TSA Precheck - Decline in
 

After years getting precheck on my boarding pass 99% of the time and only being rejected once at the checkpoint, I now have been declined 3 times in a row. This is obviously not a random event!

I read somewhere that starting in April 2015 (i.e., now) TSA is purposely changing the way it does the selection, apparently because there are now too many people enjoying the benefit of precheck, or something along those lines.

Why didn't they announce this in advance so that travelers could make a smooth transition? Oh well... For now, my objective is to regain the power to be always (or almost always) granted precheck. I travel on a weekly basis, this should help explain my sense of urgency.

Apologies to all if this is not the right place to post this. I'm not a heavy user of this forum. :confused:

So here we go... My question is: What are the methods of regaining pre-check eligibility, ranked from easiest to hardest?

Thanks in advance, fellow travelers!

Apply for, and get, Global Entry. Both my wife and I have had it since it was first available, and neither of us have ever been declined Pre-Check.

It might be a little bit easier to get TSA Pre-Check pre-qualified. The Global Entry program is for international travel and when you are approved for it, you automatically get pre-check approved as well. If you ever travel abroad, it's worth it. If you never do, you will save a little money and maybe time by just getting pre-check.

Unless you don't have a passport in which case you can get the TSA pre-check program.It is $85 instead of $100 but the $15 additional is worth it for a single border crossing.

Well get amex plat for a year then downgrade it to PRG.

200 per calendar year so 400 bucks right there and free Global Entry or TSA Pre-check another 100 or 85 bucks
with free SPG Gold and all

Yep, they just changed it. Less random, more of people who paid to play. (GE/NEXUS/Sentri/Privium/Pre). How it should be.

They actually indicated some time ago that this would be happening and that those who gotten free Pre-Check via the airline opt-in program should expect to have to sign up for DHS Trusted Traveler program if they wanted to continue to receive access on a consistent basis.

This. My wife and I have Global Entry and haven't been declined once since obtaining it.

Agree. And an Amex Plat reimburses the $100 fee.

Agreed. Why so many people think they're entitled to free access to a government-run program due to their frequent flyer status is beyond me... Probably the same people who keep whining about me, now just a lowly FO, snatching up all the FCM fares. Just pay the $85. It's that simple.

TSA announced over a year ago that this was coming and there have been repeated references ever since. There is nothing new here and people have had over a year to purchase GE or TSA-PRE.

Not sure what the indignation is about after a year of warnings.

Well there's the part where it's ridiculous in the first place to have to pay to avoid the TSA shoe carnival security farce.

If you are already receiving PreCheck and therefore have been previously determined by the TSA to not be a security threat, there doesn't seem to be a reason to have to pay to continue to receive the low-threat treatment. Remember, the program is about the government determining whether you are low-threat, and the fee theoretically covers the cost of that determination. This isn't supposed to be a money-grab.

Completely agree. It's basically another tax on a product that is already very heavily taxed (and I'm not anti-tax by any measure).

Is anyone still getting Precheck w/o applying? I haven't flown in the last month but did get it via Delta.

Wife and I went ATL-SEA last week. Both of us have had Precheck for years due to status. On the outbound she got it, I didn't. Coming back we both got it. Not getting it was enough to convince me to pay to play, so I'll be doing that next week. Still can't figure out why they can pull all those people out of the regular line and run them through Precheck, however, without any sort of background check and not give it to me.