PreCheck Now Available When Flying 19 Airlines

It’s been a long time in coming, but PreCheck, the TSA’s trusted-traveler program, is now available to passengers flying on Frontiers Airlines.

PreCheck-enrolled travelers may access expedited screening lanes in more than 180 U.S. airports, with no need to their remove shoes, laptops, liquids, belts and light jackets. According to the TSA, 97 percent of PreCheck passengers cleared security in 5 minutes or less during August.

Effective this week, Frontier passengers’ PreCheck status will be printed on boarding passes printed at home or at the airport and mobile boarding passes.

The application fee for PreCheck is $85. Once approved, status remains in effect for five years.

With the addition of Frontier, 19 carriers now participate in PreCheck: Aeromexico, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant, American, Cape Air, Delta, Etihad Airways, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Lufthansa, OneJet, Seaborne, Southwest, Sun Country, United, Virgin America, and WestJet. Notably absent from that list is Spirit, which has promised to establish the missing link between its software and the TSA’s, enabling participation some time this fall.

The endless security lines of earlier this summer have mostly disappeared, as a result of beefed-up TSA staffing and revised screening policies and procedures. Even with more modest time savings, however, the no-hassle screening that PreCheck passengers receive makes the service a worthwhile expenditure for even infrequent flyers.

Reader Reality Check

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.