Had one of the more stressful connections of my life in IST. At the gate for my Madrid flight, a staff member pulled me aside and started grilling me about return tickets and hotel bookings. I had everything ready, but he kept saying he couldn’t see the documents even when I zoomed in. Felt pretty clear he just didn’t want to look.
Then he let every other passenger board while I just stood there with no explanation. Another agent finally checked the exact same documents and cleared me in a few seconds.
Honestly felt less like security and more like someone on a power trip. I was the only East Asian face there and it really stung.
Filed a complaint, but I’m curious if others have run into this in Istanbul. It was a pretty awful way to be treated.
0