Originally Posted by
Sulley
IAD and DCA are terrible for PreCheck because everyone in this area has Clearance or a DoD number, which automatically allows a traveler to go through PreCheck.
It's really annoying if you don't work for GovCo or the Military Industrial Complex.
A lot of civilian government travelers also do what private-sector frequent travelers do - pay the $85 (or $100 for GE) to get Pre-check access. I think most of what you're seeing are simply that a lot of people in the Washington area who travel realize it's sensible to have precheck.
FWIW, it's hard to tell the difference in lines at IAD because non-precheck is out of sight down the stairs. At DCA it's easy, and I've seen equally long lines during business travel times to an almost empty precheck line (walked up) vs. a massive regular line a few days after Christmas.