I watched the San Francisco airport manager on the news and he said they only found out last night when TSA notified them that Clear would shut down at 11pm Pacific Time. I wonder how many people this morniing showed up around the country at the last minute thinking their Clear card would speed things along only to find themselves at the back of a long line.

If someone new comes in to take their place, would anyone now trust them?

The reason the TSA does not know for sure if people are who they say they are is because we have no national identity system in place, and thus far any attempt to build one has been shut down by groups like the ACLU and congress members who oppose such standards. A national identity system would necessarily rely on some form of biometric, as it is the only way to truly know who someone is.

This is what makes Clear members ‘preferred’ travelers. They are who they say they are. On the other hand, those that are members have given up some degree of privacy – the quid pro quo for having superior access.

This is exactly what gives me an headache. The TSA’s job, in the first place, is putting a law to work. They are doing nothing else than law enforcement a.k.a. a police job. At least with the basic idea of how police should work, there is just absolutely no way how different people pay different fees to get different treatment by different police officers. We all know that in some cases, reality works different and money matters. And with Clear, the ‘money matters’ feature is not just a strange side effect of being biased by wealth or plain bribery — the ‘money matters’ feature is already installed in the system. Look at it from the TSA’s and Clear’s side: They are dealing with their paying customers and this is in contrast with making sure everyone gets looked at the same way for the sake of everyone’s safety.

One of the most important ideas behind free societies is the system of Separation of Powers, wherein one job of the executive branch must faithfully put the laws into action. Paying money and thus having an influence on how the law is put into action in your own personal case will be a step towards corrupting one of the very important mechanisms of a free society.

BTW, before anyone starts calling me a ‘commie’, please read your old history books from High School and think again why freedom is such an important, basic issue in a democratic society and what requirements there are for freedom to work. This will also be helpful.

Anything above $100, though, seems too much to me. And like CF mentioned, it seems like it will only help so many frequent flyers, as they’re often already covered.

Interestingly enough, in Denver it usually takes me between 10-15 minutes to get through security. While I was waiting in line two weeks ago, I looked over at the Clear section (which at DEN has its own security screeners, etc) and noticed that no one went through it, the WHOLE time I was there. Granted, this was on a Friday morning, but still.

Makes you wonder how jacking up the prices is going to help them grow the program – it would seem volume would be their goal, seeing as how the high-priced-luxury end of the market is already being served. I certainly won’t become a member, at this point.

Good points, but I don’t understand why exactly confirming someone’s ID is cause to cut the line. You bring up really valid arguments…aka the ONLY way you really can confirm these people’s IDS is via biometrics…but why again should those passengers who have confirmed their biometrics be able to go first? Aka, if the you’re really concerned about terrorists or people with fake IDs getting in, why not improve the relatively shoddy system in place for verifying regular people’s IDs? I just don’t understand the linkage between confirming someone’s ID and getting a fast pass to the front of the line.

I DO agree with the idea of allowing someone to pay to get to the front, it’s basic economics. That idea I like and think it could be used to generate more revenues. If the airlines have to compensate the TSA for their services, then the airlines should get a cut as well (given as the ticketholders are their customers). I’m just not sure what biometrics have to do with line-jumping.

My only qualm for the pay-to-play system is if the airlines have to pay a large chunk of the TSA’s costs (which I’m not sure about). If that’s the case then I think the airlines (not the govt) should have the right to give priority to whoever they want, whether they give it to elites, sell it as an add-on, etc.