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The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will vote today whether to put the Registered Traveler Program in place at Ronald Reagan Washington National and Dulles International Airports, WTOP reports.
Registered Traveler, which is provided by a private company, allows expedited security screening for passengers who volunteer to undergo a TSA-conducted background check. Passengers approved for the program are then given a special biometric card that gives them access to pre-screened security lines. The fees for enrollment include a $28 yearly TSA fee for the background check, and then an additional fee from the Registered Traveler provider at the airport. In some participating airports, additional benefits such as complimentary baggage service or discounted concessions are included with the membership. A list of airports that already participate in the program can be found here.
Sounds like a pretty great idea to us. Anything we can do to make flying out of our area airports not the one of the most dehumanizing experiences imaginable gets a big thumbs up.
UPDATE 1:01 p.m.: We've just received word that The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors has voted to approve the award of a contract to Verified Identity Pass. Inc. to implement a Registered Traveler program at both Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International Airports. Verified Identity Pass operates a program called Clear -- follow the link for more details. Clear's current cost is $100 plus the TSA vetting fee of $28, for a total charge of $128. An implementation schedule and program design for both airports still needs to be submitted for approval.
Photo by billadler
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This is a great idea. I thought Dulles already had this. Does anyone know how much the additional fee is?
I feel like this kind of thing should be cheap / free. Registered travelers make smaller security lines which speeds up TSA screenings. This is a win win for everyone and should be promoted as such.
bzzzzzt...wrong.
sorry sommer, gotta disagree with you on this one and put on my tinfoil hat here.
the thought of "private industry" being given carte blanche to conduct a background check on me ("don't worry," says the TSA, "your private information is completely safe with our pre-selected, out-sourced, patriotic sub-contractors!") gives me the shakes.
i've had a pretty successful run the last year of getting through security very quickly (never pulled out of line, and actually made it on board a DCA flight where i checked in at the ticket counter 20 minutes prior to departure).
just gotta pick the right flights. of course, that's not always easy, but i don't want any more people digging into my private life than the CIA, NSA, TSA, and FBI already are, thank you.
I used to be "randomly" selected for additional security checks on a pretty frequent basis. But that hasn't happened to me in more than a year. I kinda miss the additional attention and the gentle rubbing of my person by a burly guy in a security guard uniform.
sounds stupid to me too. if people would just pay attention to the TSA rules and regulations, be smart travelers and make sure they're doing everything right, then flying wouldn't be the "most dehumanizing experience imaginable," as you put it. and if flying is really that bad, don't do it!
complimentary baggage service? are you too lazy to carry your own bag?
or maybe i've gotten lucky and rarely have bad flying experiences. and when i do have a bad experience, i'm under the assumption that mistakes happen, delays happen, shit in general happens, so i just get over it.
1. Create a state of perpetual emergency that generates massive lines in airports.
2. Contract out a premium system to bypass screeners for the low-low price of $28 and most of your identity.
3. Get the endorsement of DCist's editor.
4. [?]
5. PROFIT!
Do you have any idea how easy it is to hack "unhackable" biometric information? So long airport lines, hello identity theft! One guy bypassed the fingerprint ID system to a nuclear plant just by placing a Ziploc bag full of water over the scanner. The residual oil from the last user was activated by the finger "bag" and allowed access to the plant.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for the last autogyro to Siam.
Well, once all the people willing to pay $28+ a year to get their entire life history put into database maintained by lowest bidder are shuffled off to their private lines, the rest of us who covet what little privacy we have left are sure to enjoy some "expedited" lines in the regular checkpoint, as well. So, yeah, I'm all for it, too.
I'll sign up for anything that speeds me past those murals depicting Mediterranean scenes and towards the rotating knives. Dammit, I'm in a hurry! Just call me "No Time" Toulouse!
Here's a better idea: instead of trying to design ways around the ridiculous security procedures, why not either make them sensible (the liquid ban is the height of stupidity) or else allow people to opt out entirely?
Specifically, I would support allowing an airline called "No-Security Air". It would be just like every other airline, except for three things. First of all, no security--you could just walk onto the plane. Second of all, reinforced locked cockpit doors at all times. Finally, a powerful bomb would be planted on the plane and could be detonated by any air-traffic control tower. Frankly, I'd be willing to take my chances--it would be no more dangerous than riding Amtrak or the Metro or being in any public space.
mw2006,
Registered travellers being a free program, whether outsourced or federally wrong, would defeat one of the major advantages...fast lines. Many more people would register. In fact, people who travel on average once every few years, might register and re-register every year.
It's like HOT lanes. There is a reason they will cost money. Otherwise, there is no incentive to keep unauthorized vehicles out.
Meelar's referring to what's known as a "temporary autonomous zone." Basically, you waive all liability in exchange for certain freedoms; i.e., not getting hassled by "the man." I think it might work on the freeway; imagine making the 95 HOV lane a sort of "international waters" where there's no speed limit or any laws whatsoever. Heck you could even enjoy the simple pleasures of a high-speed monkey knife fight. Then again, I seriously doubt Pirate Utopia Air will be departing from National Airport any time soon.
meelar, i don't know about the powerful bomb thing, but i agree with you on the rest 100%! my brother and i were talking about this while we were stuck waiting for a plane in jacksonville a couple weeks ago.
the idea of waiving liability in exchange for the right to fly with toothpaste, yogurt, and my own damn water sounds good to me. i'll take the risk on myself, damn the nanny state.
it's like smoking on planes....there's an airline that allows that out there, isn't there?
