alpinecow

Perhaps there's already a thread on this, but I've missed it.

What's up with the line minders going bonkers on me in the last half-dozen flights I've taken? I'm talking about the airport employees (non-TSA, usually contracted from some service company) who marshal people into or out of the Pre-Check line. Here's how the routine goes.

Them - "Are you Pre-Check?"
Me - "Yes." ::Keeps walking::

--It always used to end here, but recently they've been chasing me down, demanding to see my boarding pass.--

Them - "Can I see your boarding pass."
Me - "No. I'm Pre-check."
Them - "Did you just say no to me?"
Me - "Yes I did."
Them - [Usually followed by a rude comment at my expense...my favorite was "They don't pay me enough to deal with this b***s***!"]

I'm definitely not helping to de-escalate any conflict, but then again, why should there be a conflict in the first place?

It went as far on Friday as the line minder in Pre-Check in PHL D/E terminal grabbing my shoulder on Friday and threatening to call the police if I didn't show him my boarding pass. My response was that I'd be happy to show the TSA agent my boarding pass at the head of the Pre-Check line, and I'd be even happier, when the LEO arrived, to request that officer arrest said minder for battery. He was hollering, and I was steamed, but I managed not to raise my voice.

Am I the only one out there that refuses to show my boarding pass / phone to the non-TSA airport employees? Am I the only one that thinks it's ridiculous to have someone guard the Pre-Check line? Is there anything we can do about this stoopidity? Or should I just cave and hand my $800 cell phone boarding pass to a random stranger with no legal authority?

76toPHL

What's the issue with taking 2 seconds to show the person your boarding pass? Doesn't getting in an unnecessary back-and-forth argument with a person that is just doing what they're told waste time for you, and everyone behind you trying to get into the pre-check line?

These "guards" do serve a legitimate purpose in that they keep passengers without pre-check out of the pre-check line. When someone gets into the wrong line, it usually generates a subsequent argument or discussion with the TSA agent checking them in, and delays the line for everyone behind them.

I don't see this being a "legal authority" issue as much as a "common courtesy" one. Taking two seconds to do something that costs me nothing, avoids a hostile conversation with someone, and keeps the line moving quickly seems like a good deal for everyone involved.

Randyk47

TSA certainly has a menu of issues in terms of things they do or don't do, should do or shouldn't do, and check and shouldn't check. They can be a pain but so can passengers. Sorting the PreCheck line doesn't even hit super minor level. Show them the pass.

alpinecow

Wow, a nice guy from Philly, imagine that. ;-)

Thanks for your 2 cents.

kennycrudup

While I get the whole "keep the non-PC folks out of the line" and "just two seconds" thing, I already know where I'm going, and to be honest the contractors at SFO are pretty useless and annoying and I gotta admit it's a bit of a guilty pleasure to breeze by them just to hear them squeal ... one time one of 'em followed me (abandoning their post, which goes back to "useless") to tell the TDC "he didn't show me his BP", and I replied "Yeah, but you're not TSA" at which point the TDC kinda gave her the "... and?" look and she slinked back to her post.

OK, so no gift from Santa for me this year

alpinecow

Too funny, Kenny. The minder I mentioned ended our interaction by telling me that the TSA rep said "It's the season to be kind, so I'll let you go. This time."

rlb

oh, please, the pre-check minder is just doing the job that the airport hired them to do-(they did not just show up at the airport to check your boarding pass) - you have to have your boarding pass or phone out anyway- just show it and go on with your life. All this fuss does not speak well of a person that obviously that thinks that they are more important than a low paid person just doing the job they were hired to do. Coal might be in your stocking Christmas morning-

CKDGM

Hand? I've never had to hand my phone to them. Heck, most of the time at BOS Terminal A I barely slow down as I wave the screen in their general direction. (Presumably they just look for the blue stripe at the top of the bar code; they've certainly never asked me to stop so they can look more closely.)

