Secrets Airlines Don't Want You to Know

Airline secrets NEVER told yo Passengers

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// ABOUT

Welcome to Portable Professional: your go-to resource for stress-free travel. I’m Megan, and I’m here to share my tips and tricks from 300+ flights to help you feel confident about your travels while making the most of every trip.

Join over 5,000 travelers diving into smart travel secrets, receiving personalized advice, and uncovering savvy hacks.

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[PortableProfessional]

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[deadeye]

I worked for Frontier Airlines for several years as a Customer Service Agent, and had to park the plane after it landed. One night I had gotten the plane parked, the passengers offloaded, and was walking with the crew back through the terminal. Suddenly, the pilot collapsed and was lying on the floor. Turns out that he had food poising and was reacting badly to it. We got some airport medical people to look at him. Turns out that he as okay the next morning, but it would have been very interesting if that had happened when the plane was still in the air. However, the copilot was fine, so that rule about the pilot and copilot not eating the same thing really does make sense.

[Kwippy]

Something I learnt recently. If you are a medical person, in the rare event that you are called upon to help a sick passenger, all airlines are required to carry a life-saving kit containing many things you might need to save a life, like defibrillator, adrenaline, airway etc.
Another thing, many years ago if you tried to administer medical help to someone, you ran a risk of being sued for malpractice. Nowadays Good Samaritan laws protect you from that

[glendevitt]

I flew frequently between IND and PHX and was selected for the SSSS designation several times. For me, arriving early and being prepared and cooperative with TSA provided and uneventful experience. However, almost every time I was escorted and corralled for additional screening there seemed to always be someone being uncooperative. This rarely turned out in their favor. A few times I saw people escorted away with security and they missed the flight. I can't say I was thrilled to see the designation on my boarding pass, but it never really caused me any problems.

[RogersMgmtGroup]

Since getting an artificial leg I’ve learned to now tell the screeners they will be doing secondary screening. I also roll up my pant leg so it is obvious and I say I’m setting off the metal detector. Being very open about it makes for a pleasant experience.

[dave]

I'm retired now and absolutely try to avoid flying if possible. I used to fly a couple of times a year, usually business and sometimes leisure. I was flying out of Louisville, Kentucky when I was told I had been "randomly" chosen for a more thorough search. I told the guy that I wasn't upset, I wasn't complaining but, I had been "randomly" selected the last six times I had flown.

[EmpireRules]

Great information. I believe the food quality applies generally for cheap airlines such as airlines in the United States. However, if you fly Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, etc., they take their dining experience into an entirely different level. Read more about how their foods are prepared.

[shubhadadharwadkar]

I always tear my boarding cards and discard them once back home. Dont trust hotel room dustbins for that. For thst matter i do the same with luggage tags. They have bar codes with your info. Thanks Megan for the useful info

[michelleh]

Great info! I have gotten that SSSS a few times, mostly when flying back to the US (on a USA based airline) from Central America. I'm pretty convinced that this happens because I have a substantial number of visible tattoos which isn't as common in many places I travel. I fly with camera gear, so it's a real pain to have them take everything out of the bag and then try to repack it before they rush me out of the security area. The security person in Belize dropped my laptop the last time and I was pretty annoyed about that. Fortunately it remained intact. The funny thing is that my husband has never gotten the SSSS. We fly together, always first class with priority access and we're Trusted Travelers. So, lest anyone think that flying first class or having the TT card helps to avoid the extra security - it doesn't.

[edmew]

When I use to travel regularly for work, I’ve gotten the SSSS a few times and wondered if that’s why I got pulled for secondary inspections. Eventually I figured that out for myself and a few times got preferential treatment cause of it. Instead of the long queues to get screened, I got the much shorter line for screening and priority boarding sometimes too.

[sajankairon]

Such a helpful channel with credible information. Thanks a lot, Megan!

[itsnotme]

Learned some new stuff Megan! Thanks for the info! Makes total sense that there would be a list of co-pilots/pilots that Captains don't want to work with. Sadly we all can't always just get along.

[patraic]

On those occasions when I've flown I've asked for an emergency exit seat. At the very least I confirm where the nearest exit is so I can' find it by feel if I have to. I'm a Man over 6'3" tall and in good health. I know I can get that E exit door open and help people out. It's a bit frustrating to me to see people who are not physically capable of acting in the case of an emergency where they can't do what's needed. This isn't a crack on disability. I've worked with disabled kids most of my adult life. The nicest group of people as a whole you will ever meet. It's pure practicality that in the event of the unthinkable there just isn't time to accommodate anything.

[michelepineau]

Never paid attention to codes on my tickets, but had the secondary security check twice in 40 odd years of travel. As for the rear of the plane being the safest, many years ago we joked that smokers would survive crashes ( I was one at the time) as they were always at the "back of the bus" on flights.

[franc]

I've flown from Paris to Martinique and back with Air Caraïbes. Personally I found that the food was very good and generally I found the cabin staff looked after us very well.

[SheriWinston]

You always come up with information that I've never heard from anyone else before. I had no idea that our sense of smell and taste is reduced when we're in the airplane.
Plus, I have always wondered why they want us to open our window shades. Of course, you have the answer!
I'm a big NO on airplane food. I got sick after eating airplane food once and since then I try to always bring my own food. I just don't trust what they're serving.

[luvwire]

YES!!! I wish the Do Not Pair system was in place at my job

[drescherjm]

I had the SSSS code once and it caused me to be pulled aside (and had the full wand / pat down / go through everything I had with me) 3 times on a trip from Pittsburgh to Mexico with 1 stop in Charlotte. It was very annoying. I think I triggered this by being very sleepy when I was at the gate. It was before 6:00 AM and I am very much not a morning person. I always have coffee first thing in the AM but don't do so if I am flying so that I can try to sleep a little on the flight.

[aidancoyle]

I used to fly regularly between Ireland and the U.S. with my family. We never ate the airline food, what we did instead was make our own deli sandwiches and bring our own snacks. It was always funny listening to the other passengers say “why didn’t we think of that”?

[ArizonaAirspace]

Avoid pilot pairing list is real. It was in place when I flew as an airline captain for a US carrier. Usually it was available for First officers to list captains they want to avoid flying with due to prior bad experiences. It was not available to Captains to avoid First Officers when I was an airline pilot.