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Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

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101–110 of 128 posts

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#101
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last few years I have been flying, my ID has been checked before entering the security check. This was a recent change introduced a few years ago. I presume this is done everywhere in Europe.

same experience here and I'm also all over Europe. The time when you could just fly without hassle only lasted a few years. Now I have to look into the empty eyes of some dweeb wanting to check my passport like I'm entering Beirut in 1982. I feel obliged to thank them out of artificial politeness but really want to just ask them why they had to get a job that allows them to display power. Not that these checks ever p…

> I feel obliged to thank them out of artificial politeness but really want to just ask them why they had to get a job that allows them to display power.

Maybe it was the only job they could find at the time. Not everyone in the world is insufferably cynical like the HN crowd.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#102
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do not need a passport although you can use one. A driver’s license or other government issued ID is sufficient. It may even be possible to fly without an ID, like if it was stolen or lost, but it would be a holy mess. The comedian Hannibal Burress has a funny bit about it.

You can travel without any ID just fine, evidence of EU (or EEA?) citizenship is sufficient.

Wouldn't evidence of EU citizenship be and id or can you get a document that says that the carrier of the document is an EU citizen without any identifying information about the carrier?

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once managed to board the wrong plane but I was recorded as being on the other plane. I was checked into the other plane, so they couldn't take off without me, and the plane I was on had to let me off. It was a huge fiasco; I had to get off the plane after it left the gate, hitch a ride with security to the correct plane. I got chewed out by both pilots... security held me in the back of the car asking me how I did…

This is the kind of thing where an airline only has itself to blame. It's disheartening that the people tasked to pilot both aircraft took issue with your actions when their own company's inept error handling was at fault.

It turns out it’s really hard to believe someone is on the wrong plane by accident. Initially, I was accused of trying to sneak on the plane. It was an international flight.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#104
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're associated with the Belarus KGB it's probably not too hard to have some passengers suddenly missing their flight for one or another reason. Probably they don't even need to buy a ticket, flash your badge at the airport and most guards/staff there lets you through.

Seems like a great way to get detained by Greek airport security. I do not see why Greek airport staff would do anything other than call security when someone flashes a KGB badge.

LOL do you think they actually carry badges? That would be quite incriminating.

Instead, it’s more like they are carrying fake passports issued by the Russian Federation. But, one likely would not get caught traveling on a fake passport issued by their country’s government’s spy service, unless they had already travelled on another (perhaps legit) passport abroad (Russia has internal passports too) that has fingerprint information in combination with a photo of the individual. This drastically reduces false negatives when things like this need to be flagged.

My US passport only contains a photo as biometric information, while my European Union passport contains fingerprints and my photo as biometric information.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cultural difference between the US and Europe is very interesting. In the US, when a flight is overbooked, the airline is allowed to bump anyone if they provide good enough compensation. Usually what happens is the airline “auctions” being bumped where they keep upping the “benefit” for staying. Usually that’s just a voucher for the next flight out, a gift card for the future, and a nights stay in a hotel. “We’re…

I’m sure they have a list of VIPs, but just “frequent flyer” seniority is a good proxy that sorts the powerful from the plebs.

Just curious, but why wouldn’t one expect reliably repeat customers to be treated with increased consideration in these circumstances?

Seems to me this is true in pretty much every industry, yet for some reason with flights, certain folks (likely not the FFers) get very upset to realize their price sensitivity/lack of airline stickiness moved them to the back of the line.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#106
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a common misconception. Telegram private chats are by default not e2e encrypted (but you can create a separate "secret chat", which will be).

Really? What does it mean in practical terms? Anyone can see my chats? Is it worst than Whatsapp in that sense? I understand (again) that WA is e2e encrypted by default? Thanks!

Whatsapp has a nag screen about backups on like every other startup and the backups are plaintext in Google Drive (not sure about the iOS version). So if your contacts just use the defaults you are not better off.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#107
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? What does it mean in practical terms? Anyone can see my chats? Is it worst than Whatsapp in that sense? I understand (again) that WA is e2e encrypted by default? Thanks!

Quoted from article [1] on how someone 'hacked' some Brazil politicians: "A hacker with little technical skill and no specialized equipment could, it turned out, do quite a bit of damage with access to someone's voicemail. Delgatti, for instance, figured out he could use this VoIP spoofing technique to target Telegram accounts. At the time, when a Telegram user wanted to attach their account to a new device, they had…

> Also at least in android, WhatsApp automatically stores all received/sent pics, videos etc in a folder named WhatsApp

Note that this is true even for unread messages, including messages in group chats.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure they have a list of VIPs, but just “frequent flyer” seniority is a good proxy that sorts the powerful from the plebs.

Just curious, but why wouldn’t one expect reliably repeat customers to be treated with increased consideration in these circumstances? Seems to me this is true in pretty much every industry, yet for some reason with flights, certain folks (likely not the FFers) get very upset to realize their price sensitivity/lack of airline stickiness moved them to the back of the line.

Can go both ways. The non-loyal flyers may never book with you again if they don’t get what they want.

A lot of the FFers don’t have much freedom in their booking, and are in too deep in the FF program to switch preferred airlines now.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#109
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they do? You have to pay any open fines before you leave the country. At least that's how it works here.

Nah. First they make the car rental company figure out who you were, so they can late charge your credit card for their trouble. Then they wait an year or so before figuring out where you live, before mailing the invoice to you, so they can claim 2x to 4x late fees in addition to the original fine. And then you have to go through the trouble of contacting them to figure out if it's a real claim, or just someone tryin…

I was on a trip in 2019 where some members of the group were stopped at the airport terminal to pay minor traffic fines (crosswalk stuff, iirc). They weren't allowed to depart until they paid.

Re: Do countries get the list of every passenger that's transiting their airspace?

#110
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Within the EU, flights rarely get overbooked. Especially on cheap flights like with Ryanair, the reimbursement that the airline has to provide in case of overbooking can easily be more than 10x the ticket value.

The cultural difference between the US and Europe is very interesting. In the US, when a flight is overbooked, the airline is allowed to bump anyone if they provide good enough compensation. Usually what happens is the airline “auctions” being bumped where they keep upping the “benefit” for staying. Usually that’s just a voucher for the next flight out, a gift card for the future, and a nights stay in a hotel. “We’re…

As someone that's taken these offers before I think you're making a lot of assumptions. Yes there's some people on the plane with important business but on a plane with a 100+ people it's exceedingly likely there's also people casually travelling. $500+ in airline credit to move their flight to the morning is a real deal.

Personally I'd rather be in this system and pay lower airfare prices than pay a premium to guarantee I'll never be bumped off my flight.

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