Confusing information on TSA regarding NEXUS and PRE
 

I assumed Nexus card holders are eligible for Tsa Pre check.


However on their website the information is quite confusing. http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/apply

• If I present my CBP trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS or SENTRI), will TSA allow me to utilize the TSA Pre✓® lane?
  
• No. This card is used by CBP at land border crossings and is not accepted by TSA for expedited screening access. The CBP PASSID is a nine-digit number that usually begins with 98 and serves as your known traveler number. Your individual reservation — passenger name record — must include your KTN. Travelers can check with the airlines to verify their KTN is listed in the passenger name record. Travelers who have been cleared for TSA Pre✓® will have information embedded in the barcode of their boarding pass and will have an indicator printed directly on the boarding pass.
  
• What is a CBP PASSID and known traveler number?
• The PASSID is assigned to you when you enroll in Global Entry, Nexus or Sentry. This nine-digit number usually begins with 98, serves as your KTN and can be found on the back of your card. You can also verify this information by logging into GOES. Choose the “Change Profile” option to verify first/middle/last name/date of birth and PASSID, which is your KTN. Your trusted traveler card will not grant you access to TSA Pre✓®; TSA Pre✓® must be printed on your boarding pass in order to receive expedited screening benefits. Members of the TSA Pre✓® Application Program have a KTN that starts with the letters TT. Please provide this number when booking a reservation on one of the participating airlines. You may obtain a KTN if you are enrolled in one of the four trusted traveler programs.

So how do I obtain a KTN if I have a Nexus card?

It's on the back of your nexus card. I highlighted the important information from your post.

Meaning that just presenting the card alone does not grant PreCheck. Your KTN has to be in your reservation and PreCheck then has to be printed on your BP. Then, your BP has to scan with the 3 beeps at the doc checker (can be issues with it not reading properly etc). If all of the above are met, you get Pre. But just showing your card alone doesn't get you Pre.

Thanks a lot. Still dont understand why they make it so confusing about not allowing to utilize CBP trusted traveler card. By reading that one would assume they do not accept them.

Thanks. Yeah you broke it down nicely. I wished they would use simple english like you.

NEXUS users, along with Global Entry users, are Pre eligible. (I'm a NEXUS member and get Pre.) The PASSID on the back of your NEXUS card has to be in the Known Traveler Number section of the Secure Flight data on your reservation. Also, make sure that your first, middle and last names, along with the gender and DOB in Secure Flight, match exactly to your NEXUS card.

Your BP has to show "TSA PRE" (along with the 3 beeps at the BP scanner) to use the Pre line. Just flashing your NEXUS card without "TSA PRE" on your BP won't get you in the Pre line, but NEXUS cards (along with GE cards) are acceptable identification at all TSA checkpoints.

There is no difference for any of the TTP's. It's not the card or the KTN, it's entering the KTN into the PNR (whether through your profile or for each individual ticket).

That s what triggers the DHS background to determine that you qualify for Pre-Check on each particular segment.

As a general proposition, if your information is all entered properly, you should see Pre-Check on your BP close to if not, 100% of the time.

The card itself is meaningless for TSA purposes.

It works perfectly fine for ID at the DocCheckDimwitStation. I use my NEXUS card and Mrs. pa3lsvt uses her GE card every time we fly.

But it is useless as a means for accessing PreCheck.

It is not like in Canada, where simply showing your Nexus card gets you into the expedited security lane.

You must follow the instructions to add your KTN (i.e. PassID from your card) into your reservation. When you check-in, your secure flight info. gets sent to the TSA, and they either allow pre-check or they don't. If they allow it, the info. gets transmitted to the airline, who embeds this in the barcode on your BP, and so when it gets scanned at the checkpoint, they know you have it (or don't have it), and can direct you to the appropriate place.

Note the word they use is "eligible" - you do not necessarily get it everytime. As a member of Nexus, I rarely don't get pre-check. But it happens, most likely on a random basis, because I always get it back the next time.

It has been reported here, and even the CBP agent who did my interview warned me, that despite clear listing of the GE card as approved and acceptable ID you'll catch a TSA ID checker who apparently missed that briefing. :rolleyes: It hasn't happened to me though two or three checkers actually have kind of groaned or non-verbally showed their displeasure. Truth is I usually only carry my GE card when I'm traveling OCONUS and even then I question its usefulness.

Having Pre printed on the BP isn't mandatory, though it shows up all the time in practice now. It is the bar code.

I had my KTN in every PNR for the nearly 2 years that I was refused PreCheck.

Make sure your name & DOB on your reservation match exactly what was on the Global Entry/NEXUS application form. (Go to the GOES website and click on your NEXUS/GE membership...it'll let you see your original application)

The APIS system which actually handles this is quite dumb and inflexible. If you put a middle initial for your middle name in one place and have it fully spelled out in another, the system will say you're not a match to the KTN.