Airline passengers cringe at even the thought of going through airport security.
Long lines -- even longer during peak travel periods. Having to show up at the airport two hours early because of the long lines. Risking missing your flight because of the long lines. Having to separately quart-size-bag your travel-size shampoos and other liquids. Completely emptying your pockets into a bucket.
Having to extract every piece of your electronic equipment from your carry-on bag. Having to remove your belt and shoes (thanks, guy whose shoe-bomb -- thank goodness -- failed to go off) before passing through the metal detectors. Trying to reassemble your luggage and shove your belt back through those little loops as irritated passengers back up behind you.
But that very same agency that travelers revile has come up with a bypass, of sorts, for domestic travel. Passengers can sign up for TSA PreCheck, which, for a relatively small number of American dollars, can ease your travail.
You can't skip the lines altogether, but you'll get into a much shorter one at the checkpoint. And you can keep your shoes, belt and light jacket on and your liquids and laptops in.
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The TSA reports that in May, 92 percent of PreCheck passengers flying one of the more than 50 airlines that provide PreCheck waited less than five minutes in line at the more than 200 airports where the program is in place.
The more people enrolled in PreCheck, the shorter the lines at the security checkpoints, say airport and TSA officials, and TSA agents can concentrate less on "known" travelers and more on everybody else.
"When we have more travelers that we know more about, we can spend additional time on those travelers about whom we know less," says TSA regional spokesman Sari Koshetz. "It lets us focus on those that are not known travelers, and therefore it makes everybody more safe."
MILLIONS SIGN UP
The TSA PreCheck program started in 2011, initially bringing on board travelers who were already in airline frequent-flier programs or who were already enrolled in one of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's international known traveler programs -- Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS. The actual PreCheck program started in the fall of 2013.
The TSA has since signed up approximately 6.59 million Americans, a little more than 1.7 million at airports and more than 4.5 million at off-airport sites, says Koshetz, whose region covers Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. "Approximately 12,000 travelers have enjoyed the convenience of enrolling right there at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport."
A five-year membership costs $85 -- that's only $17 per year. Even if you only travel round-trip by air once a year, that comes to only $8.50 per each half of a trip. Most travelers would agree that's well worth the minimal effort it takes to join.
Passengers are encouraged, though they need not, complete their initial registration online (tsa.gov/PreCheck); whether they do it that way or at an enrollment facility, it takes about five minutes. You must show up in person at an enrollment center -- most of them are at airports -- for a further 10-minute evaluation process that includes taking fingerprints (electronically) and initiating a background check. (So, plan on adding in the couple of bucks it costs to park at the airport.)
There are four TSA PreCheck Enrollment Centers in Arkansas. The one in the badging office at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, 1 Airport Drive, Little Rock, was the first, opening in June 2015. You won't need a boarding pass. Take the elevator up to the third floor; it's the last office on the left. It's open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday; you can make an appointment, but you don't need one.
Koshetz notes that it's one of the only enrollment facilities staffed by airport employees. (Outside contractors staff all but one or two others.)
"The airport already had the office space, technology and personnel in place to badge their own employees and other airport stakeholders such as those of the airlines," she explains. Airport leadership "suggested we work out a strategy to engage the same personnel and technology to serve the public."
The day it opened in June 2015, 18 people enrolled, including Nikki Lovell of Little Rock. (The first hundred enrollees had their $85 fee waived.)
Quickly getting through airport security is a "huge deal when you are trying to get you and a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old through the line," she said after spending the few minutes filling out the paperwork.
"My husband usually gets prechecked because he flies a lot more than I do. When we fly together, he always gets to go through that line, and I'm waiting in the long line. I didn't know this was an option. So this is great."
The other Arkansas locations are all at places that offer fingerprinting services under contract:
• Security Training Institute of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Training Location, 1920 Main St., North Little Rock
• IdentoGo-PAR ONE Enterprises LLC, 1207 E. Main St., El Dorado
• IdentoGo Fingerprinting Services, 3155 N. College Ave., Fayetteville.
Within shouting distance of an Arkansas border, there are two enrollment centers in Memphis, one at the airport, the other downtown at 200 Jefferson Ave.; and in Greenville, Miss.; Sallisaw, Okla.; Springfield, Mo.; and Shreveport.
The background check takes anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to complete. If you pass, the TSA notifies you, first by email or phone, then in writing, and provides you with a "Known Traveler Number," which you plug into every airline reservation you make -- online; by phone with an airline reservation agent; or, if you're having a third-party travel management company like Expedia or Travelocity. You can also plug it into your frequent-flier profile. A "TSA PreCheck " notation appears on your boarding pass.
"You need to put your Known Traveler Number in each profile on each of the airline websites that you travel," Koshetz says. "If you book off of their direct websites in the future, that number will populate into your reservation. But if you go through a third party, your number won't automatically populate; you have to proactively put it into the reservation."
REWARDING GOOD BEHAVIOR
Sometimes the TSA will grant PreCheck status to fliers even if they haven't yet signed up, based on a prescreening program that's been around since 2009. Secure Flight matches passenger information against federal government watch lists.
"Every day a certain number of low-risk individuals who have been deemed to be no threat to the aviation system are identified for enjoying the advantages of PreCheck for that given flight on that given day," Koshetz explains.
"Before anybody can print a boarding pass, they've already been run through the Secure Flight program. If you're on the no-fly list, you simply don't fly. If you're on a certain watch list, you'll have encoded in your boarding pass that you'll have additional screening before you will be permitted to fly, and those individuals cannot print out a boarding pass at home -- they have to check in with the airline."
Note, please, that being a TSA PreCheck member doesn't exempt you from having to go through security -- just speeds and eases the process. And even that's not guaranteed.
"Please note that this determination of eligibility for the ... Program is within TSA's sole discretion and does not guarantee that you will always receive expedited airport security screening," according to the email confirming that the applicant has passed the background check.
"You are subject to recurrent checks against law enforcement, immigration and intelligence databases and TSA may disqualify you from the Program at any time." Disqualifiers include violating TSA security regulations, including "interfering with security operations, access control violations, providing false or fraudulent documents, making a bomb threat or bringing a firearm, explosive, or other prohibited item to unauthorized areas of an airport or on board an aircraft."
You may still have to undergo a pat-down or be asked to remove a belt with a buckle if it sets off the metal detector. "Even if you're in the program, you could still be subjected to additional screening because we always want to keep those who would do us harm on alert," Koshetz says primly.
And if you're carrying that loaded weapon, a box cutter, a ninja throwing star or any other prohibited-to-travel item in your carry-on bag, TSA agents will still confiscate it, and likely confiscate you.
Bring a loaded gun to the checkpoint, Koshetz notes dryly, and "besides facing up to more than a $13,000 fine from the TSA, in certain airports, including Little Rock, you will be arrested and you will lose your TSA PreCheck benefits for a certain period of time" -- at least six months.
"And if you do it for a second time, you will be removed from the program permanently. And you will not get a refund."
Travel on 06/24/2018