-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
TSA Pre-Check is a godsend
- Thread starter jwk94
- Start date
Nope. You have to go through the process again. Background check, the works.
For me I cannot reapply until april 2023
Eligibility for Global Entry
Are You Eligible?
U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents and citizens of the following countries are eligible for Global Entry membership:
- Citizens of Argentina
- Citizens of India
- Citizens of Colombia
- Citizens of United Kingdom
- Citizens of Germany
- Citizens of Panama
- Citizens of Singapore
- Citizens of South Korea
- Citizens of Switzerland
- Citizens of Taiwan
- Mexican nationals
If you aren't any of those, gg.
OP
OP
Damn, oh well.
Ah ok. Thanks for the clarification!
More privilege showing.
Tell the people who can't visit their families for years while sending money home that they should just pay 100 more dollars to not be treated like cattle while people who can afford it get treated like people
So yeah it's still not that big a deal for me as I visit some of those but not on the regular. It's gotta be REALLY worth it for me to support that racket.
And pointing out that something is a fallacy is not an argument on it's own. You need to support it with an actual argument, but I guess you already knew so a basic concept.
Ok let's say, we agree with your argument which is based on moving goal post. You were first complaining about it being a luxury turns, which turns out you were severely wrong, now you are moving onto a new argument.
The money is to run a background check, which usually cost money and for the interview. Flying as always been a privilege. I mean in a world with toll roads and paid fast lanes, somehow paying for a glorified background check is a luxury, lol.
It's weird how you're trying to rationalize your enjoyment of a horrible system that perpetuate and reproduce inequality
But sure, whatever makes you sleep at night.
You don't even have to go that far. I feel bad for my family members that go through regular security, nevermind the people I watch struggling in it. :(
Should I have put that first sentence where I explicitly stated that I wasn't attempting to dispute the argument in 100pt font?
It is really about rationalizing. If someone want to lead the charge to remove it, I will be there front and center, but we both know both the D and R aren't going to because they both know that the next attack will be blamed on them.
This isn't a purely moral issue, so there isn't any clear right or wrong answer here.
Paying for convenience is something we all do and you know what, I am ok with it but if a better alternative comes a long I an also ok with it.
But not all the slow steps of TSA screening are always used anyway. Out of the 3 times I've flown in the US this year, twice I wasn't required to take my laptop out of my bag or take off my shoes and belt despite not being on the precheck list. And the process could be sped up significantly with improved signage and staff execution, on the 3rd flight I was told I had to remove my Switch and put it in a separate tray after it had already gone through the scanner, despite it having been with me and my laptop on the first 2 flights. There are bigger issues they need to deal with then giving some people a quick way through which only exacerbates some of their existing issues. With improved operations they would not need a premium paywall service
in a society where people hate paying taxes, someone has to pay for it somehow. Either you pony up money or you put up with it or deal with the regressive shit.k
Global Entry and TSA Pre are godsends. Fantastic value and as long as they exist I'll retain them. So awesome just skipping the goddamn TSA line everywhere and when traveling internationally just going to a kiosk.
I fly four times or more a year, my fiancee had to travel 10 times in the span of 7 months for work reasons and having Pre just took a great load off our backs.
I fly four times or more a year, my fiancee had to travel 10 times in the span of 7 months for work reasons and having Pre just took a great load off our backs.
My father retired from the airlines, so I fly for free, and honestly was thinking about getting Pre once I start flying more. Sometimes I get lucky and my ticket comes out Pre anyway, but man is it really nice to not be bothered. When they were initially running tests for their more recent scanners, they'd pull me aside since I was like, thirteen flying on my own. Just... "You look like you've done this plenty of times before. Come try this out."
We've come a long way. Pretty cool.
We've come a long way. Pretty cool.
As someone who couldn't afford flying until 4 years ago I'd tell you that the hour difference in line at expensive ass airports wasn't on my mind at all because I was travelling at all. Saying that taking off your shoes and walking through a line for an hour is "treated like cattle" is privilege.
Saying $100 is worth 5 hours of your time is true for some people and not true for others. Not really a signal of a system striving to ruin small people.
Absolutely love it. I still can't believe it's only $85 for 5 years. Plus a lot of times I'm flying I'm driving to the airport right from work. It's nice to know that if I get jammed up in traffic I'm not at risk of missing my flight.
If I only flew once a year I might not do it but if you fly with any frequency whatsoever it's absolutely worth it.
If I only flew once a year I might not do it but if you fly with any frequency whatsoever it's absolutely worth it.
My tickets to Mexico this summer ended up being TSA pre check. I know for sure I didn't pay for pre check, it was magical. I understand how it may look, but after slogging through TSA so many times, having them wipe someshit on my hands every time, it was nice to feel kinda human.
My god is this thing complete bullshit. The worst thing about traveling is going through TSA. Doesn't matter how early you go, you always have to account for the underpaid rude TSA agents on a power trip and ridiculous security theater. I've always hated this because my backpack is typically filled with a console, laptop, chargers, etc and all those big things had to come out last year, but then they didnt six months ago, now they all have to come out again. It was stressful because they threaten to strip search my wife because we have packaged and sealed liquid baby formula.
