CrazyEddie

You are right on the line (or absence thereof). I very rarely check a bag, but when I do, I go there. I've asked the Delta agent there about the facility and the guy chuckled that Delta could have spent the money in a better way. Millions to redo that bag check and then staff it with 3 people, with almost zero usage. Maybe that will change over time.

emma dog

The biggest impediment for me using it is that it seems the only way to get the "Digital ID" is to be the only person on your PNR. I pretty much only check bags when I'm on vacation with my family, which means I have several people on one PNR.

Another interesting factoid, which also applies to Global Entry kiosks that only use photographic biometrics: I have identical twins. One kid can get on a plane but the system chokes when the second kid goes through because the system thinks it's already processed the first person. As a result, the second kid always "fails" global entry and we have to talk to an agent. Same thing happens with the facial recognition at TSA even if they're on separate PNRs, etc. Needless to say, there are clearly limitations of simple facial recognition for security purpose.

Robert Leach

Thanks for that. So, where is this security line? Is it buried within the existing Pre-Check section?

CrazyEddie

That would be consistent with what I’ve seen, but I’m not sure it is always staffed.

emma dog

it is… the location is between the pre and clear line. The couple of times I’ve used it, people are pulled from the pre line near where it splits to several lanes.

dcstudent

Yep. This. I've been using it a lit these past few weeks for early morning flights. Way faster than Clear and it seems most don't have this activated so once I make it close to the split I'm usually right to the front.

Robert Leach

Hmmm. So you get in the Pre-Check line instead of the CLEAR line and hope somebody pulls you at some point. Not sure I quite feel confident in this.

CrazyEddie

Exactly. I’d not do it unless you see the Delta gray coats where that split is. I’m flying next on Tuesday and will report back, but I suspect someone else in here will fly out sooner.

emma dog

I don’t see the harm. The time difference between being pulled and not isn’t particularly great.

CrazyEddie

To me it depends on the relative lengths of the two lines.

emma dog

Clear and pre clearing times are comparable… some of us think pre is faster. Others think clear can be faster. There’s no downside to the facial recognition for pre by the time you hit that decision point.

CrazyEddie

This is the point of my post. At least in Atlanta when you are debating TSA Pre vs. TSA Pre + Clear, you can't wait until that decision point (at least in the TSA Pre + Clear line) because the Delta reps will make you go back to the end of the TSA Pre line in order to use facial recognition.

emma dog

Sure. But my point is that it doesn’t matter. For my most recent datapoint, I flew out yesterday (Sunday) at noon. I arrived around 10:30. Precheck was using 2/3 of the snaked lines. Clear used 3 turns and 2/3 of the total possible rope length. A woman arrived clear and I kept track of her. I made it through the end of the pre line and she had 3 people in front of her for clear. I made it through the entire screening before she got her bags back from the scanner. But the difference wasn’t super great… eg it could have easily been the other way,

Although I have clear, I will not use it in ATL because my experience is consistent that worst case pre is the same time and best is for pre to beat clear by 15 minutes. I’m glad people love clear because it makes the pre line slightly shorter.

CrazyEddie

Today was about a tie at around 7:45am. The only continued minor annoyance is that there isn’t a separate line for digital ID in TSA pre, so I had to walk through a series of aimless turns in a relatively empty line, then wait for the pax ahead of me to choose a screening lane, and then prompt the Delta agent to let me use the digital ID option. But I need the steps.

CrazyEddie

Today at 5:45am the TSA pre line was significantly longer than Clear + TSA pre, but the time in the lines was that same (15 min). There no longer appears to be a Digital ID person - at least today (or 10/20 at 6:30am).