**TSA Gold+ Goes Live – Critics Call It “The 2024 Vision of the First-Class Deck”**

TSA Gold+ Goes Live – Critics Call It “The 2024 Vision of the First-Class Deck”

In a move that has aviation history buffs reaching for their white gloves, the TSA quietly rolled out its new TSA Gold+ tier today, offering expedited screening for passengers paying a $199 annual fee. The video of the first Gold+ lane—complete with velvet ropes and a dedicated “concierge pat-down” —has already been compared by historians not to Clear or PreCheck, but to the Titanic’s First-Class boarding gangway.

“It’s a perfect replay of the 1912 Olympic-class social divide,” tweeted Dr. Lena Hargrove, a maritime historian at the Smithsonian. “The steerage passengers (standard screening) wait in the same security shed, while the well-heeled step past them onto a narrow, privileged gangplank. The only thing missing is a White Star Line emblem on the dogs.”

The comparison went viral after a passenger—not a gold member—snapped a photo of the new lane with the caption: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does check your bags.”

Meanwhile, a separate group of Redditors pointed out a more ancient parallel: the Roman cursus publicus, where elite couriers had dedicated relay stations. “Same concept, just fewer chariots and more plastic bins,” wrote u/SPQR_Traveler.

The TSA declined to comment on the historical comparisons, but a spokesperson did note that, unlike steerage, “our Gold+ members still have to remove their shoes.”