I was coming back home through Chicago around 4pm in 2016 and low-and-behold, there was a long line for regular TSA stuff. and out of nowhere TSA just lets everyone go through the regular metal detector, nothing had to come out of bags, no shoes off or anything. Completely arbitrary rules. I didn't have to take off my jacket, shoes, belt, or empty my backpack. I was done in two or three minutes. Meanwhile, the TSA line cleared out.
I'm shocked people are willing to pay $85 for their basic rights and to support this security theater bullshit. The only cumbersome thing about Pre-Check is that it seems periodically the pre-check line is actually longer than the regular line.
I was coming back home through Chicago around 4pm in 2016 and low-and-behold, there was a long line for regular TSA stuff. and out of nowhere TSA just lets everyone go through the regular metal detector, nothing had to come out of bags, no shoes off or anything. Completely arbitrary rules. I didn't have to take off my jacket, shoes, belt, or empty my backpack. I was done in two or three minutes. Meanwhile, the TSA line cleared out.
I'm shocked people are willing to pay $85 for their basic rights and to support this security theater bullshit. The only cumbersome thing about Pre-Check is that it seems periodically the pre-check line is actually longer than the regular line.
If you can afford to fly regularly, you can afford precheck.
Weird narrative. Taxes for the wealthy are ridiculously low because they bribe our politicians. Dont blame "culture" lol.
I guess I choose to not support regressive systems whenever possible.
You're not wrong here about them having other things to work on. Though those stats do seem weird. Working out of an airport and flying a lot for 2 years, I had inconsistencies less than a dozen times maybe. Belt was the biggest inconsistency. Laptop staying never happened, though I got pretty good at always remembering to take it out. There were some times where I forgot I had a tablet and left in my bag and they didn't say anything. I believe that has more to do with the fact that they require taking it out so they can see it clearly, but if they end up seeing clearly and they aren't sticklers then they'll let it slide. I've never seen a line let people keep shoes. Signage is always being improved. As a matter of fact it becomes like a noise arms race as TSA teams at every airport struggle to make louder and louder voice, sign, and personal announcements as to what to do. So much so that celebrity tutorial videos in line are becoming the standard and are being ignored because of all the other signage. Improved operations hits a wall where the terminal itself has a physical limit to how many scanners you can fit (see Denver... my god). Pre screening allows less full body millimeter wave scanners and more magnetometers. Magnetometers take up less space and less staff to operate. Honestly I believe once enough people are enrolled in Pre, they'll start making the enrollment free just to eliminate more millimeter wave scanners.
Clear, on the other hand, costs 5 times more and adds no operational improvement to the process as a whole. Just jumps the line for the high paying member. Not to say they don't have potential to help the process, they do. But as it stands they take up lane space.
Funny how you didn't mention the most questionable part of airport security in the US....
I didn't say any different.
My argument is that it shouldn't exist because of the disparity it creates based on payment.
Profiling? Yeah, that's messed up. That I agree with you as a problem with that system. What does that have to do with Pre? I already mentioned the pains I've seen over quad S.
I meant the millimeter wave scanners. But yes. Profiling is a (separate) issue.
Note profiling is fine, as long as it's not based on features but things like behavior, etc.
I travel from Ontario to LA a few times a year and go to Japan once a year and have rarely waited longer than 10 minutes to go through the TSA. Only times it was longer was because of some disease quarantine thing and once in LA was heightened security because some sort of terrorist threat thing so they were being more cautious than usual. This seems like a rip off to be like 5 minutes faster and you get to keep a coat on...
When coming back from out of country and customs takes 10 minutes instead of over an hour, it is worth it.
I have to admit, I'm surprised Canadians don't qualify for this.
We got Global Entry a couple of years ago now, and I agree that it has made flying a lot more pleasant. Occasionally, the precheck line can be longer, but it almost always moves faster since you don't have to take your shoes off or take anything out of your bag. Most of the time I'm through in less than 5 mins. I've skipped massive lines at SEA, PHX, and MCO. (among others)
Haven't even used the international perks yet, but hopefully planning a trip for next year.
Personally, I think if you fly even a couple of times a year it is worth the cost.
Haven't even used the international perks yet, but hopefully planning a trip for next year.
Personally, I think if you fly even a couple of times a year it is worth the cost.
Ah, I see what you mean. You're right, I guess that's more a personal preference of mine as I don't mind my body being seen as a 3d model. In my mind, and when I've seen it, it's not very different from me when I'm wearing normal clothes. That being said, I'm not very shy about my body and I can understand people being uncomfortable with that. My problem with profiling is that it doesn't seem to always be behavior based.
As for disparity based on payment. Well the other option is that the lines get bigger for everyone so airports either have to build additional checkpoints and hire additional staff, which raises the cost for the airlines, which raises the price for everyone.
