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Comment by narkee | Hacker News Reader

I don't know about the US, but this definitely doesn't work in Canada.

The the gate agents definitely always check ID with the boarding pass.

That's not the point... John Doe buys a plane ticket and gets an electronic boarding pass — John uses Chrome Developer Tools or Firebug to change John Doe to Jane Terrorist. John Doe's name is checked against terrorism watch lists, but Jane Terrorist's name isn't. Jane Terrorist then presents a boarding pass with her actual name and she has an ID showing her name is Jane Terrorist. The TSA agents don't check terrorism watch lists at the checkpoint.

tl;dr: You can alter a boarding pass and circumvent the entire watch list process.

You can alter the ticket, but they check it to see that it matches your ID. So, using this method you would ALSO have to edit your ID

You're missing the point - the TSA watch list is checked with the name you bought the flight under. You can then change that name to the name that matches your ID. The TSA does not check your name against the watch list when you go up to their booth; they only verify that the two documents match (where one of the documents is essentially fabricated).

Yes, but the point is you have to buy a ticket with your real name. You can't board the plane unless the ticket is in your name. If it is in your name, you get stopped at check-in.

You can buy the ticket under whatever name you like. Identity is verified at security, and you can edit the boarding pass to match your real name.

I can't believe the point isn't getting through. I'll take my shot at it.

--------

A is on the no-fly list. He is trying to fly.

B is not. The airline Computer expects B.

A brings the following things with him to the airport: ID A, Ticket A, Ticket B

Security: Ticket A vs ID A

Boarding (America): Ticket B vs Computer (B)

Boarding (Canada): Ticket B vs Computer (B)... vs ID A

In Canada (and Europe), the gate agents check your BP against their list (in fact they just scan the 2DBC and it boards you in the DCS system) and your ID. So you would get stopped at the gate.

If I turn down the lights, squint, and pretend I'm a U.S. senator from Texas I read that as "John uses <illegal hacking tools that should be outlawed> to change..."

Second that -- my gf and I were actually shocked, when on a recent trip to the States (took about 7 flights in total) where the person at the gate only checked the boarding passes and not photo ID! We have added security up here because of the States, it seems like a lapse to not do this themselves. For example, when you board a flight to/from Canada, you have to show the boarding pass and photo ID, the person at the gate scans the ticket to see if everything checks out.

  > when you board a flight to/from Canada, you have
  > to show the boarding pass and photo ID

They are looking to make sure that you have your passport more than looking for 'photo ID.' I flew into Canada over Xmas and they were specifically looking for your passport. Probably to make sure that there won't be any obvious gaffs once you land.

That said, on the domestic flight I took the TSA was at the boarding gate 'randomly' checking people as they were getting on the flight. So not everyone got checked for photo ID, but some people did.

Makes sense about checking the passport flying international ;) I guess I should have said that flying domestic you also are required to show photo ID. I'm not saying it never happens down there, but on the flights we boarded, we never had ours checked and it just seemed out of the norm for what we're used to.

No, it is not just that, it is a cultural thing. I recently did a long trip through South America, and only had one-way ticket to Ecuador. Canadian check-in agent refused to give us boarding pass citing an _Ecuadorian_ rule that you have to have a ticket out of Ecuador to be admitted. I had to buy two fully-refundable tickets from Ecuador to Mexico (based on cheapest price and the fact that Mexico does not ask such things).

And of course, neither Ecuador nor any of the other South American countries with the same formal rule ever asked us for the return ticket. Why would they?! Most people travel on buses between countries anyway. But Canada does not care, it sticks to the rule.

<sarcasm>No one in the US would ever be a terrorist</sarcasm>

I have heard that if someone flies into a country on Your Airline Inc., and is denied entry, it's the financial responsibility of Your Airline Inc. to take them back to where they come from.

I've not only had my passport, but visas, checked at check-in, flying into Canada from the US.

Looking at the web for a citation, it seems this may just be a Canadian regulation: http://www.passengerprotect.gc.ca/home.html

This was certainly the case for Etihad when I flew from Dublin => Sydney last year. Of course, the airline managed to not notice the problem with my passport/visa until I was Abu Dhabi and Sydney said "Do not let him on the plane". The airline security representative told me if I had managed to get to Australia, the Sydney visa office would have forced the airline to return me to Ireland on the next flight.

