TSA Pre-Check With Kids 12 and Under

[TikiTikiFan]

I'm signing myself up for TSA pre-check this week- traveling over Thanksgiving week to Disneyland so trying to anticipate crowded airport madness. My son is 12 but he looks old for his age, he's very tall and mature. He could easily pass for 13 or 14. TSA says that kids 12 and under can join you in the pre-check line- do they ask for age confirmation for this? I'm more worried we'd be questioned since he looks older than he is. Anyone have any experience with this?

I should probably bite the bullet and just sign him up too but just wanted to ask what you all thought. It would be stressful to be stopped by TSA thinking I was trying to sneak an older kid in when he's 12 but looks older...

And on that note, how much do you feel TSA pre-check benefits your travel? I used Clear as a trial option this past summer and it didn't seem to make much of a difference because at the airports we used the Clear lines were a disorganized mess so it didn't save much time.

 

[RogueX]

My boss uses TSA precheck and has found it very inconsistent lately. The agents have been all over the board on taking off shoes, screening procedures and all that.

What was interesting was on my last trip to Florida, my daughter randomly got TSA precheck on her boarding pass. We got to security and they had her go through the regular line in Boston, just keep her shoes on in Boston. On the return flight, the precheck was on her boarding pass again and the agents demanded she go through that the precheck line, separating her from me. Fortunately at 13 she could deal with it.

 

[pigletliz]

Standing on line hoping the TSA agent won't ask is way too much stress before a flight. If you want him to use the service, you should probably just pay for it.

 

[ZellyB]

I'd probably just pay for him to have it. I mean, he'll need it soon anyway. If you opt not to, I'd probably bring a copy of his birth certificate just to alleviate my anxiety about it.

I've generally always had great luck with pre-check. We love it!

 

[TikiTikiFan]

What was interesting was on my last trip to Florida, my daughter randomly got TSA precheck on her boarding pass. We got to security and they had her go through the regular line in Boston, just keep her shoes on in Boston. On the return flight, the precheck was on her boarding pass again and the agents demanded she go through that the precheck line, separating her from me. Fortunately at 13 she could deal with it.

That's wild! I've always had the worst luck with TSA folks at the MCO airport, in my experience they're always so rude and mean. On our last trip my son forgot he had one Airpod in his ear and went to walk through and they came over and started screaming at him to put it in the bin and to pay attention and stop wasting their time, blah blah blah. He was so upset. There's just no reason to talk to people like garbage like that, especially kids.

He just turned 12 but I suppose it would be nice to have our renewal date be at the same time too! If it does help big time with the convenience factor then its definitely worth the cost. Thanks folks!

 

[LadyBeBop]

No way would I get pre-check for my 12-year old son. I think TSA will take your word for it regarding age. You could always bring his birth certificate if you're concerned.

Depending on where you live, it might be impossible to get pre-check for him. He'll need a valid state ID, and some states won't provide ID until you're older. I've heard of some trying to obtain pre-check for their 13 and 14-year olds, and can't, because their state don't offer IDs for kids that young.

 

[LRdismom]

I always have my kids' passports with me at the airport, so I always have proof of their age. My oldest just turned 13 and I signed her up for pre-check, but there's no way I would have paid for it before it was necessary.

 

[RogueX]

That's wild! I've always had the worst luck with TSA folks at the MCO airport, in my experience they're always so rude and mean. On our last trip my son forgot he had one Airpod in his ear and went to walk through and they came over and started screaming at him to put it in the bin and to pay attention and stop wasting their time, blah blah blah. He was so upset. There's just no reason to talk to people like garbage like that, especially kids.

He just turned 12 but I suppose it would be nice to have our renewal date be at the same time too! If it does help big time with the convenience factor then its definitely worth the cost. Thanks folks!

MCO agents have a really special place in Hades for some of their behavior. One agent was so rude, I asked for his name and he refused. He flipped me off when he saw me talking to a manager.

On the flipside, I wore a fuzzy sweater coming back from a meeting in Detroit and didn't realize it was all metallic fibers. The agent at the monitor laughed and told me my torso was all yellow. The woman who had to do a full upper body pat down was very apologetic. I kept everyone laughing with inappropriate jokes...

 

[Miffy]

I can't answer the questions you have about your son, but I can say that generally I've found Precheck to be extremely helpful, particularly at MCO, where the regular line can take 45 minutes and the Precheck line will take 5 minutes.

 

[reddog21]

I love pre-check, its money well spent in my opinon. In order to sign up for pre-check you need a gov't issued ID and it can't be a school id. Depending on the state you may not have an option. In MA you can't get an ID until your 14. My son was 13 on our last trip no one asked him his age either out of Logan or OIA.

 

[EACarlson]

My wife and I got Pre in 2019 knowing we were traveling to MCO Thanksgiving weekend. Just that trip saved us over three hours in the security line between MSP and MCO. Since then I've flown six segments, saved an average of 25 minutes, sometimes more. I won't be without it again.

