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You’re boarding a flight, feeling good, coffee in hand—then you glance at your boarding pass and notice four ominous letters: SSSS.
Your stomach drops. Are you in trouble? On a watchlist? About to miss your flight?
Take a breath. While SSSS does mean extra screening, it’s far less dramatic than it sounds—and knowing what to expect makes it much easier to handle.
What “SSSS” Actually Means
SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection.
It’s a designation used by U.S. airport security (primarily the TSA) to indicate that a passenger has been randomly or specifically selected for additional screening before boarding.
That’s it. It does not automatically mean:
You’re suspected of a crime
You’re on a no-fly list
You did something wrong
Many completely ordinary travelers see SSSS at some point.
Why You Might Get SSSS on Your Boarding Pass
Security agencies don’t publicly disclose their exact criteria, but common reasons include:
Random selection (yes, really)
