Why does Pre-Check have to be so complex? I'll start off with, it's a great idea. I'm glad they're instituting it, and look forward to utilizing it, seeing it expand...

That being said, why can't anyone enrolled enjoy the benefits always? I will be enrolled, as I'm GE and was targeted as a CO elite. Why does it only work for AA at some airports, and DL at other airports? As a TT, I should have a number to put into my online profile when booking travel. It shouldn't matter what airline I'm flying or what airport I'm using. As long as Pre-Check is set up at that airport, anyone enrolled should be able to benefit.

Perhaps, they shouldn't bother encoding the BP. Otherwise, if I'm flying a foreign carrier, how will I ever benefit?

The system is a great idea. But with tweaks like this, the TSA could really go a long way to restoring some faith in travelers everywhere.

Short answer: it's still being rolled out. TSA has demonstrated before that implementation of changes is not the agency's strong point.

I believe it's also related to individual airline IT systems - they're all different, probably have to be modified somehow. Even if they had an existing unused 'ID' field that could be used to supply TSA with a TT number, they still have to adapt the system to receive confirmation back from TSA and to properly encode the BP.

Plus someone decided to throw FF into the mix, so that's another level of complexity - instead of the airline passing on a TT number that TSA can verify, the airline has to pass some kind of 'OK' based on FF status for TSA to process and respond to.

Then there's the physical element - dedicated TT lanes and trying to find train-able TSOs so a much bally-hooed program doesn't immediately fall on its face when a TT TSO randomly decides all pax must take their shoes off anyway in 'his' lane. Plus training a TDC to recognize an 'LLL' and understand what it means. LAS has apparently already added a step to the process: if 'contraband' is found on a TT (bottle of water in carry-on) at the checkpoint, the line stops while the offending pax gets 'written up' and threatened with expulsion from the program.

TSA probably wanted to target the 'major' airlines first to make the biggest splash in terms of numbers. CO/UA may have been too busy with the merger to be able to make any necessary software changes as quickly as AA and DL.

Put all these elements together with an agency that doesn't have the best track record of implementation, and it's probably surprising that we haven't had negative reports yet.

For reasons that mystify me, it appears that flying an international itinerary excludes you from Pre-check, so it wouldn't surprise me if foreign carriers are never eligible.

If I understand you correctly, you feel (and I agree) that if you're already a member of TT (GE/NEXUS/SENTRI) holder, there should be a way to just show the card and get expedited screening. No back-and-forth with the airlines, entering your number into each airline's records, etc - something analogous to the kiosks GE members use now for expedited immigration and customs clearance. That makes sense to me, and I think it would have been a good first phase approach, but hey, we're talking TSA....

I disagree, TSA's Pre-Check is not a great idea. The few things this program allows for should be the starting point of screening for everyone and only escalating if an alarm needs resolving. Nothing in Pre-Check justifies giving TSA even more information about oneself other than is needed for issuance of a boarding pass.

Security should be the same for everyone.

On the GOES front, yes. Regarding elites, once UA gets the IT capability to encode the BP with TT info, there's no reason why they can only encode the BP at EWR and not other airports. If the TSA can't be set up at all terminals at ORD, for example, fine. But as long as they're set up where I'm flying out of, even if I'm on a different airline, if the airline, be it AA, DL, or UA, has the ability to encode the BP, then they should always be able to, regardless of the airport.

And that stinks about international travel. Why? I hadn't heard that - I'm mostly on international travel

Wiggle room for when a TSA employee inevitably lies about what the requirements are. The more complex it is, the less likely any traveler will be able to call them out when they lie.

In an ideal world, the TSA would use smart security. (Actually, in an ideal world, there'd be no need for security. But in an ideal realistic world, TSA would use smart security.)

I don't see them changing so drastically anytime soon. But they can make small changes. NoS are a step in the wrong direction. Pre-Check is a step in the right direction. At the end of the day, if I can't bring liquids through security because TSA can't identify what the liquids are, can't differentiate between explosive and harmless, and can't recognize whether I'm a terrorist or innocent passenger, we have bigger problems. The fact that I need to take off my shoes because ONE person got explosives through in his shoes is problematic. Not just annoying security, but scary that this is the organization that we're trusting with out security.
IMO, Pre-Check (which is optional - no one's forcing you to give over more information) is a step towards smart security. We still can't bring liquids through. And we need to give over information just to avoid removing our shoes. But at least it's a start.

