[sveiss]

PreCheck reduces the intensity of the actual screening: walk-through metal detector instead of millimeter wave scanners, can leave your shoes on, keep liquids/laptops/etc in bags, and at airports with a mix of 2D X-ray and 3D CT scanners for baggage, the PreCheck lanes are more likely to have the older X-ray scanners.

The reduced scrutiny is the justification for the fingerprinting appointment background check. I haven't seen anything similar in Europe, but busy airports are far more likely to have an efficient security setup that can already cope with leaving liquids in bags and the like. Many US airports still have security checkpoints that look like temporary installations, with portable equipment--even when they're brand new redevelopments!

Usually, the queues are shorter for the PreCheck lanes, but this isn't guaranteed.

CLEAR replaces having an an agent compare your face to your ID with having a kiosk compare your biometrics. The real advantage comes from having a CLEAR employee then walk you past the queue to get by the normal ID checking podium.

You need both to get the guaranteed short queue and the less intense screening.

(And then there are the programs to expedite the immigration/customs process too, but at least those include PreCheck, so you don't need all three...)

[zaat]

> busy airports are far more likely to have an efficient security setup that can already cope with leaving liquids in bags and the like.

Rome FCO, winner of best airport of 2022, 10th busiest airport in Europe. Boarding a flight last month, I had a sealed San Pellegrino bottle, passed it through screening, I had no idea that wasn't allowed. They confiscated it. I requested to drink from the bottle before it is thrown, they said that was an option before it was screened and now it must go to the garbage.

[NegativeK]

It sounds like CLEAR is doing what Precheck promised to do? I refuse to get it because me paying money for them to do a background check and make their process more efficient is completely backwards.

What's going to happen when CLEAR becomes saturated and slows down -- a fourth tier of passenger?

[sveiss]

CLEAR is more than ten times as expensive as PreCheck: $189/year vs $15.60/year. That's likely enough to keep the queues low.

PreCheck (or rather Global Entry at $20/year, which includes PreCheck plus immigration/customs priority) is worth the cost for me. I'm an immigrant, so the US has already done several checks into my background and has many, many copies of my biometrics already, so there's no additional privacy loss.

I could afford CLEAR, but the value just isn't there for me.

[dangus]

I personally think this is a really ideologically unsatisfying reason to hold off on paying for it. The system shouldn’t be this way - but it is, so you might as well make the best choice within that system.

Pre-check eliminates a big list of screening annoyances: the full body scanners that flag every drop of sweat for additional screening, the removal of shoes and laptops, the separation and bagging of your liquids, the non-citizens and infrequent travelers slowing down your line by getting extra screening and not knowing what to do.

Clear is a bad deal because it is expensive and doesn’t improve the screening process beyond pre-check, it just cuts an already-short line.

[devilbunny]

The biggest benefit of CLEAR is if you frequently travel through an airport with a lot of occasional-tourist visitors, like Orlando. Just skipping the line there might be worth it.

For others in this thred, as you note, longer lines in Precheck do not mean longer waits in general. Precheck travelers are overwhelmingly frequent flyers and know the routine.

Contra what some others have said, my experience is that almost everyone I know who has Precheck has it as a consequence of Global Entry or NEXUS. But I’m a doctor; healthcare people are subject to background checks and fingerprinting already, so the vast majority of my coworkers are already clean legally. One old simple drug possession is about all anyone will have, because otherwise they would have run you off before you enrolled in nursing or medical school.

[chrisbolt]

If you don't also have Precheck, CLEAR does not give you Precheck benefits, it just lets you skip to the front of the normal screening line.

[FireBeyond]

CLEAR is the substitute for the ID verification process.

Pre is the substitute for the security screening process. Or "modified" screening process, rather.

[vineyardmike]

CLEAR is different than Pre-Check. CLEAR is a pay-to-skip-line service.

You still need to be screened by security in the normal way. There is Pre-Check CLEAR and normal CLEAR, and you go to the one that matches your security level.

> What's going to happen when CLEAR becomes saturated and slows down

I have CLEAR. When I was in Seattle I saw a family of 5 trying to go through clear because the father was a member, and members get guest passes they can use to sign people up for a trial. It was an absolute mess, but the agents saw me and escorted me past the family. Because of how CLEAR is set up, you can usually handle 5+ people at once, and it's expensive enough it probably won't be saturated by everyone.

> a fourth tier of passenger

I fly a lot, and I think we've just about gotten enough Tiers haha. You have the "normal" pool for occasional people flying to see family or go on vacation. It's slow, the TSA agents have to explain to people how to queue correctly, and the line ends up out the door during busy times. In some airports, you can now reserve your place in line remotely. If you fly 1/yr, its probably fine though.

You have PreCheck, which I recommend to anyone who flies more than 1/yr. It can sometimes get a line during busy times, but it moves - it's probably exclusively people who "know how airports work" so it's orderly. It's also a simpler security protocol, so it's actually less time per person.

Then you have private lines that some airlines set up. TBH I've never used them, but my understanding is that you go through existing TSA, they're just private queues. IDK why you'd do this instead of just paying for PreCheck or CLEAR. I think it's often sold for ~$20 each use (or free with 1st class, etc).

You have CLEAR which is literally just paying to cut the line for PreCheck or Normal TSA. This would compete with the private airport lines. This is $200/yr so you really need to fly often to justify the cost. I have it and use it where available, but I don't miss if its its not there. I would go out of my way to find a pre-check line, but not CLEAR.

Lastly, if you're really fancy there are private security entrances at some airports, with private lounges and security checkpoints. These run in the $5k range, so they're really not for most people. The LAX one will drive you across the tarmac to your plane in a luxury car I'm told. I assume there's no line here ever.

So America already has 5 different tiers of passengers just for going through security depending on your wealth (and risk profile). I can only assume we've rung all the money out we can, and we don't need another yet.