One thing you never want to see on your boarding pass

I thought it was strange when I couldn’t check in online for my flight from Calgary to Atlanta. At the airport I got my boarding pass and saw the dreaded four letters – SSSS.

Those letters stand for Secondary Security Screening Selection and means I was randomly chosen for extra levels of security. Agents took everything, including my phone and passport, and went through every item in my suitcase, handling all of my toiletry items. The process took an extra 30 minutes.

Fortunately, I had plenty of time and made my flight. Just another reason to get to the airport early.

– Jan Schroder, Editor-in-chief, The Travel 100