I have complaints about many, many aspects of the airport experience. Most of them are about the security checkpoint. Showing the line dragon my boarding pass long enough for them to look for a visible indicator of Precheck isn't anywhere on that list.

SEA1K4EVR

You may not be the only one who thinks it.. but you make a ridiculous argument.

The person monitoring the lane isn't a random stranger..they're an employee hired to do a job and they will always be wearing an ID. On top of that, you are not compelled to let them touch your phone. Simply show them the screen to be sure you've got a Pre logo.

They are doing everyone a favor by screening out people from the line who don't belong there.. I've been in Pre lines many times where there wasn't a monitor and non-qualified people get to the front and are turned away..usually after the TSA ID checker has to explain to them why they must go to the other line after they've already waited. Wasting their time and mine while I stand there and listen.

Tons of people have no idea what Pre is..they see a short line and they enter it, oblivious to what the Pre sign means.

Give the screeners a break..they are doing you a service as well by keeping the line shorter for you.

CDKing

Half the time they cause a bigger backup than the TSA. Usually i show them my BP but if they are doing a poor job and causing a backup i don't. If they want to go on a gestapo power trip because I didn't respect their authoritah that's their problem.

PS flame away, I know its a jerky thing to do and i don't care.

PPS, i pretty much stopped using the Pre lanes as its quicker for normal security anyways due to my shoulder injury.

gingersnaps

I see nothing improper with your conduct. Good for you for informing the person about committing battery.

alpinecow

Alright, the FT masses have spoken. I'm a bad person and not going to institute any meaningful change with my micro-aggression-protest. I will do my best to reform and be nice from here on.

Often1

Not only do I think that the practice of checking for the Pre-Check symbol at the line entry start is a good one, but I believe that people who refuse to participate in it ought to be tossed by the airports authority. Maybe that is going to take a change in signage at the entry point to the pre-check line, but if that's what it takes, so be it.

Whether the human being is an employee of the carrier, the airports authority or a contractor is irrelevant. They are charged with a simple job and they do it. Keeping people out of the line who don't belong in the line keeps the line moving.

There are all manner of people who believe that they ought to be in Pre-Check (because they used to get it through the pilot program, they are elite, they are in F, their uncle once sat next to a Congressman and so on). If each of those people spends 10 seconds with the TSA Officer at the podium, that's 40 seconds of your life vs. the 2 seconds it takes to hold your phone in your hand and show it to the human being doing the job. If you think it's a bad idea, treating the human being as sub-human is not the answer.

Maybe once in a blue moon having a couple of plainclothes airport cops standing nearby to escort the non-compliant back to the counter to let the carrier know that someone won't be welcome at the airport that day, will go a long way. Bet that guy won't be posting on FT to brag about how he didn't fly that day.

pa3lsvt

I have had the same run-in with that particular contractor at D/E. He thinks he is the "line sheriff" and has authoratah.

I just kept walking through the queue ignoring him as he yelled (yes, he was yelling) for me to come back. My response: "I'm good." The TSA ID checker just smirked when I approached her, and since there was nobody waiting I walked up to her straight away after navigating the roped lanes.

Heaven help that fella if he puts his hands on me.

The ladies that work over there (the crew rotates stations, as I've seen Sheriff McAttitude pushing wheelchairs and monitoring the main entrance at D/E) tend to stand in the way of the doorway as they gossip. I don't break stride when I walk past them if they aren't in the way, and verbally acknowledge I am PreCheck as I pass.

Yes, I'm being a d*ck and I will admit it. When those contractors treat me with anything other than attitude (I'm still waiting for the first time I get a polite one) I'll return the favor. Until then, while they treat me with disdain because they hate their $12/hr job at PHL, I will continue to provide the same return attitude.

danib62

I really don't get the disdain for the line-minders. They're getting paid to do a job and keep non-precheck members out of the line and bogging it down for everyone.

Do you guys also freak out at the usher who checks your ticket when you go to a movie?