12 ms·

I chewed out a screener and his supervisor when that happened to me. Turns out you can call a TSA agent an idiot and nothing happens.

• js2 11y ago
  Pre is a racket. At my home airport, they regularly send non-Pre passengers through the Pre line. They have no way of knowing past that point who has Pre and who doesn't. (In theory I guess they could ask to see your ticket again, but they don't.) Added to clarify: I have Pre and it is printed on my boarding pass, otherwise I could not enter the Pre line. They check for the "Pre" stamp both when I enter the line, and when they scan the pass at the end of the line. After that point, I put away my ID and boarding pass and enter a "reduced screening" line (the point where they check your baggage and send you through the metal detector). What I'm saying is that at my airport, they sometimes also direct non-Pre passengers (who've had their boarding pass checked via a separate line) into the same "reduced screening" line. At that point, both Pre and non-Pre passengers are receiving the same "reduced screening". It is at this point where I've had the metal detector randomly flag me for going through the image scanner. When I protested that I had Pre, their response was "we don't have any way to know that at this point"). Pre almost always saves me time, so it's not a racket in that sense. But it is a racket in the sense that it's no guarantee you won't end up with a pat-down. It's theater in the sense that: either the government trusts me, or they don't. If they don't trust me, they shouldn't have issued me Pre. If they do trust me, then I shouldn't need to be patted down.
  • jwoah12 11y ago
    In most airports I haven't really needed it, but having it when going through security at any of the NYC airports during busy hours can make a HUGE difference. I was flying JFK->Charleston last month, and the regular security line had hundreds of people in it. The pre-check line was literally empty, and I got right through security in about 2 minutes.
  • asciimo 11y ago
    I tried to casually walk down the Pre aisle at SFO a couple weeks ago and the TSA agent correctly assessed my ineligibility. I think it gets encoded into your boarding pass.
    • cdubzzz 11y ago
      Interestingly, my wife got Pre and I did not but now whenever she books things for the two of us, I also get Pre. I figured they'd kick me out when they scanned the pass, but it has worked now at six different airports.
      • dandandan 11y ago
        It's part of the data in the barcode on the boarding pass. If the boarding pass says Pre-check you're good; my GF also gets it consistently when we're on the same PNR but on her own (same booking that gets split or booked individually) she never receives it.
    • js2 11y ago
      I've edited my reply above to clarify. BTW: the security at SFO is not TSA. It's a TSA approved contractor (Covenant Aviation Security). I think Tampa is also that way.
    • fancyketchup 11y ago
      > I think it gets encoded into your boarding pass. It does. Three beeps from the little scanner thingy at the ID check means you have Pre. One beep means you don't.
  • balls187 11y ago
    Seatac they will check your boarding pass.