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Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

politico.com

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Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#31

Post by gottorf »

kondu wrote: post #27
gnutrino wrote: post #7

I had clear for a bit when I traveled for work more often. It was nice, and it's definitely not "for rich people". It's less than $200 a year. I bet most people pay more for streaming services for non-essential entertainment. I've always been torn on if it's something viable long term though. While they're at it, they should ban fast passes at amusement parks.

That's $800 for a family of 4. With the median household income at under $80,000, it's ridiculous to think the average person can afford to spend that much just to skip a line a couple times a year.

> it's ridiculous to think the average person can afford to spend that much just to skip a line a couple times a year.

Well, sure, it's ridiculous to pay that much if you only travel a couple times a year. It's like how paying $700/year for airline lounge access is ridiculous if you only travel a couple times a year.

But $800 for a family of 4 is much closer to the average person than, say, using a private jet to skip security lines.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#32

Post by hgschmie »

kondu wrote: post #27
gnutrino wrote: post #7

I had clear for a bit when I traveled for work more often. It was nice, and it's definitely not "for rich people". It's less than $200 a year. I bet most people pay more for streaming services for non-essential entertainment. I've always been torn on if it's something viable long term though. While they're at it, they should ban fast passes at amusement parks.

That's $800 for a family of 4. With the median household income at under $80,000, it's ridiculous to think the average person can afford to spend that much just to skip a line a couple times a year.

It is not. Your partner is discounted abd kids go free.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#33

Post by cge »

gottorf wrote: post #30
kmlx wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SFO was the only airport where i had to wait in the security line starting from inside the plane. took 2.5hrs to reach passport control. went again in february this year. 3 guys checking passports of hundreds of travellers. another 1.5hrs wasted. meanwhile back in london i just scan my passport and go thru the automated gates. why can’t the US solve this issue? is it unions? is it federal government? what’s going on?

Passport control is CBP (a part of USCIS) and doesn't really have any relation to TSA, which is security checks to go from the "unsecured" (curbside) part of the airport to the "secured" (planeside) part. > back in london i just scan my passport Presumably your passport is a UK passport? Generally it's much quicker for a country's nationals to enter a border than foreigners.

>Generally it's much quicker for a country's nationals to enter a border than foreigners.

The UK is somewhat unusual in letting nationals of a number of countries, including the US, simply scan their passports at an electronic barrier and pass through without speaking to anyone, essentially the same as their own nationals; it usually just takes a few seconds. Many EU countries do this for EU and sometimes other European nationals, but rarely for the US.

The US is rather unusual in having their own nationals need to go through a non-trivial border control process, even with Global Entry. However, this is in part because many European countries have separate border control and customs processes, with border control before baggage reclaim, while the US tends to have them combined.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#34

Post by leoh »

Saddest part is that all these congress folks will almost certainly still have some kind of way to cut through things while taking it away from everyone else. I don't think CLEAR is fair, but let's make the whole airport process more humane for everyone.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#35

Post by yincrash »

Scoundreller wrote: post #19
yincrash wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, the state government cannot alter TSA's authority.

How’s it work with SFO where they have their own contractors for security screening that aren’t federally employed TSA agents?

It's called the "Screening Partnership Program"[1].

It's an agreement the airport makes with the TSA to maintain TSA standards (and I believe the airport gets federal funding to run it).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screening_Partnership_Program

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#36

Post by alfalfasprout »

rockets101 wrote: post #2

No idea if this will pass or not but paying a private company to cut lines in airports seemed like a flimsy value prop

Because the TSA is so wildly incompetent that it became the only choice if you wanted to go through the airport in a reasonable amount of time.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#37

Post by awildfivreld »

kondu wrote: post #27
gnutrino wrote: post #7

I had clear for a bit when I traveled for work more often. It was nice, and it's definitely not "for rich people". It's less than $200 a year. I bet most people pay more for streaming services for non-essential entertainment. I've always been torn on if it's something viable long term though. While they're at it, they should ban fast passes at amusement parks.

That's $800 for a family of 4. With the median household income at under $80,000, it's ridiculous to think the average person can afford to spend that much just to skip a line a couple times a year.

But a family of 4 is not the value proposition here. They are explicitly targeting frequent flyers that stand in the queue so often that the time saves add up.

If you're only traveling once a year, you can handle a 45 minute wait twice (although yes, it still sucks). If you're traveling once a week, it's a completely different ballpark.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#38

Post by quercusa »

cge wrote: post #33
gottorf wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Passport control is CBP (a part of USCIS) and doesn't really have any relation to TSA, which is security checks to go from the "unsecured" (curbside) part of the airport to the "secured" (planeside) part. > back in london i just scan my passport Presumably your passport is a UK passport? Generally it's much quicker for a country's nationals to enter a border than foreigners.

>Generally it's much quicker for a country's nationals to enter a border than foreigners. The UK is somewhat unusual in letting nationals of a number of countries, including the US, simply scan their passports at an electronic barrier and pass through without speaking to anyone, essentially the same as their own nationals; it usually just takes a few seconds. Many EU countries do this for EU and sometimes other Europ…

My son just back to the US after a trip to the UK. He was amazed by the automated scanning going into the UK. Then he got home and was treated like a criminal by the US border people.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#39

Post by alfalfasprout »

Typical California... instead of addressing why people even find a value proposition in clear (nobody wants to wait forever to get your drivers license scanned by an incompetent TSA employee) they go after the superior solution.

Yes, I understand the TSA is a federal agency. But the reality is CA is influential enough that they can push the TSA to do better. They already have with eg; the EPA.

I agree, in principle, that companies like CLEAR shouldn't exist in airports. But this is once again a reflection of the public sector getting bottom of the barrel talent and as a result being stifled in any sort of innovation.

Re: Airport security line cutters are target of first-in-the-nation California bill

#40

Post by [deleted] »

gnutrino wrote: post #7

I had clear for a bit when I traveled for work more often. It was nice, and it's definitely not "for rich people". It's less than $200 a year. I bet most people pay more for streaming services for non-essential entertainment. I've always been torn on if it's something viable long term though. While they're at it, they should ban fast passes at amusement parks.

[deleted]
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