I know many of you might be pilots, non-civilian travelers, but what is your opinion, or what do you use, when it comes to all the airport security line "entry" options and companies?
I know this has likely been discussed ad nauseum, but I was sort of wondering an updated "TL;DR" of the different options for getting through security lines at airport. I am currently a member of CLEAR, which was super easy, and I keep thinking about TSA Pre. I know there's google, but that's exhausting, and I sort of assume there's a number of fine aviation fan / traveling redditors that have mired through the mess, lately, and wouldn't mind offering their opinion.
Near as I can figure, and this might all be wrong:
Global Entry: get through passport lines, and you get TSA Pre with it? But you have to go to the airport for an appointment.
TSA Pre: at more airports than Clear. You have to go to some random place, or an airport, for an appointment. It takes some time.
Clear: at few airports, but super VIP style. You can do it prior to a flight, and it takes a few moments. There's coupons everywhere, and you can easily get spouse or friends in for a free trial. Free 6 months trials for this are easy to find, too.
Is that it? If I am wrong, help! Is anything else out there, and are any of the above not worth it, etc? I am sure where you go matters... I do SFO to IAD quite a bit, so Clear covers those spots. But I hit PDX a lot, and that is TSA Pre. BTW: PDX TSA are real TSA, not subcontracted like SFO. The difference between real TSA people and subcontracted are like day and night.
Thanks for your help!
Posted Aug 17, 2017, 7:51 PM UTC