Brace for Longer Security Lines at Airports

[brooklynite]

Boarding Area:

As you may or may not have already been made aware by your airline, this spring and summer the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) expects non-PreCheck lines to be longer than usual. In fact, at some airports PreCheck lines may be longer than usual.

The long lines are a result of the TSA PreCheck program falling far short of enrolling enough travelers to make a difference for those travelers who do not pay for the premium service.

Most airlines have been warning their customers to arrive at airpots at least two hours ahead of their flight for domestic itineraries and three hours ahead for international itineraries. In some airports across the country the TSA lines have reached a 90-minute queue time. Over the past three years the TSA has cut 10% of their workforce because they thought the PreCheck program would be more successful than it has been.

According to NBC Washington, of March 1st, approximately 9.3 million people were PreCheck members. The application fee ranges between $85 to $100 every five years depending on whether you just want PreCheck or also Global Entry. The TSA estimates that 250,000 to 300,000 people are joining one of their premium services every month, but that is still short of the required amount to make a difference./div]

Anyone who travels regularly and isn't a PreCheck member is an idiot.

[pkdu]

1. Reporting from seat 3b on flight AA1426....just sailed thru TSA pre check at PIT

With no line whatsoever.

[Nye Bevan]

2. Joining Global Entry (which includes Pre) was one of the best things I have ever done. (nt)

[winstars]

3. I did too and its soooo worth the dough and effort to enroll. Totally great if you travel a lot...

[FLPanhandle]

4. Pre check is the greatest thing ever

Except sometimes the agents will route non pre-check people into the pre check line. They don't what they are doing and screw up the process.

I fly all the time. We business travelers have it down to a science. It's the grandmas and rare flyers that hold up the line.

[Johonny]

5. I see the TSA isn't about security its about taking another 100$ from you for nothing

Ah America.

[BlueMTexpat]

6. I returned from a trip to the US West (MT & NV) last week

and underwent security checks on three separate occasions when I boarded. I don't believe that I have ever completed separate paperwork or paid any sum for TSA PreCheck, but that status was clearly indicated on my tickets and I sailed through all checkpoints without a problem. It was the most painless security experience I have had in the US.

When I mentioned my experience to my husband (who hadn't been with me), he said that he thought that people my age were automatically eligible for TSA PreCheck. But I reminded him that when we flew together a couple years back, I had the PreCheck and he didn't - and he is even older than I.

Per this link, I see no automatic eligibility. http://qz.com/478039/the-complete-guide-to-getting-global-entry-and-tsa-precheck/

While I am very happy to have this status, I still don't know how it happened.

[Major Nikon]

7. Why would I be an idiot for not wanting to subsidize TSA's failed venture?

The reason it's failing in the first place is wait times just aren't that long. The wait times at DFW and DAL are minimal and I can't remember the last time it took me more than 15 minutes to get through a TSA line anywhere else. TSA said only 2% of travelers waited more than 20 minutes and I suspect most of those are going to be at fucked up airports like LaGuardia or Newark which I would never fly in or out of to begin with.

I have my own airline anyway. No TSA lines, period.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Not all airlines have signed contracts with TSA on those prechecks.

So, calling people idiots for not signing up might be a bit harsh.

[RobinA]

9. Those Programs

are a great way for the government to add to its fingerprint database.

[Logical]

11. Link to the info on that, I don't believe it. Nt