DL running a credit check on you?

[FlyingTexan]

So what the heck is the deal? I first head this story over the weekend on CNN. I did not check into it until now. I visited the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s site and BoycottDelta.org.

Now, if a passenger is traveling to/from the United States with say - a Syrian passport or gives a home address in North Korea, Yea, I’d like to have that passenger undergo additional questioning and undergo extra screening (baggage included).

But running a credit check on an 18-year-old high school student on spring break with classmates traveling to Cancun? What the %*#&!!! Running a credit check on a 36-year-old business traveler who has traveled the USAirways shuttle BOS-LGA once a month for the last seven years? Running a credit check on a 55-year-old grandmother who has traveled Fort Myers to Houston three or four times a year to visit her grandkids since 1998? HUH?

What about walk-ups? Several times, I decided on the spur of the moment not to drive San Antonio to Houston but just show up at the Southwest or Continental counter at the airport and purchase a ticket. Instant credit check???

Link to the AJC March 1 article by Mary Lou Pickel:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/0303/01airsecure.html

Link to BoycottDelta.org:

http://www.boycottdelta.org

So, what do ya think? I think I'm not flying Delta.

[Greg]

So what. They already know that stuff anyway. Your e-mail address is your name. I could do a lookup of your name/e-mail address find your address and submit it to hackers. If you've ever done an online transaction or store your credit card number online I could get that info plus other info like social security number and mother's maiden name. I could become you. A terrorist could use this information to book a ticket, fly a plane into something, and where will the path lead? You. You can say it was stolen but if they are good they can cover their path. No with that in mind I don't mind if an upstanding business checks to see who I really am.

[JeffM]

What is so bad about a credit check?

Jeff

[Freightdogg]

Most Credit Reporting Agencies will downgrade your credit rating if you have too many credit checks within a given period of time. If you were a frequent flier on Delta and they ran a credit check on you each time you bought a ticket it wouldn't be too long before your credit rating was downgraded so low you couldn't borrow a nickle anywhere. Coincidentally that would also make you "suspect" to Delta.

I don't know about the rest of you but I will be avoiding Delta until that policy changes.

[Lance]

"Most Credit Reporting Agencies will downgrade your credit rating if you have too many credit checks within a given period of time. If you were a frequent flier on Delta and they ran a credit check on you each time you bought a ticket it wouldn't be too long before your credit rating was downgraded so low you couldn't borrow a nickle anywhere. Coincidentally that would also make you "suspect" to Delta." --- Freightdogg

Thank You! Freightdogg!

You do not want more than five of these inquiries on you credit report in one calender year. Anytime you get a new job, apply for a loan and renew an insurance policy you will get an inquirie on your credit report. However that is the small issue here.

The real issue here is civil rights. Delta and Federal Goverment should look long and hard at the 4th and 5th Amendments. All this post 9/11 taking away of our Constitutional rights has worn me thin. Remember it's We the People not We Homeland un-security and Delta Airlines.

So what do I have to say, to the people who came up with this idea? Here is what I have to say!

[N27015]

Isn't that "RACIAL PROFILING"

let the flaming begin

[Greg]

*activate flame breathe* No its not

[SeeTheAAdvantage]

Credit Checks

It's non-invasive check... just like all those companies who check on you before offering you credit cards. It won't show up in 95% of credit checks, like they'd do for a job or loan or car payment.

When you think about it, most of it is information the government probably already has on you.

I just love you conspiracy theorists....

[Freightdogg]

Most Americans are understandably sensitive about their credit information.

Personally I feel that if Delta wants to do a background check for a criminal history or for excessive travel to nations that support, train, or harbor terrorists I am fine with that, but feel as though credit checks are going too far. In an age when identity theft is rampant I don't want that information opened up to thousands more strangers simply because they are employed by Delta.

The wonderful thing about living in a free market economy is that people can choose not to do business with a company if they don't feel comfortable with the way that company does business. If Delta sees a great drop off in revenue as a result of the new policy all they have to do is drop the policy. That's how America works.

[SeeTheAAdvantage]

Credit Checks

Most Americans are understandably sensitive about their credit information.

Personally I feel that if Delta wants to do a background check for a criminal history or for excessive travel to nations that support, train, or harbor terrorists I am fine with that, but feel as though credit checks are going too far. In an age when identity theft is rampant I don't want that information opened up to thousands more strangers simply because they are employed by Delta.

I think all of you need to read some more on this system before you get worked up about it. Read legitimate sources, not boycottdelta.com. The only information kept in AIRLINE systems will be what they already track: method of payment, address, date the ticket was reserved.

Under this new system, the GOVERNMENT will keep the information. The TSA will manage it. Only government officials with proper clearance will have access to the information. Airline employees will NOT have access to the information, nor will the airlines they work for. Your boarding pass will be encrypted with the threat level in the coding for TSA use.

Where do you get that credit information will be accessible by any ol airline employee? It's not true.

[Freightdogg]

I have been dealing with the Feds in aviation since the 60's. I have never before seen them initiate any kind of program or test program on one airline at a time. Therefore I have to conclude that someone at Delta is the initiator of this program. Regardless of how they access the information it is still a credit check on you and there will be some record of each one at TRW or any of the other credit reporting agencies, or all of them. Too many checks will downgrade your rating, that's just how it works.

That aside do we really want to use finances as a means of determining who should fly and who shouldn't? Not only is that un-American, it would be very dangerous for the airlines. I doubt any of them would want to see this become a country where only the wealthy are allowed to fly. There is a reason after all why there are a lot more seats in coach than in first class.

[SeeTheAAdvantage]

Spare Me

I have been dealing with the Feds in aviation since the 60's. I have never before seen them initiate any kind of program or test program on one airline at a time. Therefore I have to conclude that someone at Delta is the initiator of this program. Regardless of how they access the information it is still a credit check on you and there will be some record of each one at TRW or any of the other credit reporting agencies, or all of them. Too many checks will downgrade your rating, that's just how it works.

That aside do we really want to use finances as a means of determining who should fly and who shouldn't? Not only is that un-American, it would be very dangerous for the airlines. I doubt any of them would want to see this become a country where only the wealthy are allowed to fly. There is a reason after all why there are a lot more seats in coach than in first class.

Spare me the "this will become a wealthy-only means of travel" garbage. They aren't going to reject people solely on credit ratings. The only flags that could be raised are suspicious past activities. Just because you don't pay your credit card bill on time doesn't mean they won't let you fly.

I'm sure Delta is getting some kind of kickback for being the guinea pig here.... They aren't the initiator (actually Northwest was long ago the initiator of profiling in the computers) and they're probably doing it to kiss up with the government. I wouldn't be surprised if the motivation is tied to this whole codeshare deal.

[Freightdogg]

A credit check is not a criminal background check. If Delta wasn't planning on using credit history as a determinor of who should be rejected from their flights there would be no reason at all for them to run the check.

[SeeTheAAdvantage]

Credit Check

A credit check is not a criminal background check. If Delta wasn't planning on using credit history as a determinor of who should be rejected from their flights there would be no reason at all for them to run the check.

The credit checks that CAPPS II will run are non-permissable checks, much like the check every bank runs that sends you an unsolicited credit card offer. They do not count as visible inquiries, therefore they are not usable for a credit score. Any check not made in conjunction with a credit application is not seen on a credit score.

[Greg]

Say you have been sending money to Iraq for example with your card they would see something indicating that and they would be like "Laets see that he doesnt do anything stupid" it is protecting you. Unless you want to have your body hurled into the side of a building at several hundred miles per hour I think you better reconsider your opposition


Sorry about the harsh tone. I feel passinately about people who whine about the airlines.