Boggie Dog

I wouldn't think of it like that. Pre Check style screening is the correct screening method for the vast majority of all travelers and most of those travelers are vetted sufficiently when purchasing airfare.

TSA used Pre Check as a means to quieten a small segment of travelers at the expense of the majority of travelers while the true purpose of Pre Check was to lighten the workload of TSA screeners.

The core issue goes back to the inability of TSA to use reasonable screening methods while insisting on using equipment that causes excess false alarms.

The screening method is at fault, not the travelers themselves.

chucko

Writing a letter is a good idea (better than email), but fax it, don't mail it. Because of the anthrax scares, most Congressional mail gets sent to a special screening facility, which delays its delivery by up to several days.

ashill

I think you misread the posts. I think the general thrust (certainly my opinion) is that Pre Check screening should be the norm, not the exception. Incidentally, TSA shares that view. The issue is adequate staffing. Adequate staffing to make it fast for an individual Pre Check flyer can be done either by keeping other passengers out of Pre Check (the approach you prosed, which TSA has used by default because they haven't gotten as many people to sign up for Pre Check as they would like) or just by simply hiring and retaining enough screeners (the approach I think most of the rest of us advocate).

Writing a letter to your representative to complain about TSA's inadequate staffing causing long lines for everybody is absolutely a good idea, IMO. Writing your representative to complain that TSA is shunting too many other passengers into the faster Pre Check line making it slower for you but faster, on average, for all travelers (which I believe is the crux of the suggestion in the original post) doesn't strike me as a terribly strong argument.

Up to multiple weeks, not just several days.

Often1

Maybe I live in another dimension, but I seem to pretty good Pre-Check experiences in almost all locations and the few bad experiences have to do either idiots who can't follow simple directions on large posters and therefore hold up the lines or a temporary mechanical problem such as a scanner breaking down with a bag in it.

As Pre-Check expands, the number of lanes seems to expand too, so I'm not worried that Pre-Check will be overrun.

The cost is minimal. At $100 for GE ($85 for GE) for 5 years and any decent business paying for it, even someone who flies infrequently can justify the cost and it is a cost which I don't believe that taxpayers ought to bear.

ashill

At the risk of getting into OMNI/PR territory (mods, feel free to delete if this steps over the line), I disagree if for no other reason than a practical one: TSA's goal with Pre Check is much more to reduce their costs than to save us time. If it saves costs, they should incorporate the added expense of doing the background check into the cost calculation rather than forcing individual travelers to pay for the background check if for no other reason than, apparently, too many people aren't willing to pay that $100/$85. If people aren't willing to pay the fee and TSA isn't willing to give more people Pre Check screening, then it seems like the fee is preventing TSA from achieving their goals, irrespective of whether the fee is fair or appropriate.

vincentharris

THIS right here is my ENTIRE problem with/in pre-check.

^

chollie

We definitely fly through different airports. IME, the only problems I see (besides the Pre lanes being closed) are TSOs (aka 'idiots') who don't follow the posted Pre signage.

Or perhaps the problem is the TSOs who designed one-size-fits-all sign for a process that frequently varies from what was promised at sign-up (as Amy Van Dyken, among others, found out).

enviroian

The line was long today at SAT. A bunch of idiotic Southwest <redacted> were in line in front of me with TSA pre. They had no idea what it was nor how they got it. Some lady said to another "did you get pre because of early check in?".

They hogged the lines. I had to tell them what they didn't have to take out or off. What a joke.

What the hell is going on with TSA pre these days?

Boggie Dog

TSA claims to have adequate signage to tell people what is expected at TSA checkpoints.

enviroian

<redacted>

They were clueless and hogging up a line reserved for those who know (or are supposed to know) what to do.

If you don't know the rules, get out line. Please.

zebranz

"Flyer knowledgeable challenged people" placed in Pre-check slow down the lines to justify the need for more personnel to man these lines?

enviroian

My beef is how they are getting TSA Pre if they have no idea what is going on and unaware of getting it.

Is TSA gifting random pre status?

Is WN gifting TSA Pre to certain passengers?

I'd post this on WN's forum but can't now since I can't replicate threads.

chollie

It's happening two ways.

1) TSA physically shifts large groups of people from the regular line to the Pre line. Supposedly these people have been granted Precheck because dog teams or BDOs have cleared them.

2) TSA gives Precheck at time of booking. They pre-screen every passenger, and for whatever reason, that screening is often enough to qualify people for Precheck. Could be frequent flyer status, age, who knows what. Those folks are in the Precheck line because they have Pre on their boarding pass.

The airlines have no say in this. An airline is participating or non-participating. If it's non-participating, I believe the only way you'll get Precheck is in 1) above. You won't get it on your boarding pass, even if you've paid for Precheck.

Unfortunately, a lot of TSOs know pax don't know what to expect, but instead of quietly monitoring the line and advising clueless pax to keep things moving, they stand around playing on their cellphones and talking trash about the pax.

MSPeconomist

Or the TSA employees stand near the lines and scream at everybody.

Boggie Dog

Karma perhaps?