Eight secrets that airports do not want …

The management of an airport is a very demanding task that requires the use of many resources, both human and technological. Often hidden behind security, airports hide tactics of control that travelers do not know. On the other hand, security personnel are not foolproof and make mistakes, both fortuitous and deliberate.

When a traveler arrives at an airport, he wants everything to go well and that the plane goes off without major incident. However, it's never bad to know those secrets that airports prefer we do not know. In this list, we present some of the most curious.

1. Bar codes that warn of the dangerousness of the traveler

When we check in our luggage, the airline places a barcode that aims for automatic identification to facilitate its management. Without them, the loss of luggage would be (always) more frequent. However, some airports place additional tags both in our luggage and in our pbadport, the meaning of which we sometimes do not know.

These alternative barcodes sometimes hide security information about the traveler. If the security screening staff feels that a traveler is potentially dangerous, he can insert a special code in his suitcase or personal belongings to facilitate tracking.

2. Face recognition to follow the traveler

More and more airports, especially in the United States, are incorporating facial recognition scanners. These systems could be the future when boarding. It is badumed that the image taken by the scanner is used to compare with what we have in our pbadport. This is therefore a way to speed up the boarding and checking immigration, but it is also used to detect fake pbadports.

But the possibilities of control by means of a facial scanner are immense: these images could come up with special security software to detect crimes or to track the traveler throughout his stay in the country.

3. The airport control staff could steal you

When you enter an airport, the last thing you think is to beware of security personnel. But they could also rob you. According to ABC, between 2003 and 2012, 381 members of the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were fired for stealing travelers. There is the case of an officer who stole $ 800,000 during the four years he worked in Newark. And then we ask ourselves: who is responsible for controlling the controllers at an airport?

4. In the Duty Free the cheap can be expensive

Do we really need everything we buy at airport stores while we wait patiently to board? Merchants know it as "golden hour" (magical hour): this is the moment when the traveler is more predisposed to pulling out his wallet and wasting his money. It is the vacationers who tend to be more enthusiastic and buy products without much appreciation of the cost. But no, in the Duty Free, all that glitters is not gold.

5. Your bags are not treated with a lot of affection

Have you had checked baggage security inspections? When you receive your suitcase, you notice that something does not fit your fate. You open it and you discover an opinion of the security service. If, at the time of pbading the scanner, they detect something suspicious, they will open your suitcase to look for it: and they will not be very careful.

Also, it is better not to attend the processing of luggage in automated baggage handling systems. Airport employees will not take into account the fact that you are wearing a vase of the Ming Dynasty and if they have to throw your suitcase to the ribbon or the cargo hold, they will do it without regard.

6. Your lost luggage, at auction

To all travelers, we must lose a suitcase sooner or later. Fortunately, most of the time, we received it after a few hours. But what happens to these suitcases that go to limbo?

In the United States, for example, where they like auctions a lot, they organize this type of event from time to time with luggage lost or not recovered by their owners. Bidders pay a fixed amount to enter the auction. Sometimes you get a bid for closed bags, without knowing what's in it. Now, you know, your lost Ming vase decorates the house of an auction specialist.

7. The conversation with an immigration officer is never occasional

"And what will you do in Bakersfield, if there is nothing there?" When an immigration officer wants to chat amicably, he does not try to bond you with friendship, but uses country communication strategies of arrival. Be sure to relax, check if you make mistakes or contradict yourself: "But before you tell me you had a friend in Bakersfield, do you have it or do not you? " you

8. At the slightest suspicion, "at the small room"

If the immigration officer detects an anomaly or suspicion, you will go to the so-called "small room" and pray that the process will not be too slow. There are many cases of travelers being detained for questioning because their name resembles that of a criminal. And explain that you have nothing to do with Chapo, even if your name is Joaquín Guzmán. If you have reached the small room, you must wait: you will have a juicy anecdote to tell when you go out … if you go out.

From Público.es