I’ve had a few weeks of flights (almost all WestJet) through various airports across Canada and the U.S.

The NEXUS “trusted traveller” feature at CATSA checkpoints is useless. And utterly pointless.

YYC Concouse A: one line for regular. One line for Wetjet Gold. And one line for us “trusted travellers”. The regular line feeds to multiple screening queues (as it should). The Gold line goes through one. And NEXUS goes to one. And that one NEXUS lane is bloody, bloody slow and congested. Other than one time - when the regular line snaked down the hall past the pre-security shops - NEXUS routinely gets “lapped” by everyone else. Unless it’s a peak passenger period, NEXUS is routinely the slowest option. “But hey”, says CATSA, “you get your own line!”. But it’s pointless. Little to no benefit.

YYC Concouse E: Much talked about already. One line for regular, one line for premium, and one line for NEXUS. And they just all merge into the same line for a Plus machine. Occasionally, a short time savings because you get to awkwardly “butt” in front of some people who’ve waited. But then you’re waiting behind infrequent travellers overwhelmed by the Plus system, who have their bottles of shampoo and water with them, and everyone pulling out their technology for a separate bin, and big families with strollers, and with everyone taking their shoes off. Again, unless there’s a massive regular line, NEXUS is pointless. “But hey”, proclaims CATSA (frequently), “you get front-of-the-line service!”. But it’s of little to no benefit. Pointless.


YYZ T-3. Hey, a whole separate screening area for us trusted travellers! Wow! Great, right? No. Still a bloody long and slow line (hidden behind check-in) with staff running around redirecting people from one screening door to another. An odd merging and ‘de-merging’ with lines for handicapped/family travellers (and I had no idea which line was which, or if it made a difference). While I was there it was still peak leisure travel time (at the start of January), and the whole area was absolute chaos and confusion. And bloody slow. “But hey”, says CATSA, “you get your own line!”. But there’s no benefit or advantage. It’s pointless.

YVR B gates. One regular line leading to 3 stations. One for families. And one for NEXUS. Guess which one’s the absolute slowest option? You betcha! It’s NEXUS! After waiting and waiting and inching ahead, and watching every other (short) line move, I slid under the stanchion ropes across to the ‘regular’ line. And I beat all of the poor NEXUS suckers still standing there waiting for their Trusted Traveller experience. And I beat them handily. “But hey”, says CATSA, “you get your own line!” But, alas, it’s utterly pointless.

Every single U.S. airport TSA Pre-Check experience: Awesome. Fantastic. It works. Short lines, adequately staffed to get trusted travellers moving quickly. Dedicated lanes and service. Incredibly efficient. And, since you’re “trusted” no removing of compliant-sized liquids, or laptops, or taking off jackets or shoes. Making it even faster, even more convenient, and utterly, fantastically reliable. IT WORKS.

Dear CATSA: Your Trusted Traveller system is broken. Fix this. Or just shut it down. Stop pretending.

NEXUS is great for CBSA clearance. It’s great for Global Entry for CBP clearance into the U.S. And it’s absolutely wonderful for TSA Pre-Check when flying from a U.S. airport.

But for you guys, dearest CATSA, it’s useless. And frustrating. And annoying.

Fix this.