4 ms·

What would be better in this case? Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? I'm a pretty staunch libert

What would be better in this case? Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? I'm a pretty staunch libertarian and even I can see the benefit here. Until we reach the border-less, one-world utopia that so many people seem to be gunning for, it's valuable to know who is coming/going from your country.

hrehhf 10y ago
> Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? Yes.
ryanlol 10y ago
>Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? This is the reality in large parts of EU, I've flown several times without having my real name on the ticket. Hell, when I fly private it's even better. Show up at airport, meet pilot, get on the plane, hand the pilot a pile of cash. No passport control or security at any point, and this isn't just EU. So far no massive disasters have resulted from this.
- refurb 10y ago
  Hmmm... I've flow a ton in the EU and always had to show ID that matched the name on the ticket. I did fly in SE Asia a few times where no ID was required and the name didn't have to match.
  - ryanlol 10y ago
    >Hmmm... I've flow a ton in the EU and always had to show ID that matched the name on the ticket. Yeah, those are the rules. However, the only place where your passport and ticket will be compared is at the gate and they certainly never look very carefully.
icebraining 10y ago
At the very least, the DHS shouldn't have free reign over flights that don't actually go into, from or even over the US.
ptero 10y ago
Which, to me, is the point of the border checks. The country can request all the information it wants at this time from people who want to enter and refuse admission if they do not comply (or if it does not like what is sees). But this is separate from airline tickets, passenger manifests, etc.
u801e 10y ago
> Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? People can already do this when boarding a bus, boarding a train or riding in a taxi.
- JumpCrisscross 10y ago
  Buses, trains and taxis only threaten their occupants. Planes can be weaponised as missiles.
  - grzm 10y ago
    Ground-based vehicles can definitely be used as offensive weapons. Plenty of examples of people not in vehicles being injured. The truck used in the attack in Nice, France is a very clear example. Granted, it wasn't a transit vehicle, but there's no reason why one couldn't be.
    - JumpCrisscross 10y ago
      There's a psychological difference between taking out pedestrians and taking out a building.
      - grzm 10y ago
        Your claim was that taxis, buses, and trains couldn't be weaponized, not that there was a psychological difference between them. A bus or taxi can be run into a building as well. (I'll grant a train is different.)
      - dragonwriter 10y ago
        Ground vehicles have been used against buildings on numerous occasions, far more often than planes.
- closeparen 10y ago
  Amtrak and Greyhound require photo ID (though I've only had Amtrak ask to see it when paying cash), and taxis will not generally take you between cities. You could drive, but you will almost certainly pass some ALPR cameras. There is no anonymous long-distance transportation in the US.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
kalleboo 10y ago
For international flights, they already get this information from the immigration/border control. For domestic flights, there's no reason tickets can't be anonymous. Here in Japan tickets are sold cash and there are no ID checks on flights and the country seems to be doing fine on the security front.
- koolba 10y ago
  > For domestic flights, there's no reason tickets can't be anonymous. Here in Japan tickets are sold cash and there are no ID checks on flights and the country seems to be doing fine on the security front. You can board a (domestic) plane in Japan without giving your name?
  - kalleboo 10y ago
    I've only bought tickets online, where it does ask your name (and age), but you could just enter AAAAA AAAA, it's never checked by anyone.
  - realityking 10y ago
    You can in Europe (Schengen). ID controls can happen so you can't be 100% sure but other then that you could book a flight with whatever name you want and no one will notice.

hrehhf 10y ago

> Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? Yes.

ryanlol 10y ago

>Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? This is the reality in large parts of EU, I've flown several times without having my real name on the ticket. Hell, when I fly private it's even better. Show up at airport, meet pilot, get on the plane, hand the pilot a pile of cash. No passport control or security at any point, and this isn't just EU. So far no massive disasters have resulted from this.

refurb 10y ago
Hmmm... I've flow a ton in the EU and always had to show ID that matched the name on the ticket. I did fly in SE Asia a few times where no ID was required and the name didn't have to match.
- ryanlol 10y ago
  >Hmmm... I've flow a ton in the EU and always had to show ID that matched the name on the ticket. Yeah, those are the rules. However, the only place where your passport and ticket will be compared is at the gate and they certainly never look very carefully.

icebraining 10y ago

At the very least, the DHS shouldn't have free reign over flights that don't actually go into, from or even over the US.

ptero 10y ago

Which, to me, is the point of the border checks. The country can request all the information it wants at this time from people who want to enter and refuse admission if they do not comply (or if it does not like what is sees). But this is separate from airline tickets, passenger manifests, etc.

u801e 10y ago

> Should anyone be able to show up to an airport, pay for a ticket and board a flight anonymously? People can already do this when boarding a bus, boarding a train or riding in a taxi.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
Buses, trains and taxis only threaten their occupants. Planes can be weaponised as missiles.
- grzm 10y ago
  Ground-based vehicles can definitely be used as offensive weapons. Plenty of examples of people not in vehicles being injured. The truck used in the attack in Nice, France is a very clear example. Granted, it wasn't a transit vehicle, but there's no reason why one couldn't be.
  - JumpCrisscross 10y ago
    There's a psychological difference between taking out pedestrians and taking out a building.
    - grzm 10y ago
      Your claim was that taxis, buses, and trains couldn't be weaponized, not that there was a psychological difference between them. A bus or taxi can be run into a building as well. (I'll grant a train is different.)
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      Ground vehicles have been used against buildings on numerous occasions, far more often than planes.
closeparen 10y ago
Amtrak and Greyhound require photo ID (though I've only had Amtrak ask to see it when paying cash), and taxis will not generally take you between cities. You could drive, but you will almost certainly pass some ALPR cameras. There is no anonymous long-distance transportation in the US.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

kalleboo 10y ago

For international flights, they already get this information from the immigration/border control. For domestic flights, there's no reason tickets can't be anonymous. Here in Japan tickets are sold cash and there are no ID checks on flights and the country seems to be doing fine on the security front.

koolba 10y ago
> For domestic flights, there's no reason tickets can't be anonymous. Here in Japan tickets are sold cash and there are no ID checks on flights and the country seems to be doing fine on the security front. You can board a (domestic) plane in Japan without giving your name?
- kalleboo 10y ago
  I've only bought tickets online, where it does ask your name (and age), but you could just enter AAAAA AAAA, it's never checked by anyone.
- realityking 10y ago
  You can in Europe (Schengen). ID controls can happen so you can't be 100% sure but other then that you could book a flight with whatever name you want and no one will notice.