TSA Precheck - Decline in
Apr 17, 2015, 8:02 am
#61
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There should be no fee for Global Entry. If the purpose of the program is to enhance security, (which it was last time I checked), then we should aim to have all of the lowest-risk passengers enrolled, not the subset of low risk passengers who are willing to pay a fee. It's not a Disney ride folks.
I think the current low - but not quite free - fee is a good approach. That means that anybody who will get real benefit from GE can sign up, yet there won't be too many people signing up who won't use it. Since the background checks, data storage, management of the program, etc. have costs, adding millions of users to the system for no good reason would be expensive.
It's a few pennies per trip (counting both the TSA and CBP benefits). I wouldn't overthink it too much.
Apr 17, 2015, 8:03 am
#62
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Getting PreCheck LLL when flying airlines on which they hold no elite status, despite having no KTN entry, has been repeatedly indicated on FT before. Much like it's been mentioned when non-US persons have been getting PreCheck LLL for boarding passes despite the KTN field probably or certainly being empty in the PNR.
Apr 17, 2015, 8:48 am
#63
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It's not $20 per year. It's $100 up-front that may come with -- but doesn't guarantee -- PreCheck LLL screening even when/where PreCheck is available and you are flying on a PreCheck eligible carrier. Also, not everyone paying is approved; the costs to acquire membership generally aren't just limited to the $100 application fee even if approved; and the membership can be suspended or revoked within the five-year period.
There is no guarantee that the $100 application fee will result in one use of PreCheck LLL per year for each of the five years that may be covered by the application/membership fee. And they don't generally refund money, so forget about prorated refunds at $20/year.
If DHS is so confident both in scoring people (to make some free people more equal than other free people) and in the efficiency of these "Trusted Traveler" schemes, then they would be doing the country a favor by allowing free opt-ins since we the traveling public already pay DHS a good chunk of money when we fly within/to/from the country.
There is no guarantee that the $100 application fee will result in one use of PreCheck LLL per year for each of the five years that may be covered by the application/membership fee. And they don't generally refund money, so forget about prorated refunds at $20/year.
If DHS is so confident both in scoring people (to make some free people more equal than other free people) and in the efficiency of these "Trusted Traveler" schemes, then they would be doing the country a favor by allowing free opt-ins since we the traveling public already pay DHS a good chunk of money when we fly within/to/from the country.
Not sure if they are still not guaranteeing Pre Check with GE. I seem to be getting it every time on domestic flights.
Apr 17, 2015, 8:57 am
#64
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Is the goal of GE really to "enhance" security? I guess I've always thought of the program as a way to increase throughput in the immigration hall by siphoning off the most "routine" entry interviews from the agents to a kiosk. Gain benefits of automation without sacrificing security.
Took me under five minutes from entering the hall to exiting yesterday; obviously I'm happy about that, but probably the bureaucrats are happy about it too.
Apr 17, 2015, 9:29 am
#65
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Apr 17, 2015, 9:49 am
#66
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You're not entirely correct. The only background check the TSA performed on the frequent flyer opt ins was to match them against the various terrorist watch lists. There was no comprehensive background check or STA performed.
FFs were allowed preCheck (at much lower rates of success than those with GE) because the theoretical risk of an FF passenger committing an act of terror is much lower and it allowed for a large number of participants very quickly.
Both the PreCheck and Global Entry programs require collection of biometrics and that data to be run through the FBI database (which the FBI charges for) and a security threat analysis (STA) to be performed. There is a cost to perform the background check/STA and a cost to actually collect that data (PreCheck enrollment centers are managed by a contractor). In the end there's very little if any extra money made via this program. (As I pointed out, the TWIC program uses the same process and charges more money)
The real issue here is the TSA made a decision to exclude FFs, not because of a change in risk but for administrative reasons (ie to keep PreCheck lines shorter)
FFs were allowed preCheck (at much lower rates of success than those with GE) because the theoretical risk of an FF passenger committing an act of terror is much lower and it allowed for a large number of participants very quickly.
Both the PreCheck and Global Entry programs require collection of biometrics and that data to be run through the FBI database (which the FBI charges for) and a security threat analysis (STA) to be performed. There is a cost to perform the background check/STA and a cost to actually collect that data (PreCheck enrollment centers are managed by a contractor). In the end there's very little if any extra money made via this program. (As I pointed out, the TWIC program uses the same process and charges more money)
The real issue here is the TSA made a decision to exclude FFs, not because of a change in risk but for administrative reasons (ie to keep PreCheck lines shorter)
If the problem is long lines then open up more PreCheck lanes. They already have the metal detectors, so it's not like it would cost more to do that.
