TSA Precheck for tweens/teens?

[wendibird22]

DDs are 14 (will turn 15 this summer) and 12. No flights planned in the near future but also don't want to be scrambling. DH and I both have TSA precheck. When we traveled June 2021 we didn't realize until we were driving to the airport that technically, the TSA precheck benefit for kids cuts off at age 12 (DD1 was 13 at the time) but the TSA precheck was on both of their board passes, so it worked out. At the time, I kinda panicked and starting reading up on the TSA site and I swear it said that 13 and up must have their own TSA precheck status. After that trip I looked into what documentation I'd need to get DD1 precheck status and got overwhelmed thinking about having to get her either a non-driver's ID or a passport in order for her to have qualified photo ID. So I put it off. Well, I have a few upcoming days off from work that the kids have off from school so I figured I might as well dive back into this and suck it up and get both DDs some form of government ID. Today I was on the TSA site and the FAQs say that kids aged 13-17 can use parental TSA status so long as it's indicated on their boarding pass and that they may be randomly excluded and need to go through the regular line. I swear this has to be an update/change because I wouldn't have panicked on the way to the airport last year.

So, do I bother with the cost of purchasing government ID AND TSA precheck or just take my chances that they'll continue to get precheck status when they travel with us?

I don't *think* we will fly this year but who knows. I think we will definitely take a trip requiring a flight next spring. DD2 will be 13 by then, but DD1 will be just months shy of turning 16 and getting a learner permit. Seems a waste to pay money for a government ID a few months before paying to get a permit. I don't anticipate any international travel and so passport doesn't seem necessary. We live in NY close to the Canadian border and get the enhanced driver's license that allows border crossing.

[Liziz]

DDs are 14 (will turn 15 this summer) and 12. No flights planned in the near future but also don't want to be scrambling. DH and I both have TSA precheck. When we traveled June 2021 we didn't realize until we were driving to the airport that technically, the TSA precheck benefit for kids cuts off at age 12 (DD1 was 13 at the time) but the TSA precheck was on both of their board passes, so it worked out. At the time, I kinda panicked and starting reading up on the TSA site and I swear it said that 13 and up must have their own TSA precheck status. After that trip I looked into what documentation I'd need to get DD1 precheck status and got overwhelmed thinking about having to get her either a non-driver's ID or a passport in order for her to have qualified photo ID. So I put it off. Well, I have a few upcoming days off from work that the kids have off from school so I figured I might as well dive back into this and suck it up and get both DDs some form of government ID. Today I was on the TSA site and the FAQs say that kids aged 13-17 can use parental TSA status so long as it's indicated on their boarding pass and that they may be randomly excluded and need to go through the regular line. I swear this has to be an update/change because I wouldn't have panicked on the way to the airport last year.

So, do I bother with the cost of purchasing government ID AND TSA precheck or just take my chances that they'll continue to get precheck status when they travel with us?

I don't *think* we will fly this year but who knows. I think we will definitely take a trip requiring a flight next spring. DD2 will be 13 by then, but DD1 will be just months shy of turning 16 and getting a learner permit. Seems a waste to pay money for a government ID a few months before paying to get a permit. I don't anticipate any international travel and so passport doesn't seem necessary. We live in NY close to the Canadian border and get the enhanced driver's license that allows border crossing.

If it's important to you that your whole family can go precheck, get it for your kids. One of the huge advantages of precheck is that you get through security faster so you don't need to give yourself quite as much time at the airport. If you're going to attempt to use the rule that says kids aged 13-17 can use parental TSA status, you'll still need to give yourself a "non-precheck" amount of time for security, or more, since they say that they can randomly exclude and send you through the normal line.

That being said, if you have no upcoming travel and don't travel routinely with kids, I wouldn't bother. I don't put that high a priority on precheck. My DH has precheck, but I do not. When we travel together, he takes the kids with him in the precheck line, and I go through the normal line. He is always a little bummed out how close together we usually pop out on the other side! I of course realize this is somewhat airport and time of day dependent - we are often at smaller airports where lines aren't as bad overall. But even if it was a bigger airport, I personally wouldn't be willing to pay