The cost is $80. If you are one of millions of frequent fliers and want to avoid the long line ups at the large airports - the Registered Traveler Program might be for you. The TSA claims the participants "will experience a passenger screening process that is modified to afford greater customer service." The TSA states that frequent fliers that participate will still be required to pass through the metal detector, have their carry-on and checked luggage screened and will be subject to secondary screening by TSA if they trigger an alarm. Consistent with TSA policies, an element of randomness will also be integrated in Registered Traveler Program to ensure unpredictability and disrupt potential efforts by terrorists to thwart the system. Budget Rental Car Critics claim that the program won't be of any benefit to frequent fliers. We think that frequent travelers will grasp at anything to help them avoid the time consuming line-ups at airports.

"Registered traveler neither offers the benefits to frequent fliers nor the breadth of use that justify its introduction as a permanent program," said James C. May, president and chief executive of the powerful Air Transport Association.

The Registered Traveler Program and Frequent Fliers

From the TSA: The Registered Travel Program will be a voluntary market-driven initiative offered by the private sector with TSA oversight. Companies that enroll Registered Traveler participants will collect biometric and other information from applicants who choose to enroll in the program and the biographic information which will be vetted and analyzed by the TSA. TravelAsia

To facilitate the security threat assessment, frequent fliers who choose to participate provide basic biographic information and images of their fingerprints and iris biometrics. Since 2004, TSA has conducted several successful pilots of the Registered Traveler concept and technologies at select airports around the country.

These tests provided important information about the performance of biometric technology in the airport environment. Most of these pilots concluded on September 2005. There is one pilot currently underway in partnership with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) in Orlando, Fla. as part of a public/private partnership.