Do you even realise what Securicor do?

Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a Securicor agent rub the cover of my passport between his thumb and forefinger... maybe checking to see if it felt right...

I think its great that VS goes above and beyond in terms of security... especially since they don't do it in a way that inconveniences passengers or slows down the checkin process.

Just curious... do the Virgin Atlantic Security stickers tht go on the back of the passport change every day, except for the date? All of mine look the same...

Way to go VS... keep up the great work of keeping our skies safe!

[preiffer]

Originally posted by webdes03
Just curious... do the Virgin Atlantic Security stickers tht go on the back of the passport change every day, except for the date? All of mine look the same...

There are about 2 or 3 "designs" of sticker, but they stay the same throughout the batch in use in each station. Some are plain red with a white box, some have the hatched lines through them, and I have one weird type on the back of mine.

Some stations (LHR for example) use date stamps, whereas others (SFO) use letters to indicate the day it was checked.

Well I learn so much from this site, didn't even know they were from Securicor in the first place, I do know I always feel like a guilty naughty boy when they check my stuff, but thats just me I guess:D

[mitchja]

My only comment regarding the Securicor staff is that they really do need to man their posts more, as there have been several times when I've waited and waited for them at check-in. I've even been stood at the check-in desk with the agent waiting to hand me my boarding card before my passport has been checked. Obviously the agent would not hand over my BC until the checks had been performed.

Regards

I work on medical research projects and have always managed to take blood samples as well as used needles and syringes in my hand luggage on flights, though I havent tried to do this with Virgin. Airline check in staff always say I will need to report it to the security screeners, I never have and have never had my bag pulled out. You would think that a used blood covered needle would be a bit of a threat but no one seems to bother too much.

[buns]

VS Lover

You make a valid point about the vital role Securicor plays - it is easy for us to forget that "duff" passports can cost an airline dear and that even the simple questions can assist with profiling pax.

In addition, we should not forget that this was H M Government's ploy to pass the responsibilty for checking passports on to the carriers[V]

Buns

Originally posted by mungo
You would think that a used blood covered needle would be a bit of a threat but no one seems to bother too much.

I would think that a blood covered needle would be unsanitary, and considering that you're supposed to throw out the needles after you use them (for fear of spreading disease), your situation seems a tad suspicious..

The need for the Securicor checks is two fold really.

The airlines get some punishing fines for carrying a pax who doesn't have the correct documents. In the UK it is £2000 per passenger and the US has its own set of fines too. One Y pax without a proper passport is a bad revenue stream for the airline!

The other reason (without saying too much) is that the UK and US security regulations require various airport checks and this one is one of the more visible ones.

Hi
Not suspicious at all. My used equipment is carries in a bright yellow medical sharpes bin with all the right warnings written on it to be disposed of safely not left to be disposed of in the garbage at someones house. But still no one at security has looked at any of it.
I guess it is just not considered dangerous.

with those signs on prehaps they are not allowed to check it, you may be transporting a virus in your secure case and also health and safety regulations apply to all workers, your samples could have HIV in them.

Originally posted by mungo
Hi
Not suspicious at all. My used equipment is carries in a bright yellow medical sharpes bin with all the right warnings written on it to be disposed of safely not left to be disposed of in the garbage at someones house. But still no one at security has looked at any of it.
I guess it is just not considered dangerous.

Oh ok, hehe, from your original post it sounded as if you just put them in your normal carryon luggage. Now that would be a tad suspicious.

The point is that no one has bothered to find out if I am carrying them securely. They are inside my carry on back pack, they are carried securely but does security or any one else know that unless they check. They never have. Someone else could be carrying something equally unpleasant but not correctly.

Also airlines are responsible to fly pax home if they are not allowed into the destination country
This cost is in addition of any fines etc.

Given the number of passports throughout the world how can these agents spot fakes?

OK the main countries should be easy to spot as they see a lot of them but a passport from Malta or Malaysia etc would be far less common.

I wonder how they check these?

Originally posted by Jonathan
OK the main countries should be easy to spot as they see a lot of them but a passport from Malta or Malaysia etc would be far less common.

I wonder how they check these?

There's probably a special type of paper that is used universally for all passports in all countries. Kind of like the paper used for a American dollars, it's almost impossible to forge because it uses a type of paper with fibers in it, made by only one company.

I kind of doubt that.

Most countries will use their own internal suppliers; probably the same people that print their banknotes.

Oh, and I know that UK prints a lot of overseas banknotes - but not all.

Originally posted by mike-smashing
Maybe if they had some sort of wi-fi terminal linked into the VS computer, so they could swipe your FC card, and/or your passport, or an ATB paper ticket, and check that you do have a reservation on a departing flight that day - then those of us on e-tickets don't have to remember to carry the bit of paper with us.

The whole point of e-tickets is that it's supposed to be less paper for everyone .

I doubt VS will evecer get rid of asking for e-ticket reciepts - they say so much about you it's untrue - that's the info Securicor are looking for.

To whoever used Maletese and Malyasian passports as an example - believe me they know when there is a forgery. Even if the one Securicor agent is doubtful they'll bring in a supervisor. It would be ineffecient to employ them if they could only view UK/US passports. Only today i saw passports from Fiji, Taipei, Senegal, Iran, Korea, Columbia, Ghana and many more. Most were old and tatty with extension after extension stamped in them and hand written details.

I'm not sure if UA do use an external security agency but if they don't, it's probably because most of thier pax are on UK/US passports or have green cards. They only fly to the states from LHR so naturally most of their passengers will have these types of documents.

And as for syringes, that's not for Securicor to decide, that's VS and the BAA.

I'm glad people now appreciate how vital they are. We'd go out of business for the amount of fines we'd get if they weren't there to pick up on things. It simply would be too much for the check in agents to remember.

[preiffer]

Originally posted by mike-smashing
The whole point of e-tickets is that it's supposed to be less paper for everyone .

Actually, that's not the case. I could explain it here, but I believe this post from GoldCircle on the BMI section of FT explains it extremely well.

The PRIMARY benefit of E-Tickets is to the airlines - not the passengers. It just offers us an easier way of life, at the same time

Originally posted by VS_Lover
[We'd go out of business for the amount of fines we'd get if they weren't there to pick up on things. It simply would be too much for the check in agents to remember.

VS_Lover - That suggests you must turn away quite a few passengers every day at the initial security check?

Originally posted by preiffer

Originally posted by VS_Lover
[We'd go out of business for the amount of fines we'd get if they weren't there to pick up on things. It simply would be too much for the check in agents to remember.

VS_Lover - That suggests you must turn away quite a few passengers every day at the initial security check?

Correct. It's not scores of people but when you calculate the fines, which range from light to hefty depending on whats happened and flying the passenger back, it'd hit the airline hard. Plus if it keeps happening to a specific country they can take the license away to fly there