Everything You Need to Know Before Going Through Airport Security

According to investigative reporter Peter Greenberg, one surefire way to get through security is to avoid lines monitored by multiple agents. This, more than actual line length, will determine how quickly the line moves. Greenberg explains that lines in which several agents are watching one monitor indicate that one of them is in training, meaning that every single bag in the line may be inspected for a few minutes as part of the training process. Even a significantly longer line will probably move more quickly than one that gets searched in this way.

Well, you can't fly without being identifiable, but you can fly if you do possess ID and just happened to leave it at home. The TSA tries to make allowances for people who forget their identification and will give you a chance to give them enough personal information to confirm who you are. They'll also ask you some additional questions and potentially screen you more than most, but if they can determine that you are who you say you are, you can still fly without your ID.

The FDA sets a limit on the allowable output from the scanners passengers are forced to go through. And, while airports formerly used X-rays, many now use a device called a millimeter wave unit. In any case, the national standard requires that an X-ray screening system deliver less radiation than four minutes of airline flight, and the TSA went beyond that standard and set its own to two minutes of flight. Incidentally, since existing on the Earth exposes you to ionizing radiation everyday anyway, you get the same dose from an X-ray scanner that you get from 42 minutes of daily life.

It is obviously not advisable to test the TSA on this matter, but the Agency's goal is security, not looking for other contraband. Technically, officers are supposed to refer anything that looks like drugs to law enforcement, but the Agency also says outright on its website that officers don't specifically look for them. And then there's the story of rapper Freddie Gibbs, who allegedly went through security with marijuana in his checked luggage, leading the inspecting officer to leave him a note that just said "C'mon, son." That said, if you do plan on sneaking weed through security, you probably shouldn't conceal it inside of a grenade.

Apparently, cheese is "indistinguishable" from explosives when viewed through the X-ray machine. (So is sausage.) This may explain how a Boston passenger heading through security with a block of cheese and a cell phone charger was classified as a potential terroristic "dry run." The lesson here is that if you're going through security with any ominous foodstuffs in your luggage, you should probably just remove them first and let them be examined separately.

The TSA's Screening Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT) program has been pretty heavily criticized. A psychologist specializing in lie detection described the 'terrorist tells' that the TSA looks for in the process as "behaviors [that] have no established link to deception whatsoever." But whether or not they're correct to look for these behaviors, officers may come up and talk to you, usually asking something simple like "So where are you going today," and they're not really interested in your answer so much as how you answer. Traveling is exhausting, but anyone asking you questions like this in the security lines just wants to make sure you're able to respond without showing undue fear, aggression, or anything else not expected of a typical traveler.