Fast security check in lines.

Any info how these work?

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:45:52 GMT, mrtravel
wrote:

irwell wrote:
Any info how these work?

If there are less people, the queue time is shorter.
The actual processing time per person might be the same, but I haven't
measured it.

Did you mean something else? If so, please be more specific.

What I was getting at was,
is there a special requirement to
be able to use the Fast lines. IE First Class etc.

irwell wrote:

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:45:52 GMT, mrtravel
wrote:


irwell wrote:

Any info how these work?

If there are less people, the queue time is shorter.
The actual processing time per person might be the same, but I haven't
measured it.

Did you mean something else? If so, please be more specific.


What I was getting at was,
is there a special requirement to
be able to use the Fast lines. IE First Class etc.

What does the sign say? It might be different at your airport.

Where?

In the US, it is generally for First class, business class, and elite
level frequent flyers (25K miles per year)

irwell wrote:

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:45:52 GMT, mrtravel
wrote:


irwell wrote:

Any info how these work?

If there are less people, the queue time is shorter.
The actual processing time per person might be the same, but I haven't
measured it.

Did you mean something else? If so, please be more specific.


What I was getting at was,
is there a special requirement to
be able to use the Fast lines. IE First Class etc.

What does the sign say? It might be different at your airport.

Where?

In the US, it is generally for First class, business class, and elite
level frequent flyers (25K miles per year)

Of course, if you search, you can find that people on ebay will sell you
information on getting elite status on AA. It's quite simple though.
Earn 5000 or 10000 Elite Qualifying Points in a 3 month period, while on
a gold or platinum "challenge" and you will get status in 3 months or less.

irwell wrote:

Any info how these work?

I assume your are refering to the "Clear" line at Orlando?

You pay close to $100/year for an ID card, supply lots of data about yourself,
and get to use a separate line for screening. There's no promise that you won't
get an enhanced inspection - only a vague promise that says you aren't going to
be picked out for the so called "random" screening.

TSA in in the process of rolling this out at other airports, but the benefits
are really questionable. The theory is that by moving people that are more
trustworthy to a separate screening system, you can concentrate on the
remainder.

The reality is that there are no guarantees that a background check for the
preferred line would catch a bad person. It would also seem to be far more
effective to focus on things that make all the lines run faster and focus on
things like better individual screening.

Any info how these work?

Besides the Clear line at Orlando (see Clark's post) some airports have
lines for elite and/or first-class customers. Sometimes these require
2nd-tier status or higher (e.g., NW Gold as opposed to Silver). Some
personal recent experinces have included: at DEN it saved avoiding a very
long queue to one that is pretty much walk-up; at MKE there is a sign but
they don't even bother acknowledging a different line--the lines aren't that
long; at Gatwick people with Biz class seats were sent to a special
FastTrack queue which turned out taking about FIVE times as long as the
other queues, because there is only one FastTrack queue as opposed to
numerous normal queues, and it winds all over the place as opposed to going
straight to a machine--that one was a farce!

"Douglas W. Hoyt" wrote:

at Gatwick people with Biz class seats were sent to a special
FastTrack queue which turned out taking about FIVE times as long as the
other queues, because there is only one FastTrack queue as opposed to
numerous normal queues, and it winds all over the place as opposed to going
straight to a machine--that one was a farce!


I've noticed that several times at Gatwick. Even though you have a Fasttrack
card it can be faster to use the regular queue.

I've noticed that several times at Gatwick. Even though you have a
Fasttrack card it can be faster to use the regular queue.

But at least it makes you FEEL special. :0o

Douglas W. Hoyt wrote:

I've noticed that several times at Gatwick. Even though you have a
Fasttrack card it can be faster to use the regular queue.


But at least it makes you FEEL special. :0o



And you can save the FT card for another trip.