This triggered 3 days of dealing with the US embassy in Abu Dhabi, but that's another story. :)

Last time I flew to Australia I paid $45 and got one of their electronic visas; it was a 15 minute process. My departure was from Singapore and I assumed, wrongly, that Australia was a member of the VFW program.

Why would the US embassy be involved? This seemed like a matter between you, the airline and Australia.

It could have been a problem with his Passport (e.g. within six months of expiring).

Sorry for the late reply, but yes it was a problem with my passport (it was wrongly reported as being stolen). When checking in in Dublin, the airline employee checking me in mentioned something about my passport but we were allowed on the plane anyway.

FYI, I was traveling on a 457 visa as part of my new job.

Canada also requires photo ID at gate on domestic flights

>I have heard that if someone flies into a country on Your Airline Inc., and is denied entry, it's the financial responsibility of Your Airline Inc. to take them back to where they come from.

It's been this way for over 100 years. If someone was denied entry at say Ellis Island, it would be the steamship co.'s responsibility to get them back at no cost to the passenger.

Not just Canadian. Amsterdam airport has extra security theatre where they ask you a bunch of really dumb questions because the United States mandated such questions be asked, and then verify your boarding pass and ID against the flight manifest (good thing!)

In the US you are not required to have id to fly. e.g. http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~daw/faa/noid.html

I hope it'd be illegal in the US to require it, not sure though.

It's not a legal requirement, but most airlines have required one for years to prevent secondary sales of tickets.

Then it's the airlines job to check the id, not the TSA.

Legally you are correct, but I've tried this, and been unable to manage it. Despite asking politely in a couple different ways, the TSA agent would say no words to me except "You need ID".

I'm told by people who know that it possibly would have worked to lie and say I didn't have ID on me, but I didn't have the guts to try lying to federal agents.

My aunt lost her drivers license but was able to fly (roundtrip AZ to VA) by being polite, patient and by having a wallet full of other cards with her name on it.

Surprisingly, the key card that let her board was her Costco card as it had her photo on it and that was an acceptable form of ID.

Note, that cards picture is like 13x20 pixels b&w

I had my wallet stolen once, and the TSA agent asked if I had a text message on my phone that included my name. Apparently, that was enough ID for him...

That's interesting but not very surprising. I would say that's traveling with alternate ID (or unofficial ID), not flying with no ID. It sounds like she would not have been allowed to fly without ID.

I had a similar experience. I was taking a flight home from Arizona, and the TSA agent stopped me because my drivers license was expired. He let me board because my Sam's Club card (which I don't believe has an expiration date) had my photo on it (a TINY Black and white picture).

Not sure how I would have renewed my license from out of state, if they didn't let me on the plane. I'm pretty sure I couldn't rent a car and drive home!

You mean "federal screeners". Using terms like "agent", or the official term, "officers", implies they have powers they do not have (yet).

Unless you're late. I've rushed onto the plane at the last minute a couple times, and they have consistently failed to check my ID each time.

I was late for a United flight several months ago; when I boarded the plane, they did not scan my boarding pass. They still found a seat for me, but without scanning my boarding pass, United assumed I didn't make the flight. My flight from LAX back to Chicago was cancelled and I had to fight for two hours on the phone with United customer care to convince them that, yes, I indeed did fly their equipment to LAX and still should permitted to fly my return ticket home.

Air Canada's requirements specify that they require gov't issued ID, but they don't specify which gov't. Would a gate agent be able to identify and verify the authenticity of an arbitrary ID card from a distant country?

Probably not - I wouldn't expect them to, anyway.

Every time I visit Canada, I'm required to show my ticket and my passport (which is printed in both Arabic and English) when leaving.

I experimented with this, and have flown within Canada with a foreign (non-US, non-European) driving license. There was no verification other than checking the name matched the boarding pass, if I remember correctly.

In the days not long after 9/11, they used to check the ID both at the screening checkpoint and the gate, but in the last several (5+), they don't check at the gate. I'd assume it's a time-saving measure, but it does totally defeat the point of checking.

If only there were some way to... how do you phrase it... manufacture a fake ID? If only that were possible, then this could be done anywhere!

It's too bad, though, about how impossible it is to make a fake ID.

In Australia I can get on domestic flights without ever showing anyone my ID.

Yup, in Canada they check ID EVERY time you present your ticket.

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