Originally Posted by
LordHamster
I often transit through SFO or EWR, at both places the Pre-check line can be absolutely massive. Problem is the TSA STILL lets everyone and their mother into the pre-check line, often first time flyers. The benefit of getting to cut to the front of this line during peak periods is actually one of my favorite bits of being GS... especially when trying to make tight international connections or trying to catch an earlier flight. .
This can be a huge benefit. If you conservatively allocate a half-hour saved each trip out of EWR (which is reasonable since you can't plan time of departure for the airport on the basis of median wait time; it has to be somewhere near maximum or you'll miss half your flights), and you make twenty trips per year that's ten hours. For a high-end NYC professional, who can bill at $2000 per hour, that can be worth $20,000. And if you travel a lot in business/first with a companion, forced saver award availability can also be worth many thousands of dollars (even tens, if lots of international travel).