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Comment by MereInterest | Hacker News Reader

> You can avoid that with precheck.

Precheck is an extremely weird product. If the TSA checks actually had any safety impact, trying to bribe your way around them should be the biggest red flag there is. Instead, precheck is expressly allowed and actively advertised. Precheck is nothing more than the TSA letting you pay your way out of a problem that it created.

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I was surprised by this when I went in for my Precheck appointment soon after the program started. I had made room in my schedule for an hour or so, and was horrified when the entire interview was just a TSA employee taking my picture. I don't really understand what the utility could be beyond revenue and getting ahead of constituent pressure from people rich enough to make some noise about how useless the TSA is.

It wasn't just that interview. A background check happened behind the scenes.

I’m sure it did, but at that point why not automatically grant it to every citizen who can pass a background check?

Because it takes time and resources to do the background checks.

Your background gets checked as part of getting precheck. Not everyone can get it just because they can afford the fee. And it doesn't let you skip security completely; it just lets you go through a metal detector instead of a body scanner.

There are other benefits: typically shorter line, don't have to remove shoes, don't have to unload laptop into bins, sense of superiority, etc.

The truly hilarious thing about PreCheck is that you don't even need it. Just give the airline a little extra money and you get access to the PreCheck line with no questions asked. I guess I'm glad they dispensed with the pretext, but... what?

You're thinking of first class screening, which is not precheck. It's just a dedicated lane with a shorter line. You're subject to exactly the same checks as regular passengers.

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