Originally Posted by
JudyBlueEyes
Greetings all. I'm 1K but my husband has only been Premier Silver for the last couple of years, and is in line to lose even that status this coming year unless he flies more or buys EQMs. We are both Global Entry, and based in Chicago, so ORD is our home airport. Here is a question to which we've gotten different answers:
- If he is a Mileage Plus member, but has no elite status at all, does he qualify for TSA Pre? And does it become more random/less likely that he gets it on a given flight? It's worth a lot to him to keep TSA Pre qualification.
The follow up question may not belong in this thread, but if he really needs to be at least Silver status to use TSA Pre, there are several ways he can get it this year. He has 18,628 EQMs now. We're flying to the Caribbean on a standard free ticket (70,000 miles each) in December, and he can buy 8800 EQMs for $936. He could switch to paying for the Caribbean ticket (to save the 70,000 miles) and take a mileage run trip or buy more EQMs along with the paid ticket. If the answer to the TSA Pre question is "it's less likely that he'll get it without Silver status," then we'll cross the bridge to figuring out the best way for him to qualify for it. Thanks to this great community! Judy
Judy, my understanding is that as long as your Known Traveler Number (global entry) in your profile you should have no problem continuing to get PREcheck. I asked the same question yesterday and that is what I was told. Silver Premier is pretty low on the totem pole anyway and a great number of us Silvers report batting zero with Precheck. That is why I went with GE and have 100% precheck for about 25 flights this year.
Has he EVER been selected for PRE (three beeps) on any flight? If so, he is in the system and I don't think that would change by losing his Silver status.
But again, being Global entry should be all he needs.
As for your other question (yes, this is the wrong thread for that but....) Personally, I would never pay $1000 for miles just for PRE benefits. Even if you fly twenty times that year, is it worth $50 a flight to save ten or 15 minutes in security lines. And the way things are going at some airports (PRE is not always that fast.
There are some years where it is close if I will hit Silver or not. I get an occasional upgrade, and I like being able to pick a better seat 24 hours before departure but my main reason for wanting status in the past is to use the Premier Security line. Boarding precedence doesn't matter much to me. With GE I'll worry a lot less about making Silver. I'd never pay big bucks for it. Though I might consider paying a little if I was just short of GOLD.