http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/experts-warn-about-security-flaws-in-airline-boarding-passes/2012/10/23/ed408c80-1d3c-11e2-b647-bb1668e64058_story.html

The last time we flew home, I got the “random selection” to be extra screened which was very annoying.

It started when I went through the security theatre, the agent pointed out that I had a “DDD” printed on my boarding card, which means that I was subjected to additional security checks. This required the full pat down, as well as the swabbing of my laptop, inside bag, hands, clothes. Successfully passsed this test, and proceeded to the gate. Overall it took around 2 to 3 times longer than it usually does.

At the gate, the agent said because I had the DDD on the boarding pass, I needed to have the extra screening done by security, and as a result they needed to stamp my boarding card to state that it was done. They of course did the screening but forgot to stamp my boarding card, so back to security to be re-screened. I was a bit smarter this round of screening, and left all my bags with my wife so they wouldn’t have to re-test everything. The airline agent was rather confused by the fact that my wife and I shared bags on the airline, and that I did not have my bag and she did not have hers — “but which bag is yours? Security needs to scan your bag”, “I dont have a bag, they both belong to my wife”.

My observation at the time was, if I had a bit of white out or some way to remove the “DDD” from my boarding card, this wouldnt have happened. In the future, if I get a DDD on the boarding card, I will have to go to the restaurant first and spill a bit of grease on the spot with the DDD to remove the thermal transfer marks, and save me a bit of time!

I thought it interesting that they let me know “because of the DDD on the card” – in other words if you wanted to smuggle stuff onto a plane, check your boarding card. If it has a DDD on it, maybe today is not the day and try again tomorrow, or book your tickets in a pair. My wife and I booked together, but only I was randomly selected — any suspicious items I could have given to my wife to bring onto the plane.