Is this a stupid question? TSA Pre-check

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hankrausch

Pre-takeoff checklist
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I do not fly commercially much, but happened to this past week. For some reason my boarding passes were stamped "TSA Pre" even though I never enrolled in it. It was nice, I suppose, a bit faster through the line as no removing shoes, etc--but my question is, what is the point, security-wise, of TSA Pre if non-enrolled passengers can use it? Or put another way if the laxer screening suffices for non-enrolled passengers, why have the more stringent rules at all? Or is this one of those questions there is no point in asking? Seriously curious if anyone knows the "logic" behind this.
 
My understanding is that you sometimes get TSAPre if you are a member of some airlines' frequent flyer program. That's what used to happen to me until I got Global Entry. Now I get TSAPre most of the time. At some airports (Newark) is is not much of an advantage since you go through the same line. Also they will occasionally call our "RANDOM!" for extra searching. I've also had it happen that I did not get TSAPre, but everyone in the regular line got to go through without removing shoes, etc. They were stopping people from taking stuff out of their bags and saying "go, go go, you don't need to do that". So I guess the deterrent is that you might still be checked more thoroughly even if you have TSAPre.
 
Thanks I suppose that makes sense, keep it random. We used to say "never establish a pattern".
 
This happened to me, too, a couple of years ago (at least I think it was pre-check, I was hustled through with minimal hassle). I am most definitely NOT a frequent flyer on any airline, can count on two hands the number of times I've flown commercial in my life.
 
I think they expected a bunch of people to sign up for it and people didn't, so they need to send somebody through, so they made up whatever way they pick passengers for the "free" pre-chek experience. For some reason I almost always get it.
 
I have Precheck, and nothing is more irritating than people who are clueless about it randomly getting put in the Precheck line. Most recently I was in line behind a randomly-included woman who, despite the TSA guy standing right next to her nearly shouting LEAVE YOUR SHOES ON AND LAPTOP IN YOUR BAG......STOP TAKING OFF YOUR SHOES, she insisted on obliviously continuing her non-Precheck strip routine. Put several people like that in line ahead of you and you might as well be in the regular 'slow' line.
 
They assign it randomly. I got it a few times before I registered.

I took a trip to Philadelphia with my wife & daughter a couple of weeks ago. I bought the tickets and we were all Pre both ways.

I've been at airports where they are busy and they route normal people through the line. I've also been at airports where they don't open the Pre Check line until later and regardless of your status you have to do the shoes off, laptop out and nude-o-scan.

It's usually better to be Pre, but not always.

John
 
If you enroll you get a number that you can enter your profile with any airline and you and people on your itinerary will get Pre most of the time. I think I've gotten it all but 1 time since registering and my guests are usually given it.

Without registering, as said above, it is up to the individual airline and some grant more than others.

If it is still a one-time $75 it is well worth it, especially if you only fly sporadically and choose carrier on price vs brand loyalty.

Even for airports that do not have separate lanes you still get to keep your shoes and belts on, but you do have to pull out your laptop and liquids. With the special lane it's like pre-9/11 again. Is that a coincidence of the name Pre-check?
 
Is pre-check like global entry where you go for an "interview" or you just pay a fee and you get it? My mom has global entry and she had to go for an interview and she gets pre check every time she travels.
 
Ravioli said:
If you enroll you get a number that you can enter your profile with any airline and you and people on your itinerary will get Pre most of the time. I think I've gotten it all but 1 time since registering and my guests are usually given it.

Without registering, as said above, it is up to the individual airline and some grant more than others.

If it is still a one-time $75 it is well worth it, especially if you only fly sporadically and choose carrier on price vs brand loyalty.

Even for airports that do not have separate lanes you still get to keep your shoes and belts on, but you do have to pull out your laptop and liquids. With the special lane it's like pre-9/11 again. Is that a coincidence of the name Pre-check?
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Yes. And it still seems odd to me that you have to enter your number on each airlines frequent flyer program to get it. But that's how it's done.
 
Ravioli said:
If you enroll you get a number that you can enter your profile with any airline and you and people on your itinerary will get Pre most of the time. I think I've gotten it all but 1 time since registering and my guests are usually given it.

Without registering, as said above, it is up to the individual airline and some grant more than others.

If it is still a one-time $75 it is well worth it, especially if you only fly sporadically and choose carrier on price vs brand loyalty.
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I believe it is now an $85 fee, good for 5 years.
I made an appointment to go get my pre-check because we are going to Europe later this year. When we got there the lady asked if we were aware Pre-Check was only for domestic flights. duh. We didn't know that and she told us we needed the Global Entry from CBP. Which is $100/5 years. So we drove to Orlando, but they don't take walk-ins.

