It's because most airport security in the US is theater - they're trying to reduce the perception of risk.

I'm an American and I travel back to the US as seldom as possible, in large part due to the bullshit you have to go through to travel there. Every time I go back I feel like I'm treated like a criminal, with my only crime being that I need to get on a plane.

And as bad as the normal procedure is, it's much worse if you have to book a flight on short notice - two of the last three trips I've taken to the US were because either a family member had died or was dying. Honestly, when you're just off a 10 hour flight and you don't know whether or not your mother died while you were on the way, the last thing you have patience for is yet another asshole border control guy asking you question after question.

Yeah, I'm a bit bitter about airport security in the US.

I flew in yesterday and there was some kind of a "nation-wide computer-system outage", so there was a 1.5 hour line at border control. Apparently the CBP officers were getting a bit frustrated with all the travelers. My officer made a couple of offhand jokes about the idea of sending me back where I came from. Apparently he didn't like that my visa type was too fancy for my job title.

If the airport did not have American flags all over, I would have thought that I'm in a third-world country.

If you're American, you dont really have to tell anything to the US border control.

Meh. I'm sure it's worse for non-Americans, but US border control is more of a hassle for me than any of Europe or China. Africa was pretty bad (they confiscated my passport...?) but otherwise the US is generally the worst.

The US charges $100 to sign up for Global Entry, while Australia is trying to force as many people as possible to use SmartGate with no fee and no registration required...

I travel internationally maybe 6 times a year and on average spend maybe 10 minutes waiting in line and 30 seconds talking to the officer at CBP without global entry.

I've timed it with friends with global entry going through at the same time and they shaved off maybe 5 minutes.

Either ATL, SEA, LAX, JFK, and MSP are way better than average, or global entry isn't worth it except for the tiny percentage of international travelers that commute that way.

Point being, for US citizens, CBP is plenty fast enough without global entry.

I have waited 2 hours at sfo just recently

And they don't really have to let you in the country.

American courts have ruled that it's unconstitutional to bar American citizens from entering America.

I don't think you understand the context of that decision. You do not have a right to enter the USA as a US citizen under all circumstances. You can be denied entry based on suspicious behavior and circumstances, and the border agents have plenty of free reign to interpret that as they will.

Would you care to provide links to cases or law that shows US citizens can be stopped by CBP for refusing to answer questions?

Disagree with "Security Theater". Look up older aircraft types in Wikipedia, like "Boeing 727" or "DC-9" and look at their incident lists and why they crashed. Many of them were destroyed in bombings or were hijacked. Nowadays, this kind of crime has become a rarity and it can be attributed to much higher security levels at the aiport. While I oppose total surveillance strongly, this kind of "direct protection" where you look into the eye of the security guys directly might help sometimes.

The TSA does not have to be anywhere near as bad as it is right now. We could have similar levels of security without millimeter wave scanners or pat downs, and without removing shoes, belts, etc.

The reinforcement of cockpit doors and additional sky marshals are what keep that incident list short today.

Also, add that the passengers will not sit idly by any more.

In the past, the message was, give the hijackers what they want and no one will get hurt.

Of course, every one knows, sky marshals and enforced cockpit doors keep bombs out of the plane...

Of course you can always do better. But compared to Europe, I've found the TSA to be very quick working and quite friendly. I worried a bit after reading so many bad articles, but then wondered that most of them kept smiling and being polite despite their intense work.

> Of course, every one knows, sky marshals and enforced cockpit doors keep bombs out of the plane...

This presumes that the TSA keeps bombs out of the plane, which does not seem to be the case.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/homeland-security/2449...

But metal detectors aren't that much better than millimeter wave scanners.

Shoes, belts, and taking the laptop out are the only significant pain point that America has that the rest of the world doesn't. And the shoes thing is a the result of someone walking through security with bombs in his shoe, so it's hard to be too critical.

Seconded. Terrible airlines aren't a problem unique to the US, but my experience of travel with major Australian and Asian airlines is consistently good, whilst with US carriers almost universally dismal as given in the GP.

When I hear American and European airline bosses whining about the harsh competition from the "Gulf" airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways or Etihad, a voice in my head always yells "why don't you just try to give their level of customer experience in the first place before begging your government to help you provide abysmal service".

Because they don't get special deals on the fuel and huge government loans to get started off (and good locations for hubs).

And because foreign airlines are generally prohibited from providing domestic service inside the US, which is the substantial majority of the overall market.

I have to agree. And it's a similar experience in Europe and South East Asia.

Maybe this is a generational thing? I've only been traveling for the past 3 years and to me everything seems normal.

Edit: There is one thing that really bugs me: The insecticide spray they release into the cabin on some routes. What's next? Barnaby Joyce personally raiding the cabin looking for traces of Pistol and Boo?

Generational and regional for sure. I've been flying US and Japanese carriers since the late 80's, and (a) Japanese Carriers were always higher quality, but (b) US carriers are much much more crammed than they used to be.

There are very few things I agree with ol' Barnaby about, but the need for strong enforcement of our biosecurity laws is one of them ;)

That's fair enough, biosecurity is indeed important. But the cabin spraying specifically has always struck me as a bit cavalier...

It's not hard to imagine a scenario where 10 years later whatever chemical they use is linked to some form of cancer and then a class action lawsuit follows.

It's actually pretty quick in the US, too, despite the bad rap it gets. I have perhaps twice hit 30min security queues at SFO and almost missed my flight, because I like to cut it close and live dangerously.

Typically I arrive about 30-45min before boarding begins and it's no problem whatsoever. I agree most countries I've travelled to have the security lines figured out a lot better in the US, and I just recently got TSA PreCheck so I don't have to take off my shoes and take out my laptop, but it's more about the convenience than the speed.