I think it's just a money grab by the DHS. They don't want people to get the benefit of avoiding the excessive screening without paying for it, and for me, that is wrong for a government agency. If these FFs were considered safe to go through PreCheck before, they shouldn't now be forced to pay DHS to continue to do so.
The goal of the TSA should be to get pax through security as unobtrusively as necessary to clear them as safe. Here they are taking passengers that they have previously certified as safe for PreCheck and recatagorizing them for reasons that have nothing to do with their threat level. To me, that is a major step backwards
Apr 17, 2015, 10:56 am
#67
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Apr 17, 2015, 12:55 pm
#68
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You are free to think what you wish, but I'm confident about the data set that was reviewed.
Apr 17, 2015, 1:00 pm
#69
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Still doesn't make anyone who paid $100 for GE and gets Pre check, the privileged wealthy who is screwing the underprivileged. Which is what I was reacting to in my post.
Not sure if they are still not guaranteeing Pre Check with GE. I seem to be getting it every time on domestic flights.
Not sure if they are still not guaranteeing Pre Check with GE. I seem to be getting it every time on domestic flights.
DHS in its own words:
Originally Posted by DHS
These initiatives, such as Global Entry and the Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CT-PAT), ...... enhance security by focusing on unknown and/or dangerous individuals and goods.
Last edited by GUWonder; Apr 17, 2015 at 1:12 pm
Apr 17, 2015, 1:17 pm
#70
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TSA's stated goal is to migrate 85% of eligible passengers into pre-check with just under 15% receiving what is now standard treatment and a very small % receiving the enhanced secondary treatment.
That's a good thing, so long as the # of lanes for pre-check increases with the % of passengers, more or less.
That's a good thing, so long as the # of lanes for pre-check increases with the % of passengers, more or less.
Apr 17, 2015, 1:26 pm
#71
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Apr 17, 2015, 1:51 pm
#72
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Does it really matter if they are or are not? They may often also fly to non-commercial airports on non-commercial flights to try to get better treatment on arrival to the U.S., but then that just gets back to the fact that GE is much about servicing the privileged who are able and willing to pay the government more to get treated better by the government. So much for all free, traveling people being equal in the eyes of the government.
Apr 17, 2015, 1:56 pm
#73
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That was indeed sort of what the TSA had peddled, but now DHS isn't peddling the same thing. Instead the TSA storyline more recently has been that DHS wants to get more people to submit to the DHS paid-membership racket while DHS cuts back on the free inclusion (into PreCheck) of a substantial chunk of the traveling public that has been getting it.
Apr 17, 2015, 2:27 pm
#74
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TSA's stated goal is to migrate 85% of eligible passengers into pre-check with just under 15% receiving what is now standard treatment and a very small % receiving the enhanced secondary treatment.
That's a good thing, so long as the # of lanes for pre-check increases with the % of passengers, more or less.
That's a good thing, so long as the # of lanes for pre-check increases with the % of passengers, more or less.
Apr 17, 2015, 2:36 pm
#75
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Does it really matter if they are or are not? They may often also fly to non-commercial airports on non-commercial flights to try to get better treatment on arrival to the U.S., but then that just gets back to the fact that GE is much about servicing the privileged who are able and willing to pay the government more to get treated better by the government. So much for all free, traveling people being equal in the eyes of the government.
As much as I'm cynical about many things DHS, I still don't see the angle here about "servicing the privileged". The nominal paid fee for GE is the least of the three things you "pay" to join the program: the far more important two being submission to a detailed background check and the time/effort to schedule and submit to an interview. (Granted, they were prompt with mine.) The $100 likely serves the purpose of filtering out people who would rarely use it, but does not have any impact on people who would use it often, driving their "per use" rate down to pennies.
I still think it's a decent-enough program, given the current situation at the macro level, to move more throughput in the arrivals hall by getting the "routine" people out of there quickly. I think of that as "maintaining security", but if they want to describe it as "enhancing security" by spending more time on the unusual cases, fine with me.
If there are some good ideas for overhauling the entire thing, I won't argue with that.
(FWIW, I honestly don't know exactly how the wealthiest people pass through customs/immigration. I always assumed it took place onboard the aircraft as the aircraft itself was part of the inspection. Ironically enough, the billionaire who finds himself on a commercial aircraft might not even know about GE or Precheck!
)