Sorry to just quote the first part of your post, but really, what more do we need than that? Whether you are Mohammed the Islamic terrorist, or Timmy McV, the right wing terrorist, if we scan you for metals and restrict your carry on, then we are all as safe as we can get without strip searches. Stop with the hysteria and let air travel return to normalcy.
Internally it’s sort of a point system. If you’re well-known to the airline, in their frequent flyer program, traveling a route you usually do, paid with the usual payment method, etc. then it improves the odds of you getting pre-check on that flight. There is still a random roll of the dice at the end though. You’ll never get to 100% pre-check status without enrolling in one of the fed’s programs.
As you’ve seen, your current status is no guarantee of being pre-check on any given flight. But it sure helps.
Even in the program you can get randomly out for a flight. Some People really bitch about it when it happens.
As crew we bypass security entirely at most larger airports. But even that TSA program has a random feature where every so often it red-flags a crewmember and they have to do the full-up (not pre-check) security drill too.
All part of the process of making it hard for bad guys to reliably execute their plans.
Which explains their nasty demeanor.
If you’re the kind of person who wants to blow up a plane, there’s likely to be one or more red flags that come to light during the background check and interview that are part of the application process - which means you probably won’t be getting that coveted trusted-traveler status.
Basically, you consent to a background check which lowers your risk. Most of the other security they do is theater anyway, so there’s little point in making people go through it. My friend was denied Global Entry because he had a conviction.
Bolding mine. I just flew my normal route, checked in at the preferred accounts area, same payment method as usual, and was surprised that I didn’t get the pre-check. Normal security line was short and fast, so no big deal, and I really appreciate your explanation.
Actually coming into DTW the last two times has me considering the value of Global Entry. The kiosks are super fast and the wait times are next to nothing. On the other hand, it could be my flight arriving at a convenient (not busy) time.
I don’t do *that *much international travel, but the idea of standing in stupid slow moving ginourmous bureaucracy-fueled lines right after climbing off a 14-hour airplane ride is beyond unthinkable to me.
If $100 makes that problem disappear for me for the next few years I consider it money very well spent. And Global Entry also puts you in the TSA pre-check program so you’ll get that perk about 99.9% of the time forever after.
Absolutely worth it for me. On the last flight, I got my bag from baggage claim, through customs, and in a car all before all but a few of the other passengers from my flight cleared passport control.
Global Entry is fantastic. Put your passport in the thingy, scan your fingers, flash the receipt at the dude, and you’re in the country. No lines and no interrogation about fruits and whatnot.
Just to clarify … I have GE. Have had it for years. I was suggesting that Balthisar, world traveler that he is, was overlooking something pretty darn nice to have. As you also say.
No qualms about having your fingerprints “in the system”?
/mild paranoia
A hefty fraction of the populace already has their fingerprints “in the system.” 100% of current and ex-military, 100% of current and ex-law enforcement, 100% of security clearance holders, many teachers & child care workers, much of federal, state, and local government, etc., etc., etc.
I don’t have a number, but it’s probably a third of the US population.
Plus all the folks whose prints are in there from an arrest, well-deserved or otherwise. It would not surprise me a bit to learn that known good guys outnumber known bad guys in the federal fingerprint database(s).
I may just have to join so I can avoid TSA during holiday travel. Looks like my misdemeanor bad check conviction from 1996 isn’t going to interest anyone.
When I buy certain seats, I get directed to the pre-check line.
I guess the middle-aged, white, blonde, blue-eyed woman traveling in a suit and carrying a laptop, flying in business class is deemed not a threat.
At least until someone uses this profile for nefarious purposes.
Exactly. All the fools clamoring for skipping screening anybody who doesn’t look Islamic forget that Pan Am 103 was blown from the skies by a nice middle-aged German woman.
Whose Libyan agent “boyfriend” had packed a surprise in her clock radio.
Given the number of people who “forgot” their guns, ammo, camp stoves, or propane cylinders were in their baggage, we’re not going to get away from screening the public at large and their luggage anytime soon.
Yeah, I’m taking a closer look these days now that I’m no longer married to a foreign national travel partner.
:: shrug :: What are they gonna do, give a closeup of my right pinky to Al-Qaeda or something?
The other advantage of GE is you get to use the fancy diplomat’s line when deplaning. OUTTA MY WAY, COMMONERS!