TSA sets fee for Registered Traveler background checks
By Dan Luzadder, Travel Weekly, 11/28/2006
The Transportation Security Administration has set background-check fees for companies providing Registered Traveler services at $28 each.
The TSA also named Verified Identity Pass’ Registered Traveler program, Clear, as its first authorized provider for the registered traveler program, which is expected to be rolled out over the next year.
Cindy Rosenthal, a spokesperson for VIP's Clear program, a system that charges travelers a $100 annual fee for pre-screening, said the new fees will be absorbed into its annual membership charges
"We had already built in a $30 fee for TSA security checks," Rosenthal said. She said they would credit VIP Clear Pass members with the $2 difference.
VIP, the company owned by Steven Brill, said in a statement Nov. 27 that it is already installing devices at New York's Kennedy Airport and airports in San Jose, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, in anticipation of final clearances needed to begin operating registered traveler programs there.
VIP has been operating a demonstration project at Orlando Airport since July 2005, and expects to roll out to as many as 20 airports over the next year.
Several other potential providers, including Kirkland, Washington-based Saflink Corp., also are navigating TSA requirements to provide services to pre-screened travelers to allow them to bypass lengthy security lines at U.S. airports.