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Interestingly, my wife got Pre and I did not but now whenever she books things for the two of us, I also get Pre. I figured they'd kick me out when they scanned the pass, but it has worked now at six different airports.

It's part of the data in the barcode on the boarding pass. If the boarding pass says Pre-check you're good; my GF also gets it consistently when we're on the same PNR but on her own (same booking that gets split or booked individually) she never receives it.

> I think it gets encoded into your boarding pass.

It does. Three beeps from the little scanner thingy at the ID check means you have Pre. One beep means you don't.

I've edited my reply above to clarify.

BTW: the security at SFO is not TSA. It's a TSA approved contractor (Covenant Aviation Security). I think Tampa is also that way.