Originally Posted by
paule123
That was pretty much my mother's experience at MDW yesterday. I was surprised when I checked in for her online and saw "TSA PRE" on her boarding pass. So I explained to her the deal on how PreCheck works and was hoping she would have a good experience to report back. Unfortunately she reported the lines were long and there were many people in line who had no idea what to do, and were slowing the whole thing down.
Data points:
- my mother flies 1 or 2 times a year
- she did not opt-in to anything (nor did I on the SWA site)
- ticket was purchased with points in my RR account, fees paid with my SWA credit card, EB purchased for the R/T
- Wanna Get Away fare on this segment, Anytime on the return
- I fly SWA maybe 1 or 2 times a year (I am not A-list)
- I am Global Entry and get Pre 100% of the time (flying UA as a Silver elite)
I am wondering if she somehow inherited my GE/TT status because I made the booking? SWA is giving preference to SWA CC holders? SWA is being nice to seniors? Some combination of the above?
I was also surprised to see "TSA PRE" on my mother's boarding pass when I checked her in this morning. She is flying MDW-PHX first thing tomorrow morning. I also booked her flight with my own account/points, but I am not A-List or A-List Preferred. I do fly SWA at least 6-10 times per year, however. I also have a SWA Visa. I'm really not sure how they are doling out the pre-check designations.
Anyways, should I tell my mother to just use the regular security lanes at MDW instead? It sounds like the pre-check lane is not worth the headache.