According to this article at Snopes, you can be tagged for additional security scrutiny at an aiprort based on how you paid for your ticket.
This concerns me, because though I have nothing to hide, I don’t have a credit card, so any airline purchases I make will have to be done in cash. I think that would raise a red flag in the FBI’s database…
So what’s the Straight Dope? What means of paying for an airline ticket flag one for additional security?
I don’t think that the FBI receives an alarm whenever somebody buys a ticket with cash money, but it may be helpful for the airlines to be able to develop a profile of passengers who’s bags they might want to dig into a little more deeply.
The profile seems to be that people who are likely to commit crimes will also be more likely to carry their assets in as liquid a form as possible. Drug pushers & push-ees being one example that springs to mind. If the deal falls through, you still have cash in your pocket that can be used anywhere, as opposed to a credit card that can be used only with law-abiding businesses.
The aforementioned ugly “P” word usually comes with a stigma of violated civil liberties. Not so in this case- it is a profile of habits or behaviors that any race or religion can exhibit.
A friend of mine takes odd jobs since his wife is a “travel nurse” and they change cities every three months. He has worked booking flights. We were chatting about how I would move my vehicles to Washington and I said I may have to leave one and then fly down to get it. He told me to look into return tickets, as they can be cheaper than one-way tickets. (Don’t tell the booking agent though, as they often won’t sell you a return ticket if you intend to use only half of it.) I joked that I should buy a one-way ticket with cash and with no luggage. He said I could also wear robes and dark glasses and try to carry weapons on board. He said that cash/one way/no luggage is a flag.