I checked in my aunt this AM at PDX, and her BP on the PDX-ORD flight printed with Pre-Check on top. I didn't enroll her and neither did she, and we were wondering how she got it. (Not complaining, since she hit the shorter line, with her shoes and laptop in bag). She just did apply for the Chase United card, and she has an INK Bold...but I dont think thats one of the perks of these cards. Anyone have any ideas?
I never enrolled and I've been getting it every time I fly United for the last six or so months. Same for my wife (except once when she didn't get it).
Random... TSA has been applying Pre-check to low-risk fliers, frequent or not. Sort of ticks me off since I had to pay. The other problem is those who don't fly often don't generally know what to do once they're in the Pre-check lane. They start removing, shoes, coats, laptops etc until a line dragon barks at them they dont have to remove clothing etc. Then they put it all back on - slowing everything waaay down.
They'll learn soon enough. And your payment still gets you other things, like Global Entry and you're more likely to get Pre than the random selection process.
My payment got me Global Entry. That's what I paid for. I did not expect to get anything else at the time. (besides, is anyone here nowadays actually paying for Global Entry? I got it before all the various reimbursement benefits)
I read an article that said that 25% of passengers are being "selected" for pre-check now to give them a taste of the program.
Here's my opinion. We all know that the current method of security is to lump everyone into the same category. The TSA/DHS has been putting out the message that they are "protecting" us, so any change will be noticed by the sheeples. They are moving to a system that targets the threats. Soon you will see more precheck lanes than body scanners. Under the guise of precheck, they will now be able to "profile", without profiling (remember that it is random) Then again, this is just my opinion.