Last weekend I flew from Paris CDG to San Francisco via AA’s service to New York. The ticket was a good value Iberia issued ticket but with all segments operated by AA.
At most European airports the heightened post-Pan Am 103 security is conducted by the airline and is undertaken at the check-in desk. At CDG they employee an external company, under the control of AA, to ask you the usual questions.
Only this time AA went beyond anything I had experienced before – in fact it was positively intrusive.
AA checks-in its Premium Passengers on the basement level at CDG and I joined the line there for security. Once I reached the agent I handed over my passport and confirmed that I was flying to New York and San Francisco. The conversation then went something like this:
– Can you tell me what reason you are going to San Francisco, business or pleasure.
– pleasure
– Can you tell me where you normally live?
– London
– How did you get to Paris?
– British Airways yesterday
– Do you have you boarding pass from that flight?
much scrabbling to find boarding pass
– Yes, here it is. (She retains it).
– Where did you stay last night?
– At the Hyatt at the Airport here
– Why did you stay there? Do you have the receipt?
more scrabbling
– So I would not be late for the flight, and here is the receipt.
she retains the receipt.
– Where are you going after you come back from San Francisco?
– back to London, where I live
-Do you have your ticket?
– Yes, here it is.
She retains it.
– Can you tell me about anything electrical or batter operated? We ask this as, in the past, people have been given things to take on the plane which later turned out to be bombs.
– I don’t have anything which has been away for repair.
– Can you tell me about anything you have been given by other people to take on board by other people?
– Nothing
– I need to check all of this with my supervisor and I will be back shortly.
She them walks off with all of my documents, passport, ticket, boarding pass and hotel bill. 5 minutes later she returns.
– You can check in now.
Do anyone else think this is too intrusive? Personally I am happy to answer security questions but having Global Entry and numerous government security checks in the UK, suggests that the US and UK governments are happy with me. One wonders why AA needs to know where I am going AFTER their trip is over, or what would have happened had I not had these things available.
That seems a BIT over the top! As I was reading…I was waiting for you to say she asked you how much money you made. O_o
Do they really expect everyone to have and hold on all these things when flying? Quite intrusive indeed.
You showed up as requiring additional screening. It’s that simple. It maybe that you fit the MO of someone they are looking for. I had a similar situation in Amsterdam once. It’s annoying, but you have to play the game.
Have told people to piss off for less. Incredibly intuitive and uncalled for.
I was once asked a very similar set of question departing on the now discontinued IST-EWR service operated by UA. They wanted my hotel bills for every single night in Turkey. I think it’s just that you fit the profile of someone they are looking for. I was not personally offended as I was leaving IST. If I were leaving BUF I’d find that a bit odd.
I was once asked a very similar set of question departing on the now discontinued IST-EWR service operated by UA. They wanted my hotel bills for every single night in Turkey. I think it’s just that you fit the profile of someone they are looking for. I was not personally offended as I was leaving IST. If I were leaving BUF I’d find that a bit odd.
I did say the AA/ICTS agents were bad at CDG….
Let me try to recount my conversation with the Dutch security at AMS a couple of days ago on my AMS-ORD flight on UA.
(For context, I’m not caucasian.)
Me: *Hand my passport and boarding pass to security agent*
Agent: Why do you have a British passport
Me: (Sheepish, confused, hesistant) Because I’m British?
Agent: Were you born there?
Me: No.
Agent: So how come
Me: I’ve lived there a long time.
Agent: And now you live in Netherlands?
Me: Yes
Agent: How long?
Me: just over 1 year
Agent: *a;idjfr kjjsdfeif g;uiwehfuwheuifwe*
Me: Huh?
Agent: You live here and don’t speak Dutch?
Me: No.
Agent: Ok proceed *hands back boarding pass*
Me: mind=blown
I had similar thing happening to me, also at the CDG, at AA counter(after a week of vacation in Paris). They wanted all the details, why I was there, how long where I have been. After that they asked USCIS based in CDG talk to me(I explained all details again) and they let me thru. Based on this post maybe its common occurrence in CDG at AA counter? (They did allow me to check in late due to this delay)
some time ago BKK airport brought in security people from israel, they really asked a lot of questions and observed body language to make decision for a further “inspection process”
The questions asked and manner of asking and then checking with the supervisor is identical to departure procedures in Israel. In light of the still unanswered questions of MH370 perhaps they have been instructed to step up their game.
Sounds like you were flagged for having an unusual itinerary. Separate tickets, (one way?), indirect routing, short stay, etc.
I don’t think this is anything unusual. I’ve had such questions over the years. I even had an Italian officer pick on my wife and I randomly at FCO before we even got to the check in or security areas recently. He disappeared with our passports for like 10 minutes.
It’s the price we pay for the terrorist. They won this battle.
The most intrusive “security” questioning I’ve ever had was checking in at Malpensa in early 1993. I attributed that to a) my looking like all hello after a sleepless night on the train and b) general nastiness toward a woman traveling alone.
That she retained your documents to show to a supervisor makes me wonder if she was still in training, though it’s true that other trainees usually have a supervisor at their elbow during the questioning process.