Airport security

Why You're Always 'Randomly Selected' For Additional Airport Screening

No matter how prepared you are, airport delays are inevitable. If your bag’s overweight, expect to take a few minutes just to unpack, redistribute your things, and re-pack again to appease an airline attendant. If there’s a line just to check-in, well, that could take an extra 30 minutes with the family of 12 ahead of you and several strollers in tow. And then, of course, there’s the security line.

Over on a recent Reddit thread, u/pooldoost described their frustration with so-called “random selections” for additional security screening. “Every time I travel domestically or internationally, I am ‘randomly selected’ around 70-80% of the time,” they write. “... I would love to hear what TSA/Airport Security agents think, as well as any tips to stop getting selected [because] it has literally become a joke.”

So what is this “enhanced security” process? Who gets chosen, and why? And how can you stop getting chosen, if you’re consistently targeted?