TSA pre check

I signed up for TSA pre-check after almost missing a flight in Ft. Meyers last year. We were 1 hour early and they were letting 5 or more people through the "handicapped" / TSA Pre-check line for ever 1 person through the normal line. I think the cost is worth the reduction in stress. However, when you sign up for TSA pre-check, an impression of your fingerprints are taken. I would not be surprised if these end up in law enforcement databases. So, I would avoid committing any "crimes" and leaving fingerprints behind. On the other hand, you may want to sign up now, before they start collection DNA samples ;-)

You've never been fingerprinted before?

Wife and I got TSA precheck on our boarding passes over Thanksgiving trip without signing up.

"And travelers who are not enrolled in the program may still get a TSA PreCheck designation on their boarding pass when their Secure Flight information — name, date of birth and gender — is matched against security databases." https://skift.com/2016/02/16/tsa-precheck-lanes-wont-be-members-only-for-a-long-time-still/

Not where it went into a law enforcement database.......

Jet Blue sells TSA pre check for $10-$15 dollars a segment, and includes it free with their premium seats.

We don't fly much anymore so $85 is not worth it to us. I always seem to get the pre check leaving Vegas, although my wife never does. I often get it on the return flight but not always. Most of our flights out of Vegas the last 2 years have been early morning so the lines aren't long; she usually gets through her line about 10 minutes or less after I go through pre check.

Note to rkorbyl and anyone else flying out of Vegas on a Sunday - get there 3 or more hours early because it's always a horror show.

It's $85 for five years. Even if you only do one trip a year, that's $8.50 per flight.

I don't get it. How can an airline "sell" (or 'comp') TSA pre-check to just anyone for a fee?

My understanding is the Pre-check confirms that the traveler is on record as meeting certain security criteria, therefore can pass through with the lower level of screening. We were fingerprinted and submitted personal ID documents before receiving our Known Traveler Numbers. How can an airline bypass that? Thanks.

Can't answer the airline "comp" question, but I think the Known Traveler Number just guarantees you TSA Pre. Doesn't mean other people can't also go thru that line, apparently. Even before i registered for Global Entry I ended up with TSA Pre on my boarding pass a few random times. I've also seen the TSA folks at McCarran sending "regular" flyers thru pre-check to keep things moving...

All true, but in order to get the TSA KTN, one had to register at one of their offices, submit certain documents (which prove who you are, including birth certificate if one's name has changed such as with marriage), and be fingerprinted. Yes, we randomly got the TSA pre-check pass prior to signing up. Sometimes he'd get it and I didn't, or vice versa. At the time it was said this was to alleviate long 'regular' lines, but this would be downsized and eventually eliminated once more people have actually signed up. I just can't see how "selling" TSA pre-check by an airlines, unless their process includes the same, includes the same verifications. procedures.

Just does not sound 'legal' to "sell" getting a TSA pre-check stamped on a boarding pass without the security checks that qualify you as a "Known Traveler" to board with the lower level of screening going through TSA pre-check line.