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Travel hacks I live by: TSA Precheck/Global Entry (a must!), Amex Platinum Card/Priority Pass for Amex Centurion Lounge/airport lounge access, T-mobile for free

Travel hacks I live by: TSA Precheck/Global Entry (a must!), Amex Platinum Card/Priority Pass for Amex Centurion Lounge/airport lounge access, T-mobile for free unlimited international data/1 hour free Gogo in-flight WiFi, and usually co-branded credit card for airline I fly with for priority boarding and free checked bag when I need it. Side note: Pre-check is getting more popular and hear Clear might be even faster now.

vinay427 9y ago
For those who are unaware, NEXUS is a cheaper and better alternative to Global Entry and PreCheck for those close to US/Canada border crossings.
- mmagin 9y ago
  It's extra confusing how there are so many different programs :)
Zak 9y ago
Something really rubs me the wrong way about paying the government to mistreat me less. It really seems to me like it was created to make sure that wealthy, and therefore politically influential travelers don't get too upset about the TSA and demand reform.
- dawhizkid 9y ago
  It’s $100 for 5 years for both programs...I think anyone who can afford a plane ticket could afford this if they wanted to. If anything you’re agreeing to speedier service in exchange for reduced privacy through greater surveillance on your travels.
  - Zak 9y ago
    Yet most people don't. I don't think it's necessarily intended to discriminate by income, but I do think the intent is to avoid political pressure to back off on general screening procedures.
    - dawhizkid 9y ago
      Most people don't have TSA precheck because they don't fly enough to bother doing it or don't know anything about it so don't research it further. If you are rich you're flying in business/first class or have elite airline status as it is, so you'll get priority screening regardless of whether you have precheck or not. If anything the biggest cheerleaders for TSA precheck are the airlines because speedier security means fewer people missing their flight due to long security lines.
      - smileysteve 9y ago
        But this is the equivalent of net neutrality. There is no such thing as fast lanes, there are only prioritized lanes. Queueing theory says that if you dedicate the 2nd line back to the single line, then you can process more people more quickly.
      - Zak 9y ago
        Priority lines gets you a shorter line. Precheck gets you a less invasive screening procedure. Priority lines exist because the airport, rather than the TSA controls the lines. The airport tries to do what the airlines want, and the airlines want people who pay them extra to have a better experience. This is arguably broken, but it's not really the TSA's fault.
perseusprime11 9y ago
Dont forget Mobile Passport App.

vinay427 9y ago

For those who are unaware, NEXUS is a cheaper and better alternative to Global Entry and PreCheck for those close to US/Canada border crossings.

mmagin 9y ago
It's extra confusing how there are so many different programs :)

Zak 9y ago

Something really rubs me the wrong way about paying the government to mistreat me less. It really seems to me like it was created to make sure that wealthy, and therefore politically influential travelers don't get too upset about the TSA and demand reform.

dawhizkid 9y ago
It’s $100 for 5 years for both programs...I think anyone who can afford a plane ticket could afford this if they wanted to. If anything you’re agreeing to speedier service in exchange for reduced privacy through greater surveillance on your travels.
- Zak 9y ago
  Yet most people don't. I don't think it's necessarily intended to discriminate by income, but I do think the intent is to avoid political pressure to back off on general screening procedures.
  - dawhizkid 9y ago
    Most people don't have TSA precheck because they don't fly enough to bother doing it or don't know anything about it so don't research it further. If you are rich you're flying in business/first class or have elite airline status as it is, so you'll get priority screening regardless of whether you have precheck or not. If anything the biggest cheerleaders for TSA precheck are the airlines because speedier security means fewer people missing their flight due to long security lines.
    - smileysteve 9y ago
      But this is the equivalent of net neutrality. There is no such thing as fast lanes, there are only prioritized lanes. Queueing theory says that if you dedicate the 2nd line back to the single line, then you can process more people more quickly.
    - Zak 9y ago
      Priority lines gets you a shorter line. Precheck gets you a less invasive screening procedure. Priority lines exist because the airport, rather than the TSA controls the lines. The airport tries to do what the airlines want, and the airlines want people who pay them extra to have a better experience. This is arguably broken, but it's not really the TSA's fault.

perseusprime11 9y ago

Dont forget Mobile Passport App.