Should Canada's “Verified Traveller” be extended to all NEXUS members' co-travelers?
Jun 24, 2023, 12:45 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,902
Should Canada's “Verified Traveller” be extended to all NEXUS members' co-travelers?
Just pointing out that with the rollout of Canada’s “Verified Traveller” program starting June 20, Nexus cardholders have been downgraded and can no longer universally bring any co-traveller through the Canadian CATSA lines with them.
I know some might be happy to hear this, but it was a big reason I signed up for Nexus in the first place so I’ll submitting my complaints to several parties.
Just had that experience yesterday (June 23rd) at Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 D gates (where they arbitrarily closed our E gate for ??? reasons and did a bad job of shuffling pax over)
Exceptions are flights to USA (dunno why), front-of-the-line access and those 17 or under or 75 and over.
https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/verified-travellers
I know some might be happy to hear this, but it was a big reason I signed up for Nexus in the first place so I’ll submitting my complaints to several parties.
Just had that experience yesterday (June 23rd) at Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 D gates (where they arbitrarily closed our E gate for ??? reasons and did a bad job of shuffling pax over)
Exceptions are flights to USA (dunno why), front-of-the-line access and those 17 or under or 75 and over.
https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/verified-travellers
have no issues with this, by the way. IMO, aside from minors, I can’t think of a reason why those who haven’t been vetted as trusted travelers should benefit from procedures designed for those who have been? Now that I think of it, this seems less of a ‘downgrade’, and more of closing a gaping loophole in the system until now.
Jun 24, 2023, 1:11 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 298
Doesn't sound like a downgrade for ‘Nexus cardholders’, but a downgrade for companions of Nexus members that don’t also hold it.
have no issues with this, by the way. IMO, aside from minors, I can’t think of a reason why those who haven’t been vetted as trusted travelers should benefit from procedures designed for those who have been? Now that I think of it, this seems less of a ‘downgrade’, and more of closing a gaping loophole in the system until now.
have no issues with this, by the way. IMO, aside from minors, I can’t think of a reason why those who haven’t been vetted as trusted travelers should benefit from procedures designed for those who have been? Now that I think of it, this seems less of a ‘downgrade’, and more of closing a gaping loophole in the system until now.
At least myself, and I’m sure other cardholders, found it very valuable to themselves to stick with their co-travellers through a faster security process. The carveouts seem arbitrary; <18s and >75s are eligible for Nexus, so why exempt them? And I would have expected the new rules to be the most restrictive for US, but it’s the opposite.
It’s not a stretch for a program to trust vetted cardholders’ co-travellers by association. Would be interesting to hear if there was any evidence of co-travellers causing safety incidents.
A root problem is that you can’t get your card revoked for CATSA (or TSA) violations (as far as I know, unless you commit some crime that makes you ineligible for customs/imm purposes). This problem continues to exist because a trusted customs program is being used as a trusted security program.
Last edited by tecate55; Jun 24, 2023 at 1:17 pm
Jun 24, 2023, 3:03 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,646
I don't see why a companion should get the same privileges as the NEXUS holder. I can potentially understand if it's the same screening as everybody else, but if expedited screening like PreCheck, I am in favor of just the member getting to use it.
Jun 25, 2023, 5:33 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2023
Location: YYZ
Posts: 24
I'm never a fan of losing perks - but I will say having a clear outlined policy of who is a permitted companion in the trusted security line should be helpful in terms of consistency across airports.
YVR in my experience never let me bring companions without Nexus/GE, etc in the trusted security line anyway, so I'm hoping with the verified traveler revamp there's less confusion.
YVR in my experience never let me bring companions without Nexus/GE, etc in the trusted security line anyway, so I'm hoping with the verified traveler revamp there's less confusion.
Jun 30, 2023, 6:56 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: United Kingdom
Programs: AC Ennui 50K · BA Gold · EIL Carte Blanche
Posts: 142
A slight update on this from reading the information page. It turns out co-travellers of any age will still be allowed trans-border, at least by air.
Edit: Aaand I see this has already been mentioned!
Edit: Aaand I see this has already been mentioned!