Since the early morning of February 22nd, the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs have experienced policy whiplash. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that at 6AM ET this past Sunday morning, PreCheck and Global Entry would be suspended. Less than half a day later, the DHS updated the suspension announcement to indicate that PreCheck would not be suspended but that the Global Entry program would. The suspension of the programs, the announcement indicated, was directly related to the partial government shutdown over DHS funding. In previous shutdowns, including the 43-day long government shutdown last fall, neither program were suspended – making this decision a notable change from the past.
Pushback
Multiple groups gave immediate pushback to the announcement. The immediate concern from many people and organizations was the short notice of the change, which was a matter of a few hours before implementation. In that short of a time frame, especially given the early morning start, it gave travelers little opportunity to make adjustments to the travel schedule. The PreCheck program has more than 20 million people enrolled in it, making the sudden change immediately impactful to a large number of travelers. Further, that group is often among the most frequent fliers.
One of the groups pushing back on the move was U.S. Travel Association. Its CEO, Geoff Freeman, stated, “We are glad that DHS has decided to keep PreCheck operational and avoid a crisis of its own making.”
What makes this suspension particularly noteworthy, in addition to the break with precedent for keeping the programs operational during a government shutdown, is that these programs supported by the user fees. Both TSA PreCheck and Global entry charge a fee to participate in. The cost for PreCheck runs between $76.75 and $85 for a five year membership. Global Entry, meanwhile, costs $120 for a membership that also runs five years. As Freeman noted in his response, “they are funded by user fees, and there is no reason at this time for them to be suspended.”
What Should You Plan For?
As a travel agency, our advice is to plan for delays and changes. That’s solid advice with any travel plans, but we feel it doubly applies here. Given the context that these programs were suspended with a matter of a few hour notice, then one of them reopened just within the same day as the initial announcement, it is clear that travelers will need to be ready for sudden changes.
Something that hasn’t been discussed in the DHS announcements is the Clear program. If you are unfamiliar with Clear, it is a privately run program that works alongside TSA PreCheck in airports and allows for, potentially, faster screening, although PreCheck can sometimes be quicker. Since Clear is privately run and funded, it seems that they will not be impacted by the DHS program suspensions. The company stated on their Instagram page, “CLEAR is open and read to serve travelers, as well as our airline and airport partners.” For the time being, it seems that if you have a Clear membership, you can still take advantage of that program.
These aren’t the only new things shaping up with the TSA this year. Earlier, the agency announced new fees for travelers without REAL ID. This seems to be one more thing that travelers will need to prepare for these days.