When I got home I signed on-line to CBP.GOV and signed Leslie and myself up for Global Entry and paid the $200. Then I read this thread. Now I'm confused. Does Global Entry entitle me to pre-check, or will I only get it on the same random basis I have previously. (maybe twice ever).
 
jordane93 said:
Is pre-check like global entry where you go for an "interview" or you just pay a fee and you get it? My mom has global entry and she had to go for an interview and she gets pre check every time she travels.
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If you have global entry you automatically get pre-check but you can get pre-check separately. I don't know if you have to do the background check and interview like you do for global entry.
 
Everskyward said:
If you have global entry you automatically get pre-check but you can get pre-check separately. I don't know if you have to do the background check and interview like you do for global entry.
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Yes you have to do the background and interview for Pre Check (at least I did. But maybe I look shifty...).

I did Pre check and wish I'd done Global Entry as I've done more international travel since then that I'd done ever before. Oh well...
 
You have to go in and be fingerprinted in person, so you might as well go ahead and do Global Entry as it includes Precheck. Global Entry has saved us SO much time, bypassing literally hundreds of people in just a few moments. Kept us from missing a connecting flight last year.
 
Everskyward said:
If you have global entry you automatically get pre-check but you can get pre-check separately. I don't know if you have to do the background check and interview like you do for global entry.
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You don't have to go through an interview, for precheck just show up and get your fingers scanned for a LiveScan check. The TSA however is only interested in the list of transportation security related crimes, unlike GE.
 
flyingron said:
You don't have to go through an interview, for precheck just show up and get your fingers scanned for a LiveScan check. The TSA however is only interested in the list of transportation security related crimes, unlike GE.
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Really? I had to get the fingerprints of course but they also asked a relatively short and benign set of questions at the same time for mine. Maybe I DO look shifty...
 
azure said:
This happened to me, too, a couple of years ago (at least I think it was pre-check, I was hustled through with minimal hassle). I am most definitely NOT a frequent flyer on any airline, can count on two hands the number of times I've flown commercial in my life.
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Definitely not a FF either. Going thru security in Juneau my boarding pass was stamped I think and they waved me thru without shoes off, did run bag thru though. Wife didn't get it and had to do the drill.
 
Been GE for years now and PreCheck comes with it for free. Whenever I travel with a friend who doesn't have either, they get PreCheck as long as they were on the same passenger record. GE and PreCheck have been "free" for me since a have a credit card that refunds the $100 fee.

FWIW, Coustoms and BP now have a free app called Mobile Pass that offer much of the benefits of GE on entering the USA (not PreCheck)

Cheers
 
I have GE and it is well worth it even for occasional international travel. There is rarely a line at the GE kiosks. In addition you get TSA-Pre.

Some US airports now have 'APC' automatic passport control for the citizens and permanent residents line. You scan your passport and answer the customs / Ag questions on a touchscreen. The system prints a receipt and you bypass the first CBP officer. You show the receipt to the guy at the baggage checking station. Very similar to GE, except for the usually longer line.
 
ZeroPapaGolf said:
You have to go in and be fingerprinted in person, so you might as well go ahead and do Global Entry as it includes Precheck. Global Entry has saved us SO much time, bypassing literally hundreds of people in just a few moments. Kept us from missing a connecting flight last year.
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There are more TSA Pre enrollment centers than Global Entry sites. The TSA does fingerprints at some airports and they use the network of contractors that other federal agencies use for background related fingerprints. The Global Entry sites tend to be at a facility with CBP presence like international airport or a federal courthouse. The only GE site for Montana is in Sweetgrass all the way up on the CDN border and some states have no site at all.
 
I too found the random TSA Pre-check on my boarding pass. But it is so small and insignificant that I failed to notice (and the staff at the desk failed to inform me) so I stood in the regular long line for about 15 minutes. Then at the ID check station, the uniformed individual informed me that I must go through the Pre-check line. He called another helper who escorted me to the official Pre-check line.
It was nice that I did not need to remove my shoes or anything out of my carry-on but the whole experience seemed inefficient and illogical. *shrug* But why would we expect TSA to be efficient and logical in the first place? Mea culpa! :D
 
Got lucky and had the pre-check on my boarding pass leaving Vegas a couple years ago. Must just be a random issuance as I'm not a member of any frequent flier prog. Used the shorter line and had an abbreviated security check.

Seems like the TSA would consider it a safety concern allowing random people to be lightly checked while others are practically stripped nude. No basis?
 
Ryanb said:
Got lucky and had the pre-check on my boarding pass leaving Vegas a couple years ago. Must just be a random issuance as I'm not a member of any frequent flier prog. Used the shorter line and had an abbreviated security check.

