[Dashing Dasher]

Long article - but interesting.

Would love to hear what our Fellow Traveling FReeper have to say about this... $80/year isn't bad - but is this just another shake down?

29 minutes is a ridiculous amount of time to spend on line - especially if you fly every week.

Thoughts?

[Dashing Dasher]

Ping

http://www.verifiedidpass.com/index.html

[dwntmpo]

I think it's an outstanding idea.. in fact, they could come up with a similar plan for Miami. maybe a 'registered patron' badge to wear on your shirt which allows you to move freely around the city...

[Vigilanteman]

My plan would be cheaper and simpler-- walk over a mat bearing a likeness of Mohammed or get searched very carefully.

[MineralMan]

My wife and I flew from MSP to LAX over the Thanksgiving holiday. As usual, we got to the airport early and breezed through security. No delays at all on either end.

The secret? No secret. We don't have any metal on our persons (it's stashed in the carryon), we wear slip-on shoes, have our ID and boarding passes out in our hands, and book our flights early.

I can't remember the last time either of us was wanded, patted down, or any other such thing.

MSP already has this program in place, but I cannot, for the life of me see the point in bothering with it.

[TalonDJ]

80 bucks and all that extra checking and information? Only if they let me carry weapons afterward. It does sound like some could under this system...

[libstripper]

I can undestand $80.00 to get into the system and a renewal every few years, much like a CCW permit. However, $80.00/yr. looks a lot like a shakedown or an effort to keep all but regular business travelers from using the new system.

[Phinanceguy]

What everyone doesn't get is that most airports do not have the space for a dedicated trusted traveler checkpoint.Yes they will have them at large airports, but smaller ones you'll still have to stand in line with everyone else. If you think that TSA is going to allocate resources at every airport it isn't going to happen. As a mater of fact come January, TSA will not man exit areas anymore. The airlines/airports will now have to cover that. Thereby breaking their pledge to handle airport security.

[narby]

I think this is the foot-in-the-door to internal passports like the old soviet union. Only they won't call them "passports", because they'll be some electronic ID. Granted, they already get our ID, but all they have is a name, and there is more than one "narby" out there.

It's going to happen someday. Whether we like it or not. Somebody will steal a tanker truck and run it into the ground floor of a big building and they'll require such ID to start and run a truck. Or they'll check personal RFIDs on interstate highways. Something.

Someday we'll all have a GPS implanted at birth running on body chemistry and broadcasting where we are. Who would object? It will virtually eliminate crime, because we'll know immediately who it was that stole our car and raped our daughter.

A brave new world. Glad I'll be dead.