TSA Precheck Program

Hello friends! 

Every time my family takes a trip and we're flying, my Dad always gets to cut ahead in line, or jump to a shorter line because he is a part of the TSA Precheck Program. Over the summer we were flying home from Las Vegas, and I remember being so jealous/angry at my Dad because he was done going through security wayyy before the rest of us. So, for this post, I decided to do some research and see what it takes to be a part of this Precheck Program. 

First off, TSA stands for The Transportation Security Administration. It's an agency of the U.S. department of Homeland Security, and it has authority over the security of the traveling public in the United States.

Created in 2011, TSA's Precheck Program allows selected members of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin America, Southwest Airlines, Air Canada, JetBlue Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, members of Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI, and active duty members of the US military to receive expedited security screening for domestic and select international flights. This is currently available at over 150 airports. 

To apply for this program, you must be a US citizen or permanent resident. You must complete the online application, and make an appointment at a TSA center to have your fingerprints taken and to show proper identification (birth certificates and license, or passport). Then you pay a non-refundable $85 fee, and then you wait to be approved! You will be denied if you have any federal offenses, have provided false or fraudulent documents, make a bomb threat, brought a firearm, explosive or other prohibited items to an airport. 

The program has received some backlash though, because it's led to lots of complaints and grumbling about unfairness and longer wait lines for everyone else (I'm definitely part of this group of complainers!). 

Check it all out at this link:

https://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/apply