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

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).

I'm not sure how kindly the Greek authorities would take having KGB operatives on their soil

WHY would it work like that?

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.

> flash your badge at the airport and most guards/staff there lets you through.

No? Why would that be the case?

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 sorry we got greedy, and made you miss your multi million dollar business deal, and it fell through. Here’s some money that you can only spend with us. We hope to see you soon!”

At the extreme, if no one takes the offer, they’ll just bump some rando and you have to pray it’s not you.

Of course, nothing is done about it because it doesn’t happen enough for enough people to complain. I also bet that the airline’s systems are programmed to never choose a powerful enough person for the rando being bumped. You wouldn’t want to bump a Congressperson, right? That’d be just rude!

You were not completely wrong.

There is a long story of state agents trying to access SWIFT messages. At some point, SWIFT had to set up a backup data center in Switzerland in order to route European transactions within Europe. The other data center is in the Netherlands.

I had thought that it was discontinued years ago, but apparently they only started phasing it out in 2016 and finally shut it down in 2019. [1]

[1] https://www.cmswire.com/information-management/google-search...

While not completely alien here in the UK, using brand names for generic concepts is a bit of an Americanism (perhaps because of a cultural tendency to glorify private business?)

"Band-aids" are plasters (short for sticking plasters) here, and "Kleenex" are tissues (even if they're actually kleenex branded).

Having said that, to "google" something or to "photoshop" something are both in common usage here. I suspect the difference has to do with the dominance of those products in their respective categories meaning that chances are you really will be using google or photoshop when you look something up. Although I can't imagine someone here using "google" in the context above to denote a specific, clearly non-google, search tool.

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 trying to scam you.

Edit: I've only heard a third party account on this, but I have no reason to doubt the validity.

where exactly?

Well, damn, I stand corrected. Here's the documentation for the List Passengers (LP) command on Amadeus:

http://www.amadeus.com/ir/documents/aco/ir/en/Quick6.pdf

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.

This. I worked at NCR building the kiosks at the airport. We integrated with Amadeus and Sabre as well as duplicating the data directly to the BOSS systems (old terminal mainframes).

Your passenger information and your itinerary are shared with TSA, Airlines, published to travel systems, and checked against NO-FLY lists the moment you press that “Get boarding pass” button. Whether it be by an agent, at the kiosk, or on mobile.

Haven’t flown since covid, but from 2019 flights, Not in U.K. (ID only checked at gate - intl flights only) and Not in 3 schengen airports (ID only checked after security when leaving schengen area)

Don’t recall other airports enough but I didn’t do domestic flights. Nairobi I feel had more ID checks but could be wrong.

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 prevented a "terrorist" attack. Airports only catch small drug mules that could have taken a bus anyway.

Freedom of movement was one of the major selling points for joining the EU to the unwashed middle classes. That has all gone to the dogs (at least for business travel). The only advantage of free movement that still exists is being able to live and work in other countries.

It's typical when they do something in the name of "sEcURitY" they will never roll it back. Classic "salami tactic" and a slow encroachment by the system[1]. Opinions on this obviously vary depending if a person uses a uniform for work in order to compartmentalize their conscience, has to defend family working for the security apparatus, or peddles crappy/racist "AI based" biometric software to the system. Perhaps wanting to become a "person of authority" is like a gender thing which people have no choice over. So I shouldn't make fun or look down at them: ACAB ("Assigned Cop At Birth").

Also the worst of all countries has doubtlessly been the UK. Even you arrived coming from Europe, they shepherded you through the slow-lane like a smelly goat with noises that sound like Dick Van Dyke doing a Bricktop impression.

[1] https://archive.org/details/JacquesEllulTheTechnologicalSoci...

I frequent a airports in the eu where they do and where they don't: seems to depend on the country and maybe the airport. The number of places where it happens went up.

I fly around europe on almost a weekly basis to and from a wide variety of airports. My ID has never been checked before security.

I think maybe you’re confusing the checkin where you might show your passport with an ID check? You can completely bypass this by checking in online, and the airline doesn’t actually inspect your ID anyway.

It depends on the airline and airport. For example Lufthansa typically doesn't check IDs.