The wealthy are cutting the line at the airport, Disney World and ski resorts

Cutting in front of someone who’s been waiting patiently in line used to be unethical, bad manners, taboo. Now, businesses are letting people pay for the privilege of skipping the line.

Cutting in front of someone who’s been waiting patiently in line used to be unethical, bad manners, taboo. Now, businesses are letting people pay for the privilege of skipping the line. Across everything from ski lifts to dating apps, and fueled by relatively new technology, there’s been an explosion of options and services that let wealthier people pay to go first. At the airport, travelers with a Clear membership — about $189 a year — are escorted to the front of TSA security lines by company “ambassadors” (as the people behind them in line grumble). Clear has rapidly grown to around 19 million members, and it plans to expand further into the hospitality, health care, financial services and online shopping industries. Dating app Tinder offers a new $499-a-month membership with a “skip the line” feature that prioritizes a dater’s profile. Snowbird and other ski resorts, in a controversial change, allow visitors who pay extra to access expedited ski lifts. In December, Killington introduced a “Four-Day Fast Track” for $199 on top of its daily regular fee of about $165, and it sometimes sells out. Universal Studios theme park offers an unlimited “Express Pass” starting at $109.99 per person — on top of the admission price — which allows holders to skip the line right on the spot. And, most troubling of all, during the pandemic, wealthy patients paid top dollar to jump to the front of the Covid-19 vaccine queue. This trend is accelerating because businesses recognize that lines — and how much people will pay to avoid them — are a way to make money. And they now have the technology to do so.