How Many TSA PreCheck Members Are There?

Sometimes, others can piggy back on you Pre-TSA status. Recently bought a pair of tickets using my Pre-TSA number. When boarding passes were printed, Pre-TSA was printed on both. However, my friend does not have a Pre-TSA number.
At the TSA check point, both of us went thru the Pre line. No issues, no need for him to remove shoes, etc.
Will see if our luck is still good on a up coming trip.

PreCheck should be the default experience, not something travelers need to pay for and apply for.

We need a process that doesn’t require us to take anything out or put anything in our bags.

The liquids rule is retarded and should be scrapped.

The WTMD should be replaced with a more advanced scanner that detects guns, but allows other metal without alarming. This is what JSX uses and what the Met museum uses.

TSA shouldn’t be checking IDs. That’s not security screening. That’s revenue protection for airlines selling nontransferrable tickets.

At times the Pre Check line can be longer than the normal line. Some airports like DFW, ORD, PHX, RDU handle the Pre Check volume very well. Others like MIA, DCA, ATL not so much. ATL is the worst.

The lines may be longer, but generally speaking, they also move faster, because you have very few Kettles in PreCheck, plus a lot of the extra steps (shoes, liquids, etc.) are skipped.

Exactly - even if the line is long, I'll still do it because it's worth not having the hassle of taking my computer out, shoes off, etc.

Children, as well as senior family members, but not adults can get TSA Pre through ticketbuyer.

On a recent trip out of SFO there was nobody in front of me at the G gates pre-check line. I still had to wait about 15 minutes though due to a constant flow of Clear, employees and crew jumping in front of me. Meanwhile the non-pre-check line has a wait of less than 5 minutes.

CLEAR is indeed as you say a dubious benefit. Last time I went through JFK there was a significant line for members of CLEAR - but interestingly, there was no line for the many machines for CLEAR enrollment. Evidently CLEAR is more concerned to get new paying members than it is to offer service to existing members.
As you say, CLEAR is a temporarily useful service - until the authorities get their biometrics fully operational. If boarding worked as well as arrivals does, with retina scanning Global Entry, CLEAR would be out of business.

SFO is my home port, and it's worth having TSA PreCheck + Clear. I used to always just use TSA pre, and either the clear members would keep cutting, or crew. Having both makes it so much more efficient. The A Gates on the international side are the worst for precheck because its predominantly foreign airlines, and they merge pre/with non pre during screening and its always just a cluster fuck and clueless agents.

A lucrative business by the government. That's a lot of money going to the government. And a lot of info the government knows about us through background checks.

Agreed wholeheartedly. I have no issues with a paid/airline loyalty elite/first/business priority line, but the screening experience should be the same. PreCheck is so easy to get that it's functionally useless in terms of security vetting. There is no added security to making people take out laptops and take off their shoes if they haven't had a background check, at the end of the day it's just rigmarole to make PreCheck look more attractive.

If nothing else though, at least it looks like they're moving towards relaxing liquid restrictions so I can finally bring my own sunscreen when I fly without a checked bag, so props to them for that at least.

It's seemed to me like that's no longer a thing. Maybe for minors? I had it happen pre-2020, but all the trips I took adult family and my fiance on in 2022-4, they only got PreCheck if they had signed up for it. Being on my reservation didn't get it for them.

Don’t use CLEAR at the SFO INTL A Gates if you have PreCheck. You will skip the line, but the agent at the podium won’t give you a card telling the baggage scanner that you have PreCheck. So the guy at the baggage scanner will make you take your shoes off.

CLEAR is definitely the opposite of Pre-Check in terms of how well it has scaled. Unless they figure out how to massively improve operations and the experience itself, they will (so ironically) be out-innovated by TSA with the facial scanning process which is much faster than clear all else equal.

A Global Entry/PreCheck member since 2016 here. I've calculated that if I fly at least 3 roundtrips a year, I'd get my money's worth for the cost (spoiler: the renewal in 2021 was paid for by a credit card perk). Glad that I enrolled into the system even though my "interview" took place at an airport on the other coast of the United States, at 7 a.m. (right after arriving there on a red-eye)!

