Is TSA pre-check worth it?

[EACarlson]

Get a credit card that gives you global entry for free, this includes pre check.

Then go ahead and sign up for clear, completely worth never having to deal with a long line.

In the two years I've had Pre, having Clear would have saved me time exactly once. Every other time the time spent getting the clear kiosk to work would have taken longer than showing my ID to the checker. Not worth the $180/ year. Maybe if you flew out every monday morning and flew home every friday afternoon it would make sense.

 

[LYSE]

In the two years I've had Pre, having Clear would have saved me time exactly once. Every other time the time spent getting the clear kiosk to work would have taken longer than showing my ID to the checker. Not worth the $180/ year. Maybe if you flew out every monday morning and flew home every friday afternoon it would make sense.

I agree it can depend, out of phx I think it only saved us 2 minutes once..on average it was just nice not needing ID.

At MCO it saved us a few minutes every time and a couple of times a significant amount of time...in Atlanta it was just a life saver

For us it's worth knowing that if it's available we won't be in a long line, not having that line be a factor is completely worth it, especially when you just move slow in general with a kid in tow.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Flying out of MCO today, regular security line was an hour, TSA Pre took us less than five minutes. Once again, so worth it.

 

[happymommy]

I just renewed all of ours for another five years. Totally worth it IMHO. I despised having to remove my shoes going through security, and almost 100% of the time it is a much shorter line.

 

[_19disnA]

It used to happen more often, but over the last couple of years has been very rare.

My guess is they used to randomly assign pre-check to those not paying for it partly to help create awareness about this service and likely to funnel at least some travelers through those lines. No sense having those lines setup when there is no one to use it. As more pay to have it , my assumption is it will be handed out for free less often. I would sometimes get randomly assigned pre-check when I hadn't paid for it in the past. Who gets randomly assigned they won't publically discuss for obvious reasons.

Signed up for pre-check and certainly a time saver at the airport. Regular security lines can be so unpredictable and almost always longer then you were expecting. If you have no plans for international travel, don't see the added cost of those other options worth it.

 

[The Mayor]

I signed up online last Friday, had my interview Monday and got an email with my KTN yesterday. They had an interview office set up in a Staples 5 minutes from my house. I was in and out in 10 minutes.

 

[wxinms1]

Thank you both, appreciate it!

Just concurring with the 6 month expiration reminder. Mine came exactly 6 months ahead, expires 10/27 and I got the email on 4/27.

 

[Miffy]

Totally worth it.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

ABSOLUTELY, if the airports you frequent are busy
I fly out of Milwaukee ( MKE) not too bad.
I travel most to Orlando and Phoenix, both of those airports are BUSY!!

I will be investing in PRE BOARD soon!

 

[Chris Ehlers]

We love it. I got it initially because it was free with a travel perks credit card. But, once I had it, we invested for the rest of the family. I swear I'd do it just so I don't have to take off my stupid shoes. Part of my ritual before pre-check was planning out what shoes to wear to fly so it would be easier going through security. Pre-pandemic days we used to fly 2-3 times a year so the cost per use made it a no-brainer for us.

Ive Had Global Entry since 2008 pilot program and will always have it. I also have the Canadian Nexus card for travel into Canada with out customs. My Amex pays me back for both. When we come back on Disney Cruises we have never had to clear customs they just direct us around the line and we are good to go

 

[Pooh2]

I have mobility issues and not having to deal with shoes alone is well worth it for me!

 

[EACarlson]

ABSOLUTELY, if the airports you frequent are busy
I fly out of Milwaukee ( MKE) not too bad.
I travel most to Orlando and Phoenix, both of those airports are BUSY!!

I will be investing in PRE BOARD soon!

Even at a relatively small airport like MKE, not having to take your shoes off and things out of your bag is worth it. It's a good trip if I don't even have to stop at the recombobulation area.

 

[Neener16]

This thread convinced me to apply for TSA Precheck. Had an appointment along with my daughters today, and less than 45 minutes before the scheduled time, they cancelled all appointments. I'm not quite sure what the issue was, but we are going to try again on Tuesday. Have a trip planned for July so it would be nice to have it by then.

 

[mickey+minnie91]

Should I be concerned that we had our appointment on Friday and my hubby already as a number assigned and I dont? Mine says this:

 

[mickey+minnie91]

Should I be concerned that we had our appointment on Friday and my hubby already as a number assigned and I dont? Mine says this:
View attachment 575549

nevermind! I got my number now. We did it friday at 4 pm and now both of us have our numbers on Sunday about 4pm

 

[Akck]

nevermind! I got my number now. We did it friday at 4 pm and now both of us have our numbers on Sunday about 4pm

Don't forget to add the numbers to your airline profiles. We didn’t get Pre-check on our first flight after getting it. I think it was because we booked the flight before signing up. The baggage check attendant fixed it for us. No problems since.

 

[mickey+minnie91]

Don't forget to add the numbers to your airline profiles. We didn’t get Pre-check on our first flight after getting it. I think it was because we booked the flight before signing up. The baggage check attendant fixed it for us. No problems since.

I did add to our southwest profiles. In case they dont show up on our boarding pass, thanks for the tip to go to the counter to speak to them!

 

[EACarlson]

I did add to our southwest profiles. In case they dont show up on our boarding pass, thanks for the tip to go to the counter to speak to them!

If you have any trips planned on Southwest now you need to go into each flight and add the number. Putting your number in your profile will populate for new bookings but won't get put into bookings you've already made.

 

[mom2rb]

Go here, and click on Lookup KTN.

The website also says they will send a reminder email 6 months before expiration. Mine expires in December, so I should be getting an email next month.

My boys and I have it and we did not get a letter. I got an automated phone call two days ago saying that mine would expire in 10 days. I renewed the 3 of us yesterday online. We were re-approved within hours. One son got a call yesterday and the other hasn’t gotten one yet.

 

[The Mayor]

If you have any trips planned on Southwest now you need to go into each flight and add the number. Putting your number in your profile will populate for new bookings but won't get put into bookings you've already made.

Same with Jet Blue. I added ours to our profile but had to go into each booked flight to add them.