CrazyEddie

Three recent Clear vs Digital ID experiences out of ATL:

1. 2/18 AM - Clear rep was kind enough to point me to the TSA pre line instead of Clear because Digital ID was faster (zero wait).
2. 2/20 AM- holiday lines were insane, and Digital ID wasn’t a realistic option, as one would have to go to the end of the TSA pre line (hundreds long - extending almost to the Marta entrance) without knowing if Digital ID was even an option. Clear with TSA took 30 min
3. 2/21 AM - Digital ID *appeared* shorter than Clear with TSA pre, but after going thru almost all of the TSA pre line, they stopped letting people go to the Digital ID line.

ATL seems to be all over the place.

dcadwell

Sounds about right. Last time I had Digital ID (last week) they weren't even using that functionality here (ATL); just shipped me through the regular Pre line.

CrazyEddie

Finally, you can now choose from TSA pre, Digital ID and Clear + TSA pre at the beginning of the line, at least on “regular flow” days. This morning at 8:45 there were no pax in the Digital ID line, and at least 30 in Clear.

NoleATL

My spouse and I almost always book our itineraries together and thus we're in 1 PNR. There were a couple occasions recently where we've traveled separately and those are the only times we're offered Digital ID. It seems as though if more than 1 person in the same record they don't offer up Digital ID as an option. Can anyone confirm?

emma dog

Correct, NoleATL

secretalcoholic

Is DL Digital ID only for security screening? Or is it the same system being used for boarding?

If its the latter, I only used it once out of the last 2 years at SEA....

jcm55a

Any recent flyers out of ATL with an update on this? What's the situation now re: DL Digital ID? Good/bad/depends?

CrazyEddie

It depends. I’ve not seen it used for boarding in ATL. Whether it is faster for screening varies. I was in the Digital ID line last Monday and it looked to be slightly faster than Clear with TSA precheck, and maybe the same as regular TSA precheck. Bottom line IMHO is that Atlanta sucks at the moment due to the renovation, and huge number of Delta pax with Clear and Digital ID.

Orange County Commuter

Of your options in Atlanta Clear is generally your WORST choice. We have tested it several times. I have Clear and precheck. He just has precheck. Every time we get in the line at the same time he's waiting for me on the other side of security....


In my experience digital ID is great but I think it's starting to get just as popular so...

WillSkiGT

Have flown out of ATL 5x in the last month. The issue for the south security area (Clear with Precheck, Precheck, Digital ID) is that 5 semiautomated loading stations per lane is an absolutely atrocious design. The scanning machines and operators are incredibly slow, so the bottleneck comes entirely from the X-Ray machines/machine operators.

I've found that the standard Precheck line is often the longest in terms of # of people, but also moves fastest because it feeds into 70%+ of the security lanes. Digital ID is usually very close in terms of total time to standard Precheck. Clear with Precheck is always slowest. Clear just sucks at ATL and also several other large airports (DEN comes to mind). Out of my 5 trips, I did 3 in Digital ID and 2 in standard Precheck. In all cases, I got to the front of the line in 10-15 mins and then the process of loading my belongings, having them scanned, and then collecting them took another 10 minutes or more.

Fastest total time through was on a Friday PM in Digital ID - right at 20 mins total. ATL Security is a nightmare compared to every outstation I've been to except DEN, which also sucks.

jcm55a

thanks (and others also) for providing recent datapoints. this is really helpful to know. much appreciated.

i do agree that last i flew out of ATL, their security was rather disorganized. happy to hear that it still hasn't improved... /s

DocDad

I completely agree with your assessment of what really slows down getting through security. The work-around that I have used is that once I'm through the security check (whether Precheck, Clear with Precheck or Digital ID) I head to the far left of the screening lanes and the one, non-semi-automated screening lane with the older-style screening set-up for carry on bags. I always ask the TSA folks if this is OK, they have always said yes. This lane is consistently, and significantly, faster (at least in my experience).

Having said that, I went through Digital ID line yesterday (maybe 5 people in this line as opposed to very long lines in the other 2 options) and the far left lane was closed! Not sure if the closure is permanent, but I hope not!

Iptaylm

I got Delta Digital ID our last trip departing from Atlanta, from checking in our bags at the lower level drop off area, to bypassing a 100 person line in Clear was a breeze.

lindros2

Just a note here:

Got Digital ID on my BP today for trip tomorrow. My PNR has two minors (~11 and ~15). I thought it was ineligible, but guess I was wrong.

Unfortunately, we're 1) parking international, and 2) going to the Centurion Cafeteria, so I won't be able to use it.

kchoya

Is this still the case if there's two of you on the PNR and you've both opted in for digital ID?