Odd question from Security when transiting through LHR
 

Started at CDG; connecting LHR for flight to BOS. Had to go to the AA desk when connecting in LHR (where they replaced the boarding pass we had been given in Paris, which I thought was odd too); had to talk with the security agent in front of the connections desk. Ok, all the usual questions - bags in your possession the whole time; did anyone give us anything etc. Then he asks if I have status with AA. I say yes, I'm platinum. He says, can you prove it? I said, well, um, yes. I had an AA platinum luggage tag on my carryon, so I pointed to it and said, "will that do?" He says yes, thankyou. And that was it.

Any ideas on what that was all about? I have been puzzling over this for days now - I just don't get it! :-)

Don you have a common name? (DH has common name and was on various lists for quite a while). Something set off some reason for concern - could be anything from unusual method of payment itinerary, prior destinations, or something else weird going on with some other person on flight.

I think the main thing they wanted to do was look at you and talk to you - so made you get a new boarding pass. My guess is the AA status question was just an excuse to do the same - see if you got unhinged.

Or maybe I am giving them too much credit - and I certainly don't know either, just guessing.

No, not really a common name; and everyone had to stop at the AA desk who was transiting which was different. I'm thinking it's the bin laden death that has raised security concerns; but I still don't get the AA status question - just very odd. Guess I'll never know what it was about. :-)

Have had to deal with AA security in LHR, and they seem to enjoy trying to flummox people. Asked me some similarly tangential questions about where I got the upgrade miles from, etc. etc. They pulled our boarding passes, too - as if they were saying that the CDG security measures were insufficient. I think this is one of those many questions best answered by "because they can."

I've connected to AA at BRU a couple of times too. There was an interview at the gate, and they replaced the TATL boarding pass that the connecting airline gave me before my first flight that day.

Chaning your boarding pass is something I've seen many times, especially if the original boarding pass was issued by a different airline.

As far as questions go, you should expect anything. Sometimes they are looking for the way you answer a question instead of the answer itself. If you have to think too much before answering certain questions they get suspicious.

Considering the fact that AA lost two planes on 9/11, the interest in enhanced security seems appropriate...