Sometimes the PreCheck lines at the airport seems longer than the plebeian queues, but I've learned that it's good to have options. Plus it's a bonus not having to remove shoes during the scan. I'm definitely renewing when my current period elapses.

If you live near the Canadian border, get a NEXUS card. It is less expensive and gives you both TSA Precheck and Global Entry. And fast passage across US/Canadian border crossings. Quite a deal.

"I look forward to the day when the TSA having full biometric data will make this concept completely unnecessary."

Sounds like a very sad and dystopian future to me.

@George Romey, when, exactly, was the last time you flew through Atlanta? The regular security lines at ATL can easily take an hour and that's a good day. Regular pre-check can easily be 30 minutes. ATL has given clear a dedicated area. Precheck on the left, DL's digital ID in the middle and clear plus pre-check on the right. Clear plus precheck is ALWAYS faster than pre-check alone. But if you're flying DL and have digital ID, that may be fastest. I always go center or right, never left. ATL is the entire reason I got clear and it's worth it. I'm there nearly every week. Most other places I tend to agree with Ben. At DCA, I'll eyeball the lines and pick. It's usually a toss-up.

@Paul Weiss, the idea of checking IDs is that only ticketed passengers go beyond security. Now, you can argue about whether that increases security, since anyone can by a ticket. But that's the rule and if you don't check IDs, you can't enforce the rule. Also, you do know that they're checking terrorist watch lists and no fly lists against your ID. Since you don't have to provide ID info to book, unless you're flying international that's the only opportunity to check.

And there actually IS a background check to get TSA Pre. That's why you get precheck as a bonus with a security clearance. They are actually reducing intrusiveness of the actual screening process and they do that by making sure that you, as an individual present less risk.

The reason CLEAR claims to have 22 million members is that many people have free accounts to access expedited lanes at sporting and entertainment venues. They also do some non-airport identity verification for example for LinkedIn.

@Dusty, just because YOU don't know people declined for precheck does not mean that they're not vetting. Trust me, you got vetted. It's just that the reality is that the vast majority of people are not a security risk, so the vast majority are approved. Also, those that have issues usually know they do and don't apply.

You can argue about the value of removing your shoes or taking off electronics... and I really can't defend the shoes thing... but regular security screening is, appropriately, more rigorous.

The TSA is not trying to make pre-check more attractive. By law, the government can't make money on services it provides and, in fact, they're losing money on processing your application.

Yes, minors. Not adult children.

One thing about CLEAR is that non-US citizens can have it. When I flew 2x weekly, I worked with a few Indian nationals. They couldn't get any of the Trusted Traveler programs, but they could get CLEAR to at least cut the normal line.

Australia lets anyone go through screening and enter domestic terminals, no ticket or zID required. I'm happy we don't. I'm not concerned about security, I just remember the annoyance of family members blocking a jetway exit to greet someone.

I'm lucky in that my home airport is easy for non-pre-check and fantastic for us pre-check folks. I honestly just went to the Clear site and found out they are in my airport. So, obviously, Clear isn't an issue for my outbound flights. I'd love to see the queue jumping banned, though.

Yesterday I was at the airport.
Didn't need to take anything out of my bag....not the computer, etc.
Yes, I did have to take my shoes off.
The TSA line was LONGER than the regular security line I went thru.
Seems the benefits of pre check may be diminished as a result of a larger base of customers.

You didn’t mention Clear+Precheck lanes, which are the best and what we always head for.

@AD, they are literally just doing a background check and taking your fingerprints. If that comes up clean, nothing is getting sent off to the FBI or CIA for further scrutiny. Acting like a TSA agent can tell from a couple questions whether or not you're an extremist that just hasn't acted yet is laughable. PreCheck is just a normal criminal background check so that you don't have to remove your shoes or laptop. That's all it is.

There is negligible added security benefit to not having to take out your laptop or remove your shoes. Scanners have been able to deal with that for over a decade now. At least the liquids restriction is somewhat reasonable, it's the most unlikely threat vector due to the volatility of liquid explosives but trying to screen every water bottle or tube of sunscreen would grind all the screening lines to a halt. So instead they just make it much more difficult to begin to smuggle a threatening amount in by limiting overall liquid amounts.