Seems like the TSA would consider it a safety concern allowing random people to be lightly checked while others are practically stripped nude. No basis?
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I found that both my kids and my mother in law get TSA-Pre on every flight where they are together on a record locator. Apparently the algorithm considers a female over 65 and children to fit the low-risk profile. By now my kids are pros in the Pre line antics.
 
weilke said:
I found that both my kids and my mother in law get TSA-Pre on every flight where they are together on a record locator. Apparently the algorithm considers a female over 65 and children to fit the low-risk profile. By now my kids are pros in the Pre line antics.
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Interesting, TSA took my sister and 18 month old child in for a pat down on both their outbound and return flights. Must consider a young mother with a newborn a high risk.
 
weilke said:
I found that both my kids and my mother in law get TSA-Pre on every flight where they are together on a record locator. Apparently the algorithm considers a female over 65 and children to fit the low-risk profile. By now my kids are pros in the Pre line antics.
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Traveling to Dominican Republic my family was on one listing and we all got pre check. Pre check line seemed to go slower than the regular long.
 
My wife got PreCheck on her tickets once without actually going through it. I thought that it was because she had done so through Federal travel (she worked for the Smithsonian) but it appears random. She does not have a KTN. Since she usually travels with me now, she gets her PreCheck vicariously.
 
I added precheck thanks to a travel credit card that refunds the fee. TSA line (precheck or not), while obnoxious, does not delay me near as much as traveling with someone who's checked a bag.

Unless I'm headed to Everest or planning on bringing back voluminous amounts of souvenirs, I can make it work without checking a bag (and yet get no consideration from the airlines for the fact that I've flown who knows how many miles without weighing down the plane or burdening a bag handler).

Sadly, I wanted to carry a surfboard or 3 to Hawaii with me in March and found out that it's going to cost me approximately the same cost as flying without my board, buying a new board in Hawaii, surfing it for 9 days, and then unceremoniously burning it in the hotel's parking lot before headed to the airport to fly home.

On principal, I plan to go with the latter option.
 
I have Pre and it's useless because I have an artificial hip. For some reason the Pre lines default to metal detectors, but I have to go through the body scanner which is typically closed and unmanned. So I end up waiting up to 5 minutes for someone to come and scan me through, negating any time savings that came before.
 
jordane93 said:
Is pre-check like global entry where you go for an "interview" or you just pay a fee and you get it? My mom has global entry and she had to go for an interview and she gets pre check every time she travels.
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If you are military, you just provide your DoD ID # and you can enroll just based off that....which is kind of scary when you think about recent shooters.
 
Global Entry is the bomb for customs clearing. I'm primarily domestic so I stick with TSA-Pre.

Although, if the cost is nearly the same I may change at the next re-up.

My understanding is Global Entry is also good for Nexxus -- so land crossings to Mexico and Canada without the CBP questions.
 
They do it to try and show how wonderful it is, so you part with $80+
 
jsstevens said:
Really? I had to get the fingerprints of course but they also asked a relatively short and benign set of questions at the same time for mine. Maybe I DO look shifty...
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Yes, us with beards always look a bit shifty.
 
weilke said:
Apparently the algorithm considers a female over 65 and children to fit the low-risk profile. By now my kids are pros in the Pre line antics.
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I wonder, what's to keep a would-be shoe bomber from buying a ticket with a phony age and gender, and booking some non-existent children as traveling companions, who never show up?

From what you describe, it seems the bomber would be assured of Pre, followed by boarding without any examination of the shoes.
 
Everskyward said:
My understanding is that you sometimes get TSAPre if you are a member of some airlines' frequent flyer program. That's what used to happen to me until I got Global Entry. Now I get TSAPre most of the time. At some airports (Newark) is is not much of an advantage since you go through the same line. Also they will occasionally call our "RANDOM!" for extra searching. I've also had it happen that I did not get TSAPre, but everyone in the regular line got to go through without removing shoes, etc. They were stopping people from taking stuff out of their bags and saying "go, go go, you don't need to do that". So I guess the deterrent is that you might still be checked more thoroughly even if you have TSAPre.
Click to expand...
They can have the same deterrent by letting everyone go through unmolested.
 
jordane93 said:
Is pre-check like global entry where you go for an "interview" or you just pay a fee and you get it? My mom has global entry and she had to go for an interview and she gets pre check every time she travels.
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When you go for this interview, do they ask for your three biggest strengths and weaknesses, and where you see yourself in five years?
 
NoHeat said:
I wonder, what's to keep a would-be shoe bomber from buying a ticket with a phony age and gender, and booking some non-existent children as traveling companions, who never show up?

From what you describe, it seems the bomber would be assured of Pre, followed by boarding without any examination of the shoes.
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They still compare your ID with your ticket. So the shoe bomber would need a fake ID and to dress up as the appropriate gender.
 
Fearless Tower said:
If you are military, you just provide your DoD ID # and you can enroll just based off that....which is kind of scary when you think about recent shooters.
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That's what I do. I figure if I have to do a lengthy security clearance check every 10 years, it may as well pay off somehow.
 
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