Consumerist

I think this is an excellent idea. As a business traveler who carries only a small three-suiter and a laptop, I'm often frustrated waiting behind the eight-children-and-forty-two-bottles-of-water family that can't seem to find the boarding passes they were handed two minutes earlier.

I flew out of Boston last week, and this system was already in use. It's actually a really good idea, as people were actually following the system. No kids, babies, or newbies were to be found in the Expert Traveler lane, and I think it really helped move things along.

...is expanding it's...

Really? Is that a contraction of "it is" or "it has?" No? Then it's "its."

I thought that this was supposed to have been in SLC. If it is they're not offering it in the Delta terminal.

It's total BS. As long as it's optional, most people will go to the shortest/fastest line. It's also anti-egalitarian, and therefore in my mind, evil (though not as evil as the CBP's Trusted Traveler Program). First-come-first-served is the fair way.

Thank goodness there is a faster way to get to Spokane! I feel the wheels of the economy picking up already.

@Logical Extremes: Did you read the release? It says "Both pilots have resulted in an overall increase in throughput and greatly increased customer satisfaction." Also, how is it anti-egalitarian?

I witnessed this first-hand NOT working well here in Denver last week because of something I had failed to consider . . . TSA has to be operating at least 4 or 5 lines simultaneously for this to work at all. The day I was there, TSA was operating two lines at that particular checkpoint and the other five were closed.

I was in Salt Lake City about 2 weeks ago. This was AMAZING. There was a huge "family" line, and all I had was my laptop bag and travel suitcase (business!). I hopped in the Black line and was through in about 30 seconds. It was magical. I'm a fan. If I only didn't have to fly out of DFW all the time, I'd be all set.

@Poshua: Let's just say I have a slight bit of healthy skepticism about any official TSA press release.

The process should be designed to improve times for everyone, not just for a select few. If someone arrive first, I think (s)he has a right to be served before someone who arrives later, regardless of any other factors. Just imagine how unmotivated this system makes the checker at the slow lane to optimize throughput.