There is also a separate line at SNA and LAX. However, it is not manned separately from the other lines. The last time I flew we had two people checking IDs and boarding passes and three lines (two regular lines and one pre-check/CLEAR line). The issue is that there was not a dedicated TSA person for the people in the the pre-check/CLEAR line. The people who had pre-check and CLEAR cut right in before those of us who were waiting > 20 minutes in the regular line to go through security.
Yes, but they are paying to cut in front of people who haven’t paid the extra $189 per year concierge fee.
Why would I pay an additional $189/per year to fly twice per year? My husband flies for business and he has gone through the pre-check process once and renewed it once. It’s perfect for frequent flyers and they’re vetted.
Exactly.
According to the article
Currently, CLEAR customers pay $189 a year to verify their identities at airport kiosks before being escorted past queued passengers to the front of TSA lines.
I’m not sure what people are getting worked up about here: the bill merely requires that the vendor actually provide the service they sell; rather than just privatizing the front of someone else’s line and bold facedly selling that.
Is there something I’m missing, aside from pure attachment to being on the right side of a transparently unjust land grab, that counts as cogent opposition to this measure?
100%. Arrivals are not bad, but dear god, departure is the worst I’ve ever experienced. I mean, I’ve waited longer for security screening at O’Hare and Charles de Gaulle is one of the most confusing and poorly-designed airports ever, but DEN is hostile architecture stacked on top of forced retail with the final act being a security experience akin to checking into boot camp. There is no seating that isn’t in a retail establishment, no obvious water fountains and the TSA agents are the most hostile and angry I’ve ever seen. Absolutely miserable place.
You are aware that that is true for many, MANY people right? Even with the budget airline options, air travel is very much a luxury for many Americans.
To you, and likely to many of us, but not to everyone.
Well you see once everybody buys CLEAR and there becomes only 1 line for that, they then launch the CLEAR silver for 399, and after that CLEAR gold, and then platinum, and then diamond. They get to control the supply and TSA gets to cut staff.
Howabout our government provide a competent service as funded by our tax dollars.
I had to go to the airport to get it done, paying them for parking, which was annoying. The person to interview (?) me was 15 minutes late to do so, then I sat down opposite them and their desk. They took their gun out and laid it in front of them on the desk, not pointing at either of us. The guy then looked at me and said “Are you a terrorist?” I stuttered a bit because this was not what I was expecting at all, then of course answered no. He harumphed (I’m a boring looking white male, fwiw) then poked keys on his keyboard a bit. He asked some other questions, then told me I was approved. I was then led out.
Not the most bizarre interaction in my life, but certainly in the top 3.
But air travel is all about the upsell. Practically a Marxist parable highlighting the worst capitalism has to offer people. Even down to the seating of a plane. (It is far more efficient to seat people from the rear going forward. But then people in steerage (coach) get a convenience that 1st Class doesn’t.
I’ve come around on pre-check, after years of resisting.
But putting most of the people who fly regularly and know the routine into a separate line from the people who fly very rarely does make the process more efficient for TSA, and reduces stress in both lines.
The fee is low enough, if you travel enough for it to be useful, that it feels almost like a token fee.
But I shorter lines for first class passengers feels very un-American (in the ideals, not the reality).
And CLEAR is just formalized bribery. Handing someone a twenty to have them bring you to the front of the line would be more honest.
“Sir, are you carrying any treat items or other food-adjacent items on your person at this time? They will need to be surrendered to this TreatSnarfingAgency member immediately…”
Speaking of DEN, LAX, NYC etc. - i recently flew out of EWK + discovered CLEAR Reserve (RESERVE | Save a Spot in Line)!
It is a gratis line-cut to the front, by appointment, as long as one shows up at security in a window around the time scheduled. It worked well, and i didn’t have to go through the pain of CLEAR /TSA pre-check application process. (Which i will eventually do to get REAL ID soon, i’m sure.)
This doesn’t sound like a big deal. If an airport already has a separate line for CLEAR, then they are literally not affected by this proposed legislation at all. This is just saying that if you’re going to provide this service, don’t make it where the people who pay for it are literally allowed to physically cut in line in front of other people, inconveniencing those people. That doesn’t sound unreasonable to me. Does the California legislature have bigger problems to address? Probably. But that doesn’t mean they can’t address smaller issues.
