fly anonymously?????????

A friend of mine needs to take a airplane somewhere to get out of a
situation. He does not have any warrents or APBs or that the police is
looking for him right now. The problem is that they might in the
future, and he doesn't want them to be able to look his name up and
know where he flew to. This is a domestic flight he needs to take. He
sort of needs to fly anonymously, but if the airline will keep it a
secret then doesn't need to. Will the law enforcement be able to find
out where he flew to and when at a later date? IS this information
kept forever by the airlines? Is this information kept private?

In article ,
Hilary wrote:

[someone posted:]

A friend of mine needs to take a airplane somewhere to get out of a
situation.

Unless your friend is willing to break the law, it is not possible. Even
domestic flights require photo ID and yes, if required, airlines will
release information to the authorities.

I am not a lawyer, but my understanding is that it has generally been legal
to use an alias in the US, as long as there is no intent to defraud anyone.

The airlines are required by law to ask for ID, but are not required to
refuse transport to those who don't comply (though that is a fairly common
policy). Would the presentation of an ID bearing an alias be illegal,
absent any intent to defraud? I don't know, nor, I think, does Hilary,
despite her response quoted above.

A suggestion to the original poster: if they decide to check records, it is
likely they would check the records for departures from the most likely
airports, for the most likely days. Simply flying out of a relatively
unlikely airport might be sufficient. Misspelling the name somewhat on the
ticket, enough to produce a different Soundex code but not enough that the
ID would be rejected, could help a later check of records miss the name.

For the price of two tickets, he can appear to have flown to a different
destination than he really did. Buy a cheap e-ticket in his own name,
matching his ID. Buy a ticket to his real destination in a phony,
unguessable name, leaving about the same time from the same airport. Buy
that second one with cash, in a way that isn't connected with himself or the
first ticket.

The day before travelling, internet check-in for both flights (from
different IP addresses so the two can't be tied together.) Take those
boarding passes to the airport. Use the one that matches the real ID to
pass through security. Then, use the other to get on the flight to his
real destination. Later checks will find his real-name checkin, and
possibly the video of him passing through security. But if he mingles with
the crowd reasonably well, they won't know where he really went to (they
should learn quickly enough that he didn't really board the spurious
flight).

It does depend on who is chasing him. Different resources are available to
local law-enforcement, national law-enforcement, private detectives, or
illegal debt collectors.

Of course, the simplest, time-honored solution is to hitch-hike. A bus or
train might be OK too.

--
Randy Hudson

Randy Hudson wrote:

The day before travelling, internet check-in for both flights (from
different IP addresses so the two can't be tied together.) Take those
boarding passes to the airport. Use the one that matches the real ID to
pass through security. Then, use the other to get on the flight to his
real destination.

In most of the US airports I use, then check your ID at the gate, so
this might be a problem for him.

[...]

pass through security. Then, use the other to get on the flight to his
real destination. Later checks will find his real-name checkin, and
possibly the video of him passing through security. But if he mingles
with the crowd reasonably well, they won't know where he really went to
(they should learn quickly enough that he didn't really board the
spurious flight).

You'll still need ID for the other flight.

I think most airports now have a look at your ID at the gate.

Or you could just take the bloody train, yeah I know it takes a bit longer,
but look at the hassle factor involved in all these other solutions.

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 08:01:59 GMT mtravelkay wrote:

:Randy Hudson wrote:

: The day before travelling, internet check-in for both flights (from
: different IP addresses so the two can't be tied together.) Take those
: boarding passes to the airport. Use the one that matches the real ID to
: pass through security. Then, use the other to get on the flight to his
: real destination.

:In most of the US airports I use, then check your ID at the gate, so
:this might be a problem for him.

Only in the small ones nowadays.

The major airports check at security.

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

In article ,
(buildmorelines) wrote:

A friend of mine needs to take a airplane somewhere to get out of a
situation. He does not have any warrents or APBs or that the police is
looking for him right now. The problem is that they might in the
future, and he doesn't want them to be able to look his name up and
know where he flew to. This is a domestic flight he needs to take. He
sort of needs to fly anonymously, but if the airline will keep it a
secret then doesn't need to. Will the law enforcement be able to find
out where he flew to and when at a later date? IS this information
kept forever by the airlines? Is this information kept private?

You can't fly anonymously on any commercial airliner in the United
States as far as I know. Your friend could buy his airline ticket
with cash, and that would be difficult for law enforcement to find,
but it would not guarantee him any annonymity.

There's always the train.

In article ,
(Randy Hudson) wrote:

In article ,
Hilary wrote:

[someone posted:]

A friend of mine needs to take a airplane somewhere to get out of a
situation.

Unless your friend is willing to break the law, it is not possible. Even
domestic flights require photo ID and yes, if required, airlines will
release information to the authorities.

I am not a lawyer, but my understanding is that it has generally been legal
to use an alias in the US, as long as there is no intent to defraud anyone.

Yup, but trying to evade the government or a private citizen on a legal
matter is usually considered fraud.

The day before travelling, internet check-in for both flights (from
different IP addresses so the two can't be tied together.) Take those
boarding passes to the airport. Use the one that matches the real ID to
pass through security. Then, use the other to get on the flight to his
real destination. Later checks will find his real-name checkin, and
possibly the video of him passing through security. But if he mingles
with the crowd reasonably well, they won't know where he really went to
(they should learn quickly enough that he didn't really board the
spurious flight).

You'll still need ID for the other flight.

No, this would probably work. I was surprised to find on trips last
month that my ID was invariably checked when I went through X-ray but
not at the gate. They even made announcements telling us that we
didn't need to show ID to get on the plane.

Randy Hudson wrote:
The day before travelling, internet check-in for both flights (from
different IP addresses so the two can't be tied together.) Take those
boarding passes to the airport. Use the one that matches the real ID to
pass through security. Then, use the other to get on the flight to his
real destination. Later checks will find his real-name checkin, and
possibly the video of him passing through security. But if he mingles
with the crowd reasonably well, they won't know where he really went to
(they should learn quickly enough that he didn't really board the spurious
flight).

The head count will mismatch and they'll figure out right away who is
missing - and they might try to figure out where he is. This will draw more
attention to him than there would otherwise have been.

Of course, the simplest, time-honored solution is to hitch-hike.

Yup. Though if he's about to be in trouble with the law, none of this sounds
very sensible. Get a lawyer and deal with it properly.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

freeda wrote:
I think most airports now have a look at your ID at the gate.

Usually only on international flights in the US.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu