Originally Posted by
meballard
Apparently not all of them beep, some just use some kind of display, showing LLL for PreCheck, or green lights, or various other things.
Yes, but I believe one of the airports mentioned was LGA, and I know for sure that machine gives three beeps. They aren't as loud as others though (ATL, for example), so would be easy to miss if its busy, you're not paying attention, there's a baby crying, etc.
Originally Posted by
meballard
Shouldn't make a difference for entry into the actual PreCheck screening area yes, although it would make it easier to get into the line to have your pass scanned for PreCheck, especially if you don't qualify for the SkyPriority security line.
Yep. That's what I'm thinking. GE card gets you into the line in the event you don't have SkyPriority (if it's a shared line), but you still need to get BP scanned to go through the PreCheck-style screening.
Originally Posted by
stylo4444
It's one thing to quell spreading of misinformation, and it's another to accuse someone of wrongdoing and imply a major security breach. My posting in this thread was to answer the question of a person entering in their GE traveler number in their profile and being eligible - to which I responded yes you are eligible and the last few trips I have actually been selected.
I have been consistent in two things - the items I provide when going through security (BP, ID, GE card), and then my not going through the first two times, but being selected on recent trips after the agent saw the items I provided, starting with my boarding pass, then my ID, and then my GE card where afterwards they pointed me to the Pre-Check lane and informed me I have been selected for Pre Check, and not to remove my shoes, belt, and keep my laptop in my bag. I point out them seeing my GE card because once they saw that is when they let me know that I've been selected for pre-check, that's all. I'm simply relaying my experience as I remember it. Would you like me to ask them if they scanned my boarding pass next time and if they can let me record the beeps on my iPhone as well just to make sure?
Next time, choose your words wisely rather than make accusations of someone trying to get around a security system, undermining national security, procedures being executed incorrectly, and hinting at someone doing something wrong and promising a "crackdown" of this. If your goal was to quell any misinformation, you could have done it in a more effective and appropriate way.
And once again, I still don't see you mentioning the part where I say I didn't get selected the first two times after providing the same documents, but instead choose to focus on my words of the TSA agent looking at my GE card and me being let through to the Pre-Check lane. At least mention the other facts rather than the words you feel you can try to attack a person on.
Everyone that is a regular flier knows of the pains of waiting in long security lines at the airport, I see the TSA-Pre program as a good step towards improving the process. I view GE as somewhat of a plus with this as you give up more information rather than just being a part of TSA-Pre due to FF status. Whether having a GE improves the chances of being selected, I do not know but I could understand it if that was the case as you give up more information in order to obtain Global Entry. Nevertheless, I have not been selected every time I have traveled either. The goal is to improve security and everyone wants the process to be better and faster, but remain as secure as ever. You don't know me, and I don't know you...but at least we can agree on that. If you want to continue to make false claims of how I have apparently breached security and am taking advantage of something feel free to continue to do so.
Whoa there. I need to jump in since I was the one that started asking questions, though I should say up front that right now, while I'm assuming the best about both of you, I'm going to side with
dcline414. For myself, I speak directly and bluntly because I want to be clear about what's happening and, as I've received a wealth of great information from FT, want to make sure that any potentially (even if not intentionally) misleading information is addressed for others that may be reading.
- PreCheck is still somewhat new, especially at some specific airports, and both us pax and TSA agents are learning its ins and outs. I see this thread as a great place to hear about experiences like yours, try to pick at the minute details (since we're FTers, and that's what we do), and retain that knowledge.
- PreCheck is great. We all want to get it every time. Many of us have experiences not getting it at times.
- I seriously doubt anyone here is accusing you of deliberately attempting to circumvent airport security measures. In fact, if there's anything you're guilty of it's not wasting time obsessively digging into PreCheck literature and paying attention to a nondescript BP scanner machine at the security checkpoint. If anything, it sounded to me like folks were noodling on poorly-trained TSA agents not following the correct procedure for checking each eligible pax for their selection, and potentially allowing some pax to use PreCheck when they otherwise wouldn't have been randomly selected.
- We, on this thread, chose to focus on one part of your experience. Absolutely. Why? Because the way it was described at first seems inconsistent with the known rules of the PreCheck program and with the various experiences already posted here. We're not attacking anyone, we're just curious, because it's different.
- It is a known fact, both through TSA literature and the experiences of other FTers, that access to certain lines leading up to the security checkpoint TDC is granted by any number of means - flashing a FF elite card, flashing a GE card, flashing a F/BE/SP boarding pass, flashing a smile.
- Prior to your post, it was thought that to gain access to the actual PreCheck screening area (i.e., the x-ray machine and WTMD where you're allowed to keep your shoes/belt/jacket on), each pax must have his/her BP scanned and receive a signal, represented by the display of "LLL" or three audible beeps, that they have been randomly selected to use the PreCheck-style screening for that entry. Except for certain scenarios involving young children, this is strictly per pax and not per PNR or anything else. I have been separated from my wife several times when I get the three beeps and she does not.
- In theory, a major piece of the security guaranteed by the PreCheck program is that random selection for additional screening measures remains a part of the system at all times. The reason we keyed in so much on your experience was that from the original post, it could be interpreted as you flashed your GE card and were automatically directed into the PreCheck screening area. No BP scan. No random selection. Just automatic entry. If this is true, it is a very real breach of security (at least in the eyes of the TSA), as it allows individuals with GE cards to anticipate a more relaxed security screening.
- From our follow up questions and your responses, it appears that that is a big "if" statement, since none of us really know what happened. You mention that you just don't remember if your BP was scanned. And that's fine. If you did remember, it'd be a great data point to have.
There is so much confusion in this thread, which some of the same posters try again and again to resolve, around the difference of being "eligible" for PreCheck and actually being "selected" on any given day/trip/checkpoint. It makes it hard for questions to get answered efficiently, and makes folks ask for lots of detail to get clarity.
So, for the record, here's how I'm talking about it, and how I think most others understand it.
- Eligible - If you're eligible, you're eligible. Whether it's because your a FF elite, have GE/Nexus, or something else, you are allowed to scan your BP at the TSA checkpoint and try to use PreCheck, though it's never guaranteed. Conversely, if you're ineligible, your chances of getting PreCheck on any given trip should be exactly zero.
- Selected - You only know if you're selected or not at actual entry on each trip, in that magical moment when the TDC scans your BP and the little black box beeps three times or says "LLL" (or both). You can't be selected unless you were eligible first. If you're selected, you go down the glorious aisle where you don't unpack your 3-1-1 and laptop, keep your shoes and belt where they belong (on the appropriate parts of your body), and stroll through a WTMD. If you're unlucky and don't get selected, that doesn't mean you weren't eligible, or that you won't be in the future. It just means it wasn't your lucky day.
There. Can we all be friends again now?