With my years at airports, I've only become comfortable with paid luxury (first class) and paid expediting as I still take economy and wait in the long line because I'd rather them pay 3 times the cost for twice the service while my line gets just slightly faster and my seat is just slightly cheaper.
Pre is at that sweet spot where many people can afford it so they start transitioning while not everyone flooding it and making it not worth anything and dying before it gets off the ground. Eventually Pre will become the standard and possibly free to register as it'll end up being cheaper for TSA in the long run.
You're acting like $85-100 is this obscene amount that is utterly ridiculous because not everybody can afford it.
But you're also arguing that the people who can't afford it, would still be flying on an airplane, where tickets are usually >$100.
So somehow this supposed person can't afford $100 every five years, but can afford plane tickets within that same five year timespan.
Then you pivot and say "well if they fly once during that period by saving money..." then they don't need to pay for PreCheck or Global Entry, they only have to deal with TSA scanning once or twice (if it's roundtrip) during that five years.
All it seems to me that's happening here is that you're angry that you have to pay money to get scanned and approved ahead of a flight so you don't have to wait in line. You realize background checks aren't free, right?
I'm not angry.
I just don't like a system where depending how much you pay, you get treated differently by the government. I have fundamental issues with that idea.
It's an amazing improvement for virtually no money and time. Really helpful when flying with my two kids. Highly recommend everyone who flys more than once a year.
They have NEXUS for them, which works for the land checkpoints, and they can use GE at airports.
So they get a special dedicated program for more constant border crossings.
It's the Canadian Equivalent of Pre/GE, the US takes it as equivalent as GE.
Canadian here, I've got NEXUS which is TSA pre-check and GOES all wrapped into one.
I'll never travel without it now. Love it so so much.
Background check took a couple weeks, then you schedule a time to go in for an orientation and interview (which depending on the port of entry you choose could take anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months) they take your photo and digital finger print scans, and then you get your card in the mail a few days later.
Visit an airport and get your retinas scanned and you're set.
I drove to the states last weekend and on the way into the US they simply asked "anything to declare?" I said "no" and they sent me on my way. No questions on how long I was going to be gone or where I was going.
Coming home 4 days later, the border guard said "are you the only one in the car?" I said "yes". She said have a good night.
It is so amazing. Dedicated car lanes at land crossings too.
I'll never travel without it now. Love it so so much.
Background check took a couple weeks, then you schedule a time to go in for an orientation and interview (which depending on the port of entry you choose could take anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months) they take your photo and digital finger print scans, and then you get your card in the mail a few days later.
Visit an airport and get your retinas scanned and you're set.
I drove to the states last weekend and on the way into the US they simply asked "anything to declare?" I said "no" and they sent me on my way. No questions on how long I was going to be gone or where I was going.
Coming home 4 days later, the border guard said "are you the only one in the car?" I said "yes". She said have a good night.
It is so amazing. Dedicated car lanes at land crossings too.
Last edited:
Worth it just to use it once in my opinion. And I still show up a couple of hours early, because you never know if there will be some bullshit traffic on the way to the airport (I live an hour away from the closest one), or some holdup checking bags if you have to for a flight.
But even if you fly through that, having an hour or more before a flight means time to relax, get some food or booze, then get on board. It is must more relaxing having pre check.
My wife and I will be moving up to Global Entry soon though. Our PreCheck is expiring at the end of next year or early 2020, and we have started going overseas for travel now, so it will be nice to speed things up on that end.
...it's like every other governmental service out there.
Need a new passport? Pay extra to get it expedited and they'll get it done in half the time and pay for better shipping.
Need more time to fill out your taxes? Fill out some forms and pay the associated fee, and they'll let you have another few months to get those done.
Want to fight a speeding ticket in court? Pay the court fees and show up on the specific day assigned to you, or pay less to just take the speeding ticket class instead.
If PreCheck is giving you hangups, you should probably re-evaluate how you view society. The US federal government (and most state governments) is generally underfunded, and they're only able to offer better service than what normally they can provide if they can cover the costs that service requires. It's not like in China where private jets can just bribe the airport to jump ahead in line for takeoff. The costs here are genuine and go towards covering the services of that agency/department.
Regressive policies redistribute said costs towards bottom. If our government is underfunded it's because the wealthy have bribed our politicians.
Speeding tickets currently extremely regressive.
The passport example is bad, because with proper planning doesn't really affect you. It's mostly for short notice passports.
In the case of TSA, you have procedures with questionable efficiency and serious security and potential safety concerns forced upon people that others can avoid by paying more. It equates danger to not paying. The incentives are fucked. If TSA is making up for finding this way, there is an incentive to make regular security as awful as possible. These are institutional issues that shouldn't be overlooked.
TSA is obviously garbage but I guess I'm in the minority that isn't that terribly bothered by it? But I guess being non-brown and looking small and generally non-threatening makes the whole thing easier for me. I certainly wouldn't pay for Pre-Check, at least.
(this post will probably come back to bite me next time I fly in September, but eh.)
(this post will probably come back to bite me next time I fly in September, but eh.)