Registered Traveler Programs No Longer About Security

A funny thing happened to post-9/11 registered traveler programs: Created to thwart would-be terrorists, they have quietly morphed into airport and travel-industry concierge services that have much more to do with convenience than security.

That’s not to say that programs such as Verified Identity Pass, Clear and FLO – the two largest - can’t be useful. They can help cut waiting time at airport security lines and, increasingly, they include bundled travel services such as parking and hotel privileges. Provided you can afford the $100-plus annual fees, there could be something in these programs for frequent fliers.

But they have little or nothing to do with security.

Registered traveler (RT) programs – also initially known as trusted traveler programs – originated as a means of pre-screening air travelers following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The idea was to help differentiate would-be terrorists from trustworthy road warriors who present no risk to aviation.

Now, as then, people become members by voluntarily supplying personal data such as name, address, e-mail number, Social Security number and passport info to the Transportation Security Administration, then submitting to fingerprinting and iris scans. The information is encoded at a high-tech smart card, used to access airport kiosks. Once the kiosks confirm you are who you say you are, you head to specially designated lines for more screening. The usual shoes-off, laptop-out routine still applies.

The programs spent a lot of time taxi-ing on the runway before taking off. Clear, the first program approved by the TSA – which authorizes and guides RT projects and selects vendors to provide screening devices – didn’t start operating until mid-2005, nearly four years after the attacks.

TSA pilot programs to test the systems restricted the number of airports with RT services. Those restrictions lasted until this summer. Twenty 20 U.S. airports have registered traveler programs, with the number expected to grow this fall and next year. About 200,000 road warriors belong to one service or another.

After testing the systems, though, the Feds decided the pre-screening they were conducting on applicants duplicated the terrorist watch-lists. In July, the TSA stopped screenings applicants – the programs themselves still do that.

All of which brings us to the present. At his point, there isn’t a whole lot that differentiates one service from another, especially since holders of one kind of card – CLEAR, say – can use dedicated airport registered traveler lines operated by a competitor such as FLO.

There is some difference in price.  CLEAR charges a $128 annual fee.  For FLO, it’s $100 for a basic gold membership, $200 for premium platinium membership, which offers more benefits – most of which are outside the airport and have scant connection to aviation.

CLEAR partners with Park’N’Fly, giving Park N’Fly customers preferred rates for CLEAR membership; Park ‘N Fly does the same for Clear members.

FLO partners with hotels, car rental companies and roadside assistance, among others.

If you like the added benefits and you fly at least once a month, RT smart cards could prove useful.

As for security, the Feds are still working on that – sans registered traveler programs.

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