For fliers who haven’t encountered it before, SSSS on a boarding pass stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection. It’s the Transportation Security Administration’s method of selecting passengers for additional security checks. If the acronym appears on your ticket, it means you’ll be subject to an extra-thorough screening—despite having pre-approval through a Trusted Traveler Program such as Clear, NEXUS, Global Entry, or TSA PreCheck. This can extend the boarding process by 15 to 45 minutes (or longer), which is always frustrating if you’re running on a tight schedule.
While some groups of travelers are all too familiar with being flagged for invasive TSA screenings, others glide through security without a hitch—that’s when an SSSS code comes as a real shock.
Despite having visited more than 90 countries, I never encountered an SSSS boarding pass until my husband and I returned from a month-long trip to Turkey and the Republic of Georgia in 2021. Our journey back started smoothly enough—we flew directly from Istanbul to Dallas and breezed through immigration without any issue.
The trouble began immediately afterward: We were SSSS’d flying from Dallas to Minneapolis, from Minneapolis to New Orleans, and from New Orleans back to Minneapolis. Each time, the first sign of a problem was our inability to check in online or at a self-service kiosk. It wasn’t until an airline agent printed our boarding passes that we saw it: the dreaded SSSS.
The TSA agent who scanned our boarding passes asked us to step aside while he radioed his supervisor. “We got a quad,” he said. That’s TSA shorthand for SSSS.
The screening was extensive: My husband and I were separated from our shoes, coats, and electronics; asked to pass through a metal detector and body scanner; and then subjected to a full-body pat down. Our hands and feet were swabbed for trace explosives. Every inch of our carry-ons was unpacked and scrutinized; same for the checked luggage. The TSA agents were polite and professional, but the delay nearly caused us to miss one of our flights.
What triggers SSSS on a boarding pass?
“Years ago, you could travel like a rock star to wherever you liked, on short notice, with no itinerary, pay in cash, stay overnight in party destinations, and do it all on a one-way ticket,” says Frank Harrison, Regional Security Director, Americas at World Travel Protection. “The world has changed.”
One common misconception, says Harrison, is that national aviation authorities like the TSA are the first screening line for passengers. It’s actually the airline. “When you book a plane ticket in today’s digitized world, your airline submits your name, gender, and date of birth to the TSA for clearance,” he says. “Airlines are motivated to ensure you are TSA-approved before you take to the skies [because] there are fines for allowing uncleared passengers onto aircraft.”
