The Canadian program you're probably looking at is NEXUS, which is not only cheaper but better - in that you can use NEXUS lanes entering Canada and Global Entr

The Canadian program you're probably looking at is NEXUS, which is not only cheaper but better - in that you can use NEXUS lanes entering Canada and Global Entry lanes entering the US. My father-in-law is a salesman who represents a couple of Canada-based lines, so he's there at least twice a year for sales meetings, etc. He's got NEXUS. Flying into Montreal, he saves tons of time. You are correct that it's simply a matter of certifying yourself as a low security risk (for GE/PreCheck). But pretty much anyone can get Clear, which is indeed just paying to skip (most of) the line. It's only at certain airports, though. If you fly through a smaller airport, it's not usually worth it; if you fly out of (e.g.) Orlando, which has a huge tourist business that means that most of the passengers rarely or almost never fly, and so are unfamiliar with the routine, it almost certainly is. Even if PreCheck lines are as long or longer than "regular" security lines, the typical PreCheck passenger flies at least several times a year and knows the routine, so it goes much more quickly even before you account for the lighter screening. When we skipped past an immigration line that would have been at least two and a half hours long coming back from the UK, getting through in less than five minutes, I turned to my wife and said, "that was the best $200 we have ever spent".