Registered Traveler Programs - Boon or Bust?

There has been quite a bit of publicity of late around the US "registered traveler" program that was initiated a few years back by the Transportation Security Administration with support from some of the airports and airlines. The notion behind the RT program is to allow frequent travelers to register with the TSA, voluntarily supplying biometrics (like fingerprints and retina scan) and undergoing a background check, in exchange for the privilege of being able to go through a special security line at the airport. In effect, it allows people to pay their way to the front of the security line at select airports. The TSA mandated that the RT program be open to multiple vendors, and that the identity cards used by the various RT vendors be inter-operable; that way, subscribers to one vendor could use their RT cards at all airports that have RT lanes.

The dominant vendor today is Clear, aka Verified Identity Pass, which charges $128, which includes a $28 TSA "vetting fee". At present, there are 13 Clear airports, with 4 coming soon, including my home town of Denver, which is supposed to have its RT lanes open by the end of January.

I signed up for Clear last August while I was in Orlando, with the theory being that it would be of a great help in making sure that I make it to flights on time. The sign up process was simple--fill out the application forms and take them to a Clear registration kiosk (I went to the one at the Orlando airport). Clear personnel take your biometrics (finger prints and retina scans) at the kiosk, and a couple of weeks later your fancy new Clear card arrives in the mail.

Unfortunately, I have not yet had an opportunity to use my RT card. It seems that all of the places I have been traveling to don't have RT lanes! I was excited to find out that Clear has lanes open at La Guardia (where I'll be traveling in a couple of weeks), but then I discovered that they only have lanes open for certain terminals--and my terminal isn't on the list.

I will definitely use the Clear lane at my home airport when it opens later on this month, although it won't speed up my experience at DIA much, as I hold Premier Executive status with United, which allows me to use the 'premium traveler' line anyway. The real decision point will come next August when my Clear card comes up for renewal--if the only airport that I've been able to use my Clear card is DIA, I probably won't renew the service for another year.

It's a great idea, but until RT lanes become ubiquitous at every airport in the U.S., their value will be limited, particularly for frequent travelers such as myself that can already cut security lines.

** News Flash ** - Clear and Hilton announced on January 25, 2008 that, effective Feb 15th, Hilton HHonors program participants will be able to pay for their Clear membership with 35,000 Hilton points. That's quite a few points, but I guess it beats laying out the $128 in cash.....

Welcome to The Sanguine Traveler

As with all journals, one must start somewhere. In this case, let's start with a definition of sanguine, in case you're desperately trying to remember exactly what it means:

san·guine (adj): \ˈsaŋ-gwən\: having the temperament held characteristic and marked by sturdiness, high color, and cheerfulness; confident, optimistic.

At this point, you're probably thinking "OK, so now he's educated me on what sanguine means, so I can win the next spelling bee that enter...but what does that have to do with traveling?"

The answer, my friend, is that the only way one can survive traveling in today's harsh climate, particularly if you're traveling on business, is to be sanguine about it--one must be sturdy, cheerful, confident and optimistic in order to survive without losing one's mind (and potentially one's life!).

I have traveled extensively, both for business as well as pleasure, for the greater part of 20 years. Over that time, I have learned a lot of lessons from the school of hard knocks that I think others that are put in the same position can benefit from. Since I continue to travel extensively, I am also constantly learning and experiencing new things that others might gain some value from.

At the very least, this forum will be a great catharsis for me by allowing me to express my problems, frustrations and compliments about an industry that many times loses its focus on what's really important--the customer.

I welcome your questions and comments--please feel free to use this blog's comment feature, or you can drop me an email: mark at ehrmail dot com. Happy travels to you all!