Good point lamaccountat.
But I still want this!
Since when is waiting in line for twenty minutes, ". . . one of the most dehumanizing experiences imaginable . . ."? Clearly that was written by someone who never went to boot camp or took a shower after gym in middle school.
I hate waiting in line as much as anyone; but show up to the airport early with a fully charged iPod/laptop/electronic diversion, a couple of magazines, and (for those with kids) something to keep the little ones occupied and it's really not that big a deal.
I hated this when it was announced that it was happening anywhere. Why are we introducing a class structure to the security that was supposedly instituted in the name of the entire Nation's best interests. It strikes me way too much like First Class gets the lifeboats, and Steerage gets to listen to the chamber orchestra play as the Titanic goes down.
Firstly, it's not $28 (that's just the government kickback, I mean fee). It may have changed, but when I originally saw it being rolled out at JFK it was like $99/year. Just because you are a frequent or rich traveler does not mean you should get a free pass through security. Anyone can have a mental breakdown and decide to sneak a bomb on a plane.
Secondly, IF such a program has to be put in place, it should not be something that a private company should be able to profit off of. I'd be less against it if that program were Federally run and the fees went to subsidize improvements to the national airspace security or systems. But this is purely a company being allowed to profit off of circumventing a government-mandated process.
Thirdly, if I recall the process, it seemed like an awful lot less was involved in it than was involved in my gaining access to my government building workplace. And my government building workplace isn't a moving bomb.
Instead of the old, "innocent until proven guilty," we've now got "guilty until proven innocent or rich."
Don't hijackers buy 1st Class tickets anyway? Wouldn't they be just as inclined to run their bogus identity through the background check and get an Registered Traveler Insta Pass. If anybody's in a rush, it's those guys. It's like that Onion headline, "Terrorist Annoyed by Delayed Flight."
hillrat, the more you talk the more you make sense. i totally agree.
It's bugged me for years what whiners Americans can be while traveling. Get some perspective. 20 minute wait? Boohoo. National Airport is so small the security hardly takes any time. On the few occasions I've been in a rush, the other passengers were very understanding about allowing others forward...
But I digress, the whining. Please. You're not being shot at, starved, or in anyway "dehumanized". Get yer latte, plug in the iPod and it'll be over before you know it. I know flying is scary, so take an extra paxil.
Geez. Someone's making a lot of money out of airport misery. Why didn't I think of this idea?
To all those who think people who complain are whining--please name one experience that you paid for recently that was less pleasant than flying, barring medical procedures. Given the choice between a flight or a Greyhound ride of equal duration, I'll choose the Greyhound.
To all those who think people who complain are whining--please name one experience that you paid for recently that was less pleasant than flying, barring medical procedures. Given the choice between a flight or a Greyhound ride of equal duration, I'll choose the Greyhound.
meelar, I just took a fifteen-hour car trip with four other people and about twelve large suitcases crammed into a small minivan. Two of those other people were under 18. One was in middle school. The other two people insisted on playing loud country music. I paid for gas. Give me security screenings and my iPod any day.
Of course a Greyhound of equal duration would be better, but since when could you get from here to anywhere worthwhile in two hours? I mean, you can get from here to Orlando or here to Chicago or here to Houston or any number of other places with a two-three hour flight.
how do we get rid of tsa, for reals.
To all those who think people who complain are whining--please name one experience that you paid for recently that was less pleasant than flying, barring medical procedures.
That's easy, getting my car inspected here in DC.
I'm not saying that people are "whining" about the lines at the airport, I think they're bullshit too. In fact, if we could invoice companies for the time that we, as consumers, spend waiting in line or on hold I'm sure the practice of understaffing checkout counters and phone banks would come to screeching halt. But the fact of the matter is that the interminable waits for everything from changing your cable service to flying on a plane aren't going to disappear any time soon, so deal with it.
I'm sure if the airlines could get an extra $50-100 per ticket they might do something about the waits. But I'd rather spend that money on a couple of margaritas for me and WifeRat and some sizzurp to keep BabyRat chilled out.
Flying in general is an unpleasant experience these days, but the security line is the least of it. I find sitting at the gate for 2 hours while my flight is delayed and then squishing myself against the window as much as possible for another 2-3 hours so the burly man in the middle seat can spill over into my seat to be much more unpleasant than taking off my shoes and pulling my laptop out of its bag. Now, if I could pay a yearly fee to ensure on-time flights, only thin people in the middle seat (or hot guys), and no babies on my flights, that would be worth considering.
something I pay for the result of which is unpleasant... Hmmm? One word: taxes.
What I construe as whining is the overall sense of American entitlement. We have it really cushy in our neck of the woods... come ON people, you're FLYING.... thru the air. That's still pretty darn cool in and of itself. Meanwhile, they're not responsible for your amusement. Amuse yourself. Go to a yoga class and hold "chair pose" for about 3 minutes, and that might change one's sense of time. Standing still? Able to do as I please? Lines are nothing. Better yet join the military as hillrat suggested, and you'll see what monotony of standing in lines can truly be like. Lines. Phf! Lines are nothing. I'm going to pay out $130 so some jerk can waive me thru? Oh, and don't even get me started on "lines" and clubs with velvet ropes... ;)