3 ms·

I don't understand why Clear members are allowed to cut the TSA line. As far as I know, Clear doesn't pay the TSA anything. Everyone pays the same TSA screeni

I don't understand why Clear members are allowed to cut the TSA line. As far as I know, Clear doesn't pay the TSA anything. Everyone pays the same TSA screening fee on their airline ticket, so everyone should be handled on a first come, first served basis. Clear pays the airports to let them run their line, but why should the airport determine the order in which people are screened when it's the federal government doing the screening?

jefftk 3y ago
Isn't the interface between the TSA and the airport that the airport handles everything up until passengers get to the agents, and the TSA handles the screening? Another example of airports choosing the order is that if you pay your airline for expedited screening (ex: JetBlue's "even more speed" at Logan, O'Hare, JFK, etc) then they let you skip the line.
- cameldrv 3y ago
  I'm not sure. They don't have those at my home airport, but my vague understanding is that in some situations like this, the airline is paying the TSA to staff another lane for their preferred customers. To me, this seems more reasonable. Personally, I have been annoyed by a bunch of Clear people cutting in front of me in the regular Precheck line when I was running late for a flight. In private aviation, you pay a fairly big fee for TSA in some circumstances depending on the size of the plane, and you pay a fee for customs to come to the private terminal. If they were in their own line paid for by the airline, I wouldn't have been annoyed, but when it's the same screening checkpoint that we both paid the same tax for, I don't see why they should be allowed to go in front of me.
bko 3y ago
Why would clear have to pay the TSA? The TSA is supposed to provide a service, not rent seek. They have to screen fewer people which should lower costs. It's like Uber drivers paying the valet for drop offs since they don't have to go through valet
- cameldrv 3y ago
  All Clear does is the ID check part. The actual security screening is all TSA. In the TSA lines, this is quick and never the bottleneck. The person doing the ID check actually throttles the line so that it doesn't back up in front of the X-ray belts. The Clear people are then allowed to cut this line that is ultimately waiting for the X-rays, which are the rate limiting step in the screening process. The airport (who is being paid) is arranging for Clear people to cut a line for a Federal government service that all passengers have paid equally for.
hi-v-rocknroll 3y ago
Because the rich demand privileges, and it's another way to monetize misery.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
I don't think SFO security is run by the TSA.

jefftk 3y ago

Isn't the interface between the TSA and the airport that the airport handles everything up until passengers get to the agents, and the TSA handles the screening? Another example of airports choosing the order is that if you pay your airline for expedited screening (ex: JetBlue's "even more speed" at Logan, O'Hare, JFK, etc) then they let you skip the line.

cameldrv 3y ago
I'm not sure. They don't have those at my home airport, but my vague understanding is that in some situations like this, the airline is paying the TSA to staff another lane for their preferred customers. To me, this seems more reasonable. Personally, I have been annoyed by a bunch of Clear people cutting in front of me in the regular Precheck line when I was running late for a flight. In private aviation, you pay a fairly big fee for TSA in some circumstances depending on the size of the plane, and you pay a fee for customs to come to the private terminal. If they were in their own line paid for by the airline, I wouldn't have been annoyed, but when it's the same screening checkpoint that we both paid the same tax for, I don't see why they should be allowed to go in front of me.

bko 3y ago

Why would clear have to pay the TSA? The TSA is supposed to provide a service, not rent seek. They have to screen fewer people which should lower costs. It's like Uber drivers paying the valet for drop offs since they don't have to go through valet

cameldrv 3y ago
All Clear does is the ID check part. The actual security screening is all TSA. In the TSA lines, this is quick and never the bottleneck. The person doing the ID check actually throttles the line so that it doesn't back up in front of the X-ray belts. The Clear people are then allowed to cut this line that is ultimately waiting for the X-rays, which are the rate limiting step in the screening process. The airport (who is being paid) is arranging for Clear people to cut a line for a Federal government service that all passengers have paid equally for.

hi-v-rocknroll 3y ago

Because the rich demand privileges, and it's another way to monetize misery.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

I don't think SFO security is run by the TSA.