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Comment by technofiend | Hacker News Reader

>Of course, those enrolled in the TSA’s Precheck program will not have to remove their oversized electronics, due to their willingness to trade their fingerprints (and $85) for speedier screening. The TSA notes that Precheck is now available at 200 airports nationwide, up from 180 at the start of the year.

Despite the snark, precheck is worth the money if you're a regular domestic traveler as are the trusted traveler programs [1] if you travel abroad. Some airlines seem to flag a trusted traveler as precheck although it's not terribly consistent, so I wouldn't rely on that.

[1] https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs

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Canadian here with NEXUS (which bundles TSA PreCheck in);

Absolutely worth it -- albeit both the US and Canadian governments basically now know every single detail of my life, including biometrics of fingerprints and rental scans.

For someone that essentially travels by air every few months for work (and sometimes pleasure) the ability to spend 1 minute in security means I get to spend my time on things that matter.

And its nice when I go back to Canada to just go through a machine; I don't see why I need to talk to anyone when I'm going home to my country of citizenship.

On the other side of the border, going to immigration into the States, the border people will usually be much more friendly and relaxed so thats also a plus.

American with NEXUS including Global Entry and PreCheck; It's a real treat to bypass 2 hour line-ups at the road border crossings on holiday weekends. In six years I've never had an unpleasant time at the border going in either direction, even though I usually cross at entry points that don't have dedicated NEXUS lanes.

Indeed I just wish it worked both ways. Entering the country is a breeze; going out of the country has (so far) found me parked in a long line with everyone else. On the other hand it's a small price to pay to travel and see the world. I'm not going to complain.

To whom does the $85 for TSA pre-check go? Seems like a racket that, like most other things in this country, is aimed mainly at the poor. Pay more, get through. Can't pay? Fuck you.

Well, you still get through, it just takes you longer and is less comfortable.

I'm not sure I really agree - if you're poor, how many international flights are you making per year? This seems like a tax targeting those who can most afford it rather than least.

This applies to all flights. Considering that airline tickets are quite cheap, Amtrak lines are likely to be closing down outside the NE Corridor, and the TSA is just security-theatre at best, it seems like a pretty shitty thing to charge for.

Well, pre-check does actually require a human being to do something with your application and work to happen on the part of the government. I'd rather the folks requesting the service pay for that than the taxpayers as a whole. Don't ascribe to classist malice what is simply a fee for service.

It goes to running an extensive background check and doing an in-person interview and sending out paper letters and cards, staffing separate lanes etc.

Because if you can pay $85 you can for sure be trusted, right?

It may be just me with a European perspective, but from where I am sitting that is completely ridiculous.

It is also a perk of a number of credit cards. For example, Amex Platinum = $100 Global Entry credit + $200 airline credit + (up to) $180 Uber Credit + xx,000 signup points > $550 fee (if you travel)

I have NEXUS and I agree it is worth it. But the relevant question is that TSA pre is not difficult to get. If someone (US citizen or PR with relatively clean record) wants to blow up a plane with themselves on it then I don't see how TSA pre stops them.

More like a pristine record. I guess the admin assumes the terrorists work their way up to that point from other "gateway crimes".

You are literally arguing that people should pay for their own oppression.

Honestly, and I ask with sincerity as the answer is important to me, does that not bear at least a little upon your conscience?

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