Posted on 11/12/2013 8:17:06 AM PST by sdnet
The Transportation Security Agency has quietly rolled out the Pre-Check program that allows frequent travelers to voluntarily submit to a background check, interview and fingerprints in exchange for a much faster experience through TSA checkpoints in airports. Is this program convenient for frequent travelers or something much more invasive?
Since 2011, the TSA has tested the program at 40 different airports. It allows pre-screened travelers to proceed through TSA checkpoints without removing their shoes and belt. Light jackets can be worn and computers / liquids can remain in carry-on luggage.
The program requires an $85 enrollment fee, but there is no guarantee that travelers will pass the background check and get approved – or be provided a reason if denied. Worse, approved travelers are still not guaranteed to swiftly breeze through TSA checkpoints due to the agency’s random screening of pre-checked passengers and lengthening Pre-Check lines. Approved passengers can be removed from the program at any time, without notice or reason. However, their background information remains saved.
The FBI keeps fingerprint records on file for 75 years and are used in the investigation of crimes by local and federal law enforcement agencies. Along with a background check and personal interview, financial information is also required before passengers are approved for the program, which is NOT protected under the Privacy Act of 1974. As a result, travelers are not permitted to request a copy of the information that the TSA investigation keeps on them, which makes it nearly impossible for law-abiding travelers to ensure accuracy and protect against abuses of personal information.
Privacy rights activists are concerned over the information that average Americans are willingly giving up to the government. ”I would not apply for one of these trusted-traveler programs, which in the past have involved giving the government more information or authorizing it to get more information about me,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Lee Tien.
Even if you are lucky enough to get approved for the program, there is no guarantee that the “elite-line” will be any faster than the regular TSA checkpoint lines, or more organized. ”Most recently, I was flying Delta from LaGuardia and the TSA PreCheck line at the terminal looked like it was a mile long and not moving very fast at all while the normal and elite security lines were chugging along and a lot shorter,” remarked one traveler. ”The non-TSA agents manning the lines were not checking for TSA Precheck and frankly the whole situation was out of hand. Something is wrong with this picture. Or many somethings.”
After the TSA expanded the Pre-Check program to 60 airports earlier in the year, passengers nationwide have noticed a distinct lengthening of lines through the very Pre-Check areas that were designed to avoid long and frustrating wait periods that the unwashed traveler is subjected to.
Now, 97 airports participate in the program.
Well - as someone who travels some 80k domestically a year, it is much faster - I qualified as a part of United Airline and the fact that I have had a Global Traveler card as a part of my passport. True - we don not want any more personal information than necessary to be given to anyone in the government - I have used Pre in airports from East to West, it works, and it is fast.
Same thing as a “jizya”. $85 “convenience” tax. Pay it, or we make flying REALLY tough on ya.
I have pre-check as part of UAL too. No formal application, no fingerprinting, no cost.
Works good for me.
Have you ever seen a Pre-Check line that was actually longer than the traditional TSA screen lines, or have you had pretty good luck every time that you’ve gone through security?
How long did it take you to get approved?
They let me go through this at the Denver airport. My reaction was “This is how it used to be at the airport!”.
Not a single person was trying to touch my junk.
my husband has this and swears by it. all you have to do is take your phone out of your pocket, nothing else needs to be removed, and there has never been a line in the pre-check area at all. i forget what he paid it was $100 or so, i think and it is good for 5 years. for frequent travelers, and esp for international travelers, it is a huge help.
Just another way to steal $85 Bucks.
I got this through the Global Entry System. No financial information was requested. Much faster for international flights avoiding the long immigration lines. Ditto at domestic airports. Don’t have to remove shoes, laptops, etc.
That's what I'm thinking.
But then, I don't fly but maybe 3 or 4 times a year and the busiest airport I travel through is SEATAC.
If I had to fly a lot, I guess it would be worth it to avoid a line.
We flew Delta 10-25 - I had TSA Precheck on my boarding pass... I got thru DFW security about 4 minutes before my husband.
Checking with other relatives who flew in for the event, several of them were surprised to get it too. Apparently, they are letting us see how nice it is to NOT have to take off our shoes, light coats, NOR take out laptops or fluids.
If they could determine I’m NOT a risk, why would I want to pay for it! TSA Precheck is the way it was before 9-11!
We all should be able to walk right on thru!
I have Global Entry. When I was coming back from Zurich, at JFK airport, the line at customs was miles and miles long. But I just had to go up to an automated kiosk (no line) and was through in two minutes.
The application process was very easy. I filled out the application online - very easy. American Express immediately refunded the $100 application fee. I received a note from the government to schedule an interview at one of a long list of interview centers. The interview lasted about two minutes and the man told me I was the nicest person he had ever interviewed.
Very pleased with this program.
And you still arrive the same time as all the other schlubs on the plane.
I have logged some 130k miles since February... however, I refuse to enroll in the precheck. I also refuse to stand there in the scanner with my hands up in the air emulating the Masonic distress hand gesture. Needless to say, I get the full blown pat down every time. I make up for lost time getting felt up by automatically having Premier Access ticketing with my Mileage Plus status.
Last time leaving Denver the Premier Access line was just as lengthly as steerage. To makenthings worse, they were testing a “randomizer” pilot program where after the preliminary ID and ticketting check, a TSA agent had a tablet type computer they wanted you to tap to choose “randomly” which of 2 lines you entered... one was regular full body background scatter radiation scan machine... the other was an ordinary metal detector. The line for the metal detector flowed fine... the full blown scanning line was an “urban f*** jungle” with the line backing up all the way to the “randomizer” causing congestion. The TSA agent was beyond frustrated. The stupid randomizer was obviously dreamed up by some nitwit kid fresh out of college making $80k/yr working for DHS.
Also, there was a 3rd line for TSA precheck... no line at all... AND a 4th line that seemed to be some private enerprise 3rd party security “club”... I forget what they called it.
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