I don’t often purchase full-fare first class tickets, and at the beginning of the year I switched loyalty programs from American to Delta after merging with US Airways caused AA’s service to plummet (hey, who could have predicted that merger would hurt consumers?!). So I’ve never had access to AA’s Flagship First program before, which entitles guests to ultra-premium lounge access, including no-charge “fine dining,” and a special airport entrance, for those flying in first class direct between JFK and either LAX or SFO. But, I had some AA miles to burn and booked the flight for today.

You’ll imagine my surprise when I walked through the VIP entrance and was immediately placed in the PreCheck queue.

TSA PreCheck is designed to allow people to submit to a background check and thereafter skip the most invasive of the security the TSA imposes upon us — including the nude body scanners and full-body pat-down. The idea is that passengers can be pre-screened to ensure that they are less of a security risk and thus it becomes unnecessary to use normal security practices.

The wisdom of PreCheck not withstanding (it relies on the premise that the government can predict who is a terrorist and who is not, a premise that I’m not sure is founded), the program is entirely undercut if one can get PreCheck benefits by splurging about $1K (or 50,000 AAdvantage miles, in my case) on a premium ticket. American Airlines and the TSA are literally allowing flyers to buy their way out of security procedures.

In the meantime, your 80-year-old grandmother is still getting rubbed down for weapons and your 2-year-old’s baby bottle is still being tested for explosive residue.

Anything for our profits safety, right?