How the heck did that happen?

[NastyWoman]

A little while ago there was a discussion whether it was worth it to spend some money to get a TSA pre check status.  I remember thinking, but not posting, that I had that already. However, I am 100% sure that I did NOT spend money for this. Tomorrow I will fly to Seattle to visit my baby DGS (and his parents of course). So tonight I printed out my boarding pass and sure enough it is marked TSA Pre check.  How can I possibly have gotten this without asking or paying for it Not complaining though...

[Deleted]

That's happened to me, too. I used to fly a lot but now have status only with AA (Lifetime Gold due to previous travel). I flew USAirways and got pre-check status. I found after some digging that they've opened it up to more people- generally those who have some records of travel and aren't on any Nasty People lists. The main reason seemed to be that otherwise the pre-check lines wouldn't be busy enough to justify them! It's annoyed the genuine frequent travelers because people (like me) don't notice they have it or don't know what it means, and hold up the line removing their shoes, taking out their Freedom Baggie with liquids, etc.

DH and I drive whenever it's humanly possible. Flying is just something you endure to get where you're going.

[Sharon]

It seems to be a somewhat random occurrence on whether or not you get the pre-check status.  I fly twice a year for conferences for work, not a frequent traveler by any means.  This last conference my flight out was pre-check status, the flight back was not. 

While at the conference several of us where discussing the pre-check status.  Some of these people are definitely frequent fliers, as in a flight a week or more, and they said some times they get pre-check status and sometimes they don't.

[zibazinski]

You can get it without paying for it but its random. DF and I get it all the time now. We must fit a profile of sorts. But we are still going to jump through the $85 hoop to get the BIG ONE.

[flamingo]

For as often as I travel, I rarely get randomly selected to be pre-checked. However, I have found if I dress nicely (i.e., anything above jeans and flip flops), I get sent to the pre-check lane 90% of the time. Even though it doesn't say pre-check on my ticket. It could be because I travel by myself with the appropriate size/type/number of carry-ons. Or it could be that the last 10 times I've flown, the regular security lines were so jammed with parents and little kids, and no one is in the pre-check lines, they need to send some people that way to justify them Either way, I'm always thankful when I get sent to those lines.

[HoneyBBQ]

It does happen randomly. My H gets it all the time!!! I paid my $85 and got my precheck the other day. Enjoy your trip to Seattle! Coming to visit me??

[midwestlily]

When I flew out of Indianapolis a few weeks ago, they said I was precheck, but I still had to go through the same line as everyone else.  The only difference was that they let me keep my shoes on.  Big deal.

When I flew home from Raleigh-Durham, I was not precheck.  I wish I had been, they had a separate, shorter line for precheck.

I only fly a couple times a year, so not willing to pay $85 for it.