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Comment by stanleydrew | Hacker News Reader

I've never paid money for TSA Pre-check. The airline I'm flying just sometimes puts it on my boarding pass.

If there were a way to pay money I definitely would though just to get it every time guaranteed. Where should I send the ckeck?

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That sounds like something different (or maybe the airline lets random people into TSA Pre-check?). This is the service people are talking about: http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck.

You pay $85, and the government basically does a background check on you. If you pass the background check, you are in TSA Pre-check.

> That sounds like something different (or maybe the airline lets random people into TSA Pre-check?).

It is not something different, but I think some airlines do automatically sign some of their clients up for pre-check, particularly if those clients have status. E.g., United Airline's pre-check information page discusses people who have opted-in through their frequent-flier program:

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/airport/tsa-...

http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheckR-application-program ; but consider Global Entry instead: it's another $15 but also gives benefits at immigration.

You're forgetting the cost of surrendering your (illusion of) civil liberties by voluntarily disclosing private information about yourself to the government.

Do you provide any information they don't already have?

I have Global Entry. The application form didn't ask for anything more than what a typical job or rental application would (basically, employment and address history going back a few years).

My Global Entry enrollment "interview" consisted of "Put your hand on the scanner. Now look at the camera. OK, you'll get your Known Traveler Number in an email later today, and a card you can keep with you in the mail in about a week."

The CBP people who do GE generally seem to be on a whole different level of efficiency and understanding-actual-security compared to the average TSA blueshirt at the airport.

If you have traveled internationally, you've already given up the vast majority of the information required by Global Entry. I've had to submit to medical examinations, interrogations, and forced fingerprinting to enter some countries. Most of that stuff is sent back to the US to verify your identity.

You can. Get a "Known Traveler Number" by paying for PreCheck. Due to changes in TSA policies, your frequent flyer-granted PreCheck is already a lower tier - you're not going to be getting the perks as often as you used to.

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