 

[Gary2T]

DW and I got Pre a few years back. We travel with DS (now 9yo and 5'6") and DD (now 12yo and 5'7"). Each child gets booked on the same airline reservation as at least one of the adults with Pre. Their ages get entered as part of the booking process, and their boards passes have always had the Pre mark on them. We just enter the Pre line and show the agents the boarding passes for the children to the agent. Usually they ask them their name and age. Never been asked for proof of age. Never been denied Pre.

 

[Leigh L]

Pre-check = best money spent ever. Got it back in 2018 for the holidays at MCO and it's been worth every penny since, even at quieter airports. We fly fairly frequently, but I think if you fly at least once a year (especially if one of those airports is MCO lol), totally worth it. I've never tried Clear.

DD used to be routinely believed to be older than she was at the time when we went places, but we didn't get a pre-check for her until she was 13. No one questioned before that time. Also, since birthdays are entered when you book a flight, and I think the pre-check designation carries over on the boarding pass if the parent or accompanying adult has it? I can't remember for sure though?

Bringing a copy of the birth certificate is a good idea .

 

[tjmw2727]

He should be able to go through with you and if you book together on one confirmation his boarding pass should say TSA Pre along with yours. Alternately if that doesn't happen you can bring a birth certificate or passport to show tsa that he is eligible to go through with your membership.

However - if he has a passport and you plan to fly again over the next few years it might make sense to just buy his now along with the rest of the family. If you cost it out its only $17 extra and this way you don't have to make an appointment and take him next year.

 

[bumbershoot]

My son has been taller than me since he was 11, and his voice started changing early as well. (without any cracking; it was the easiest voice change I've known of, and I have 3 younger brothers)

He was never once denied it or heavily questioned. What's your name, how old are you (same questions going through the regular lines) and then they passed him through. Not even a little bit of an issue.

He and I got nexus once he turned 13.

the agents demanded she go through that the precheck line

That's bizarre.

 

[NotUrsula]

Folks, you can't buy PreCheck for a 12 yo; they don't offer it before age 13. There is no "child" option as there is with a passport. (You can get Global Entry for under-13's, though, if the parent has it as well.)

The standard for PreCheck is that if parents have it, kids 12 and under traveling with them also get it as a courtesy. This part is administered by the airlines: if you have your Trusted Traveler number entered on your airline FF account and your children's FF accounts show them with the same address, the system should automatically put the PreCheck status on their boarding passes. (You *must* have a FF account set up in order for PreCheck to work; that is where the airline stores your TT number.)

If the airport where you are traveling does not have a separate PreCheck line, or if the line is closed, then you do have to go through the regular line, but you should not be made to remove your shoes or jacket. The correct procedure in these cases is for the person at the podium who has checked your BP to give you a colored card that identifies you as having PreCheck status, so that his/her colleagues can see it as you go through the line. IME, however, that part with the card is hit or miss, and MCO is often a miss. It can get ridiculous sometimes, with TSO #1 telling you not to take off your shoes, and TSO #2 yelling at you to take them off, and TSO#3 asking, "Why did you take off your shoes? You didn't need to do that."

PS: My kids got PreCheck on their 13th birthdays. For them it will always be a birthday-expiration thing, like a driver's license.

 

[bumbershoot]

PS: My kids got PreCheck on their 13th birthdays. For them it will always be a birthday-expiration thing, like a driver's license.

When my son and I got nexus, they set the expiry date 5 years after our next birthdays. So both of us got more than 5 years. I've heard of this being "a thing" before, FWIW.

if you have your Trusted Traveler number entered on your airline FF account and your children's FF accounts show them with the same address, the system should automatically put the PreCheck status on their boarding passes.

Even when my son was not booked with his dad (we tended to book it dad, and me and son, because my then-husband traveled half the year for work and more than once had to meet up with us, or leave early, or fly elsewhere at the end) and didn't have precheck on his boarding pass he just went in the precheck line with his dad (who had GE), no problem at all. This was even at MCO, which was the biggest pain of an airport we all flew through.

 

[CarolynFH]

While we're talking about TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry with kids, I have a question about the other end of the lifespan. We'll be flying with my 96 year old dad soon. Both of us have Global Entry, therefore we have TSA Pre, but my dad doesn't. My dad's airline reservations are on the same reservation confirmation number as ours. Will he get TSA Pre too?

 

[NotUrsula]

While we're talking about TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry with kids, I have a question about the other end of the lifespan. We'll be flying with my 96 year old dad soon. Both of us have Global Entry, therefore we have TSA Pre, but my dad doesn't. My dad's airline reservations are on the same reservation confirmation number as ours. Will he get TSA Pre too?

Unfortunately, elderly are not automatic like kids are. I'd say it's more likely if his FF account shows him residing at the same address as the two of you. Also, if you have more friendly TSA folks, they might let him through, both as a courtesy to you, and as a way to keep the regular line moving.

 

[lorimt]

We flew on 3 different airlines this summer and our 14 year old was on the same reservations and his boarding pass always had pre check on it so we had no issues bringing him in the line with us.