TSA PreCheck: Fewer free rides

TSA’s PreCheck enrollment center at Washington Dulles Airport. (Image: TSA)

For the past few years, paid-up members of the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program of expedited screenings have been grumbling about the agency’s practice of funneling some non-members into the fast lanes — making those lanes not so fast after all.

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Well, you can stop grumbling. A few months ago, TSA started scaling back on the number of regular passengers allowed into the PreCheck lanes, and now it has reportedly ended the practice altogether.

Now the only persons allowed into PreCheck are those who have paid the $85 fee and gone through a personal interview, as well as members of Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry ($100) and other trusted traveler programs — in other words, anyone who has been assigned a Known Traveler Number by the government.

It’s a good thing, too, because TSA said recently that the number of PreCheck members has passed the 1.5 million mark. PreCheck lanes are now available at more than 150 U.S. airports, allowing members to pass through the screening process without removing their shoes or belts, or to remove laptops from their carry-on bags.

TSA currently offers 330 PreCheck enrollment centers around the country, at airports and elsewhere, and it plans to expand that number to more than 400 as a result of a new partnership with MorphoTrust USA and H&R Block.

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Have you noticed a difference? Are the lines moving faster with fewer amateurs? Please leave your comments below.

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