Is TSA Pre-Check worth it?

[Johanson]

I fly very little so wouldn't pay for it. I tend to get it anyway on the few flights I do take, probably because I don't fit any terrorist profiles and traveled a lot on business and for pleasure for many years. Typically I fly Business Class on long hauls, which also has a short TSA line with mostly experienced flyers in it.

From what I've read, the freebie status was started because there weren't enough people who paid for Pre-Check to justify the separate lines. I have to admit I was one of the newbies who padded up shoeless and with my Freedom Baggie and computer out for inspection the first time, but I caught on fast.

When I first got PreCheck, you couldn't even buy into the system. You had to get it through your airlines FF program or through a trusted traveler program. Even then, there were only a couple of FF programs eligible in the beginning. Delta was one and I think AA also. This was expanded after the first year.