No matter how simple the rules, there's always the (high?) potential for TSOs to lie about the rules, or to simply not know the rules. But fair point

However, in order to have "smart security," the TSA needs to start with "smart" and "honest" employees.

They currently have neither, so it doesn't matter how "smart" their "security" is when they simply don't have any personnel capable of implementing it.

Give up additional information to TSA and you may get to keep your shoes on, your belt on, your Kippie bag in your luggage, not remove a light jacket, and get to leave your laptop in its case.

That is Pre-Check.

As I said earlier, those things should be the norm for everyone only escalating for alarms.

I fully agree that the Strip Search Machines are a very bad precedent and exceed minimally invasive administrative screening standards as has been ruled in court cases.

The bigger issue in my mind is the equal treatment of individuals by government. TSA has a history of not doing so.

I maintain and say it again, airport screening should be exactly the same for everyone who wishes to access the so-called sterile area, passengers, flight crew, airport workers, and TSA no difference.

Either the sterile area is secure or not and under TSA's policies the sterile area is anything but sterile.

It's possible they're already encoding all BPs for an eligible traveller. We have no way of verifying that one way or the other. If I'm TT on UA, Precheck-eligible, have used TT at EWR and have a return flight from COS (no Pre-check yet), how do I know if my BP is coded or not? I can't tell by looking and there's no TDC checking for it.

See the AA forum on this subject. It appears that international itineraries preclude getting the LLL, at least on the outbound, even on the domestic leg (if there is one). On the return, however, I think someone figured out that if you have a final connecting domestic leg and have to pass through TSA, Pre-check seems to work on that flight.

And no, no one understands this. As one poster observed, you could book two separate tickets, one domestic, one for the international itinerary, and probably circumvent this. There's some precedent for this, although I have never understood it. If I am booked domestic-intl-intl-domestic, when I check in for my domestic flight, I have to show passport and visa, if relevant - even though my connection always entails a plane/terminal change, and even though my international departure still requires me to show the passport/visa if required again.

I'd like to think this is a step toward more realistic screening for everybody rather than a divide-and-con approach but I have my doubts.

If I understand it correctly, it's something of a lottery ticket, quite unlike NEXUS and GE, where, as long as there's a GE kiosk or a NEXUS lane at the border crossing, the holder can use it.

Smart security does not treat everyone the same. The higher risk you are, the more scrutiny is paid. It's happened hundreds of times here, but I'll go back to it - look at TLV. Not everyone is treated the same. But the sterile area is certainly sterile. And no one removes shoes, liquids are allowed, belts stay on, computers can usually stay in the bag

+1 That's also my understanding. A lot more unpredictability and randomness (I'm talking about the TSO kind).

For example, if I get a random secondary at the border, with or without GE, if it's a genuine head-slap oversight, I'm not worried about it in the least.

But there's already a report out of LAS - a TT pax got caught with a water bottle in his carry-on. Line stops while he gets written up on the spot, possibility he will be thrown out of the program.

GE/NEXUS holds you to a high standard, for sure, but I have never worried about this level of silliness. I'm not worried about losing GE/NEXUS because I forgot I had an apple in my bag that went all the way to LHR and back.

At some level, it is very simple: you as the traveler are not trusted. Rather, PreCheck makes a determination about each and every trip you take and whether that trip is trusted. At this point, international trips are automatically not trusted, so no expedited security there. A domestic non-stop from LAX to JFK? You won't know until you get to the airport, but it will depend on a variety of risk factors -- the origin and destination airports, other passengers on your flight, your travel status (that is, GE, elite with one airline), and a few other factors.

As to why it's this complex, TSA feels that a true trusted traveler program was prone to penetration and compromise. What they overlooked is that risk (which is vanishingly small) could be guarded against by randomly selecting trusted travelers for additional security. In other words, PreCheck does not have to be this complicated.

Since TSA refuses to consider profiling then TSA security should be the same for everyone.

As long as TSA is involved I don't think we will ever see so-called Smart Security.