I'm a non-US citizen living outside the USA signed up and have pre-check using a non-US address. Get a NEXUS card. Cheaper than the $85 they want for PreCheck.,

There isn't a Nexus site convenient to me, or most of the places I fly. If this $85 was /guaranteed/to get me in PreCheck every time I fly? I'd consider it. If it's "Pay $85 and you might get selected", then no, I won't.

You should apply for Global Entry. For just fifteen more dollars than the PreCheck application, you will also get expedited processing when entering the U.S. PreCheck selection for GE members is usually near 100 percent.

I don't fly internationally that often (though I am going to Germany in September), I don't know if GE is worth it if I'm not guaranteed PreCheck. That's what I'm looking for. If this program will guarantee me PreCheck (esp. out of PHL) then I'd be interested.

Jeez, you really let your "statuses" go straight to your head, don't you?

Like it or not, they hit the nail right on the head. Same folks that won't pay $6-8 for IFE aren't about to plop down $85 for TSA.

The problem is the mid-tier folks on the fence about committing to Global Entry, now this opens another path.

Nothing will guarantee you PreCheck. This application process, like the GE process, will yield a PASS ID that you can enter into your Secure Flight profile. Chances are that, like GE, this program will yield a high percentage (95+) of PreCheck selection.

Where do you get the name info from? If that is true, I am truly doomed.

I´m not Canadian either, so no Nexus. I´m also not Dutch, South Korean or Mexican, so GE is not an option.

Actually, if security for everyone were like PreCheck (as it should be, and is in most of the World), lines would never get long enough to annoy you (as in most of the World), and you would zoom through, as I tend to do in most of the World.

The percentage may have dropped for GE members as of late. I am not currently sure what has come of inquiries being made over that because some of this involves PYOB/PDF boarding passes having PreCheck indications while the mobile boarding passes for the same passengers on the same flights did not.

The security measures associated with letting a person travel
should occur when he applies for the passport.
As far back as the circuit court ruling in Corfield v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546 (1823), the Supreme Court recognized freedom of movement as a fundamental Constitutional right...
This cutesy stratified pay-to-play approach toward letting some people breeze through security for a fee is unacceptable. What's next, are we going to pay cops a small fee not to frisk us or beat us as we walk down city streets? Ridiculous.

Really, "begin and end with issuing someone a passport"? There should be no additional security measures for flights? We tried that in the 1970s, and hijackings were commonplace, even with relatively few people flying. Your Libertarian view is far outside the mainstream.

Your suggestion that paying for the background check process is somehow analagous to extortion by a cop on the beat is equally mind-bending. It's not like TSA is leaving out tip jars for the screeners. ;)

The alternative is that all taxpayers pay for something that only a small minority have any interest in. How is a fee-for-service model not preferable? Those interested in Pre-check pay for the administrative costs, and as a result there's little to no cost passed along to the taxpayer. Everyone wins.

Better idea: Everyone gets precheck-style security until the government can show reason that they shouldn't be eligible. Then, those who aren't given pre-check should be given $85.

Mike

I disagree. The airlines and the airports should chose whatever security measures they deem appropriate (as long as civil rights aren't violated). The federal government should have no say in the matter.

It's the very definition of extortion. Offering reduced harassment for cash + valuable personal information is a shakedown. Tony Soprano (RIP) would be proud.

^^

background
 

I'm wondering what the background check will include. I was turned down for GE because of a small but dumb decision in college. So will the pre background check disqualify you for that, or will it look for those who would pose a safety risk?