Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/22/california-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-stop-letting-wealthy-people-skip-airport-security-lines.html
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Couldn’t CLEAR passengers just be put in the same line as TSA PreCheck passengers (without any line cutting)? Am I missing something?
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Thankfully, I haven’t had to fly in a while. I kind of like the idea of people with more money than manners paying to keep the hell away from me in airports, though. Flying is enough of a hassle without dealing with those jerks.
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I have had Clear for a few years now for a very specific reason. I have two little kids and my home airport is Denver International. If you’ve ever dealt with security there you’d know that it is a fucking nightmare. I’m not sure how the hell these lawmakers aren’t finding better things to do with their time. In DEN at least, there is a separate line. People with Clear aren’t jumping the line. Maybe in smaller CA airports they do this but huge ones are a whole different story. In fact, at DEN they have special lines for people with TSA Precheck, BOTH TSA Precheck & Clear, and regular security. Plus there are three different security checkpoints. Despite this you might end up waiting anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to get through security. It’s enough hassle to fork over the money to save a little bit of sanity.
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This story really makes people who have Clear seem like wealthy assholes. I can assure you, the cost of clear is about the same cost as checking two bags on United.
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The point of CLEAR is that they get to skip the PreCheck line as well. In my experience, this only offers a significant advantage at a few airports and at particularly busy times.
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This is performative wankery, targeting the upper-middle class. The real rich people use their own private terminal at LAX and the like. The bill is saying “you can pay for a faster line, you just can’t do it in front of too many people”
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Then they need to get rid of TSA pre-check as well, as that’s a not-cheap thing too.
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The solution is for them to have their own lane and screening.
Let them pay for an entire rotation of TSA agents if they want, they can afford it, just stop cutting in front TSA Pre-Check lines. JFC.
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Yes, Clear doesn’t seem to be worth it if you fly out of decently run airports. The issue is if you fly out of one of the world’s busiest airports then you are dealing with hours of hassle getting through the security theater because so many people are flying once a year and don’t understand the ever-changing rules that TSA decides that day. But I can also say that once you get through the Clear line you go right to one of the same screening lines as everyone else. If people really want to get outraged about “wealthy people” spending money to avoid inconvenience, let’s look at 1st class, business class, and private air travel.
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Well, it is a thread relating to the TSA.
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Or paid for by work…it’s not that expensive either.
But it is 1000% worth being able to skip lines when you have a whole crew of family with who feels that clocks and time is “optional”.
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CLEAR is literally $99 a year; if that’s rich to you, you can’t afford to travel by bus, let alone airplanes. This bullshit performative legislation is only going to fuck decent people who are trying to make their travel days a little more bearable. If they want to fix air travel, ban the fucking TSA so we don’t need garbage workarounds like CLEAR.
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About $80 bucks for the pass that one can use for 5 years. For anyone who flies even once a year, a shorter time stuck in the queue might be well worth it. The one headache is having to provide all the info required. (I got mine free through my employment; others may be in the same sitch.)
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As much as we all love to shit on TSA, PreCheck is not expensive. It’s around $75-85 for 5 years, and minors accompanied by a PreCheck-enrolled adult do not need to pay to get PreCheck. You can also get it for free through various credit card/loyalty programs. Enrollment isn’t even that much of a hassle; there’s an in-person component but when I did it, it took less than 10 minutes.
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Well worth it to avoid the chance of having a guard pat you down and grab your genitals. Only one person in my life is allowed to do that. Uh. Actually two; includes my doc. Hm. Make it three.
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Exactly. So much gnashing of teeth about the “wealthy” skipping lines. I mean, come on - do some research people. It’s cheap and you too can be one of the people you seem to hate on. It’s mostly just people being jealous for not thinking of signing up in the first place. If you are in an airport these days, $99 is what you are about to spend on junk fees from the airlines, airport food, and whatever else. Let’s get enraged about that shit - maybe lawmakers can make themselves useful and save some people some money. I only fly Southwest for this reason.
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It’s really about the use of TSA Pre Check lines. They (CLEAR) dump their customers at the front of the TSA PreCheck line at every airport I’ve been through lately. It’s a dick move.
Notably TSA doesn’t give a rat’s ass.
I’m going to create a service called SUPER Clear and have people jump in front of EVERYONE! (Not really because that’s a super dick move.)
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