walk away from laptops in an airport without locking the laptop. That is inexcusable to me.
I also have heard some interesting phone conversions in airports too.
Nothing major on the plane. I am usually reading a book with noise canceling headphones. I like the big obvious ones that say I am otherwise engaged. 😅
Real easy Dev. TSA, what is it good for after all the missed items? Sure would like my bill of rights back...
Last time my family and I travelled somewhere, we had paper boarding passes--was a LOT easier because we had two kids, and agree with you in regards to handing a digital device over to somebody :|
The only way to end overhead bin insanity is to give one small bin per sit.
This will immediately remove any need to measure cabin luggage during boarding and any disputes about size of cabin luggage.
This will remove problems with people who buys 15 bags in duty-free and stuff them all in bin taking up all space.
It will speed up boarding because there will be no need to search for empty bin.
And for people that need more space for cabin luggage should be options buy bigger extra bins that is additional to 1 bin per sit that everyone have.
I've been taking my backpack as a carryon for years and can always find a place to Tetris it into the overhead bins next to all the people with their hardshell wheeled monstrosities that are somehow three times as large as my bag so yeah the overhead bin thing has been a problem. I will admit one reason why I think they say this and this does seem to be backed up in practice is the latches get broken when people overload the bins and even though everything technically fits it requires more force than the week latch can handle then no one can use the bin for days until they maintenance to come in and fix it.
I did figure out once that I bought a few last minute trips and got marked with an "SS" on my boarding pass that would get highlighted by TSA and then I'd have to go through the "enhanced" bullshit every time so got used to adding a few minutes to my expected pre-flight getting to the gate time any time I got those boarding passes marked like that when I didn't buy 60 days in advance.
I used to fly a LOT. and would watch as countless passengers would board the plane, toss their luggage in the overhead sideways and slam it shut. Effectively rendering three cases worth of space unusable. Drove me NUTS
12:20 I feel You much on this one haha... I have something like 7 TB of footage to edit spanning almost 4 years😂
When you say you are working on a plane are you meaning offline only? or is the onboard stuff safe enough ish to use?
RE: Paper tickets, yeah. I prefer to have them, if only as a backup. Most of my flying is across the U.S./Canadian border and, with my cellphone roaming "plan," it's a total crap-shoot whether or not the ticket images will display on my phone. I have to check bags anyway, so might as well get the paper boarding-slips, if only as backup. Fortunately, the bag that goes under my seat has a wide pocket that keeps them flat and safe.
Laptops in coffee shops in a college town.
Not quite the same, but similar.
I thought good SOP is always have phone powered off when going through screening. Limits the number of possible unlock attacks they can run if they get physical access. Also, I always see RF surveillance vans driving around major airports (usually a black SUV with enough antennas and radomes it'd attract LE attention if it wasn't one of theirs), and I'm pretty sure the FCC doesn't have that kind of money.
Is there a difference between how staff at different airports mark the ticket up?
my local airport security once explained why they required particular behaviours (e.g. remove belt, remove boots etc) while other airports imposed other requirements to clear security as it being part of the process that might throw off a nervous attacker who'd been primed to expect a different challenge - the mark up might be something similar to ensure that people aren't substituting cloned boarding passes based on other airports.
Of course - after flying through that airport most weeks for 18 months, that security team were fairly relaxed about winding me up about things so airmiles may vary...
All you need to know about the TSA scribbling on a boarding pass was shown perfectly on Family Guy
I've never (as far as I remember) encountered what you call "the security scribble", i.e. you're correct: It has no practical use. ... which should also be clear as TSA has no business with where and when you're going.
It also wouldn't make sense as many airlines work with / allow having only a scanable code on your phone, so nothing to scribble on for bored TSA guys.
BTW: Scanning a boarding pass code on your phone works totally fine without you handing over your phone (which I also never would). You just hold your phone display over the scanner at the gate, get a reassuring beep and move on just as with a paper ticket (at least in the airports in Germany I've flown from and to in the last couple years before Covid).