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Forum Thread
TSA Pre-check walk-in - no appointment
February 23, 2014 at
12:36 PM
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Travel & Vacations
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Thread Details
Last Edited by duhmel February 23, 2014 at 04:50 PM
Most of you probable know about the TSA Pre-Check program wher for a fee of $85, you get to ge through the Pre-Check line (no taking off shoes or taking off jacket, etc) at the airport for 5 years.
http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/a...on-program
Enrollment in this program requires you to do a face-to-face interview at centers across the country. When I tried to schedule an interview in the Los Angeles area I always found that I had to wait for over a month for a scheduled appointment. Finally I just bit the bullet and went to a center to do the interview on a stand-by basis. I went in at 9:00 in the morning to Signasl Hill and surprise, had to wait less than 5 minutes. The interviewer told me that 15 minutes was the norm for walk-ins early in the morning - much better than waiting nearly a month for a scheduled appointment.
You should do the online application which substantially shortens the 'interview'. It took less than 10 minutes at the site. The website lists the info that you need - for most people it is a passport and driver's license.
http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/a...on-program
Enrollment in this program requires you to do a face-to-face interview at centers across the country. When I tried to schedule an interview in the Los Angeles area I always found that I had to wait for over a month for a scheduled appointment. Finally I just bit the bullet and went to a center to do the interview on a stand-by basis. I went in at 9:00 in the morning to Signasl Hill and surprise, had to wait less than 5 minutes. The interviewer told me that 15 minutes was the norm for walk-ins early in the morning - much better than waiting nearly a month for a scheduled appointment.
You should do the online application which substantially shortens the 'interview'. It took less than 10 minutes at the site. The website lists the info that you need - for most people it is a passport and driver's license.
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You don' t have what this thread describes...
At some airports everyone has a chance of getting pre-check on their boarding pass.
See here:
http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/l...a-precheck
Basically enrolling in the program described means you're virtually assured of getting it every time you fly at nearly any US airport.
If you're a regular frequent flyer and your airline you have that status with has invited you, than you have a modest chance each time you fly.
If you're none of the above then you have a small, but non-zero, chance of getting it when your boarding pass prints out.... but as the page notes-
So basically paying for the program is useful if you fly often enough that virtually insuring the faster security experience every time is worth the cost....
(Global Traveler, another such program that costs money, is even better in that you get to skip the customs lines when re-entering the US from international travel and just use a special kiosk- which can save you a LOT of time)
We're planning another trip this summer,it will be interesting to see if it happens again. According to that chart I should be on the "slim to none" side.
I can certainly see how it would be a nice benefit to frequent travelers.
A. Individuals who already have a KTN, including U.S. citizens who are members of Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI and Canadian citizen members of NEXUS, need not enroll in the TSA Pre✓™ application program.
We're planning another trip this summer,it will be interesting to see if it happens again. According to that chart I should be on the "slim to none" side.
I can certainly see how it would be a nice benefit to frequent travelers.
It's a bit of a mystery to me and at the very least I'm curious what kind of information the TSA has on file for me.
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It's a bit of a mystery to me and at the very least I'm curious what kind of information the TSA has on file for me.
This was at Nashville International, there was no one in the pre-check line. The regular lines moved fast, but the pre-check would have been faster. It wasn't an advantage to me since I needed to stay with the rest of my party anyway.
Military (in uniform) automatically get to go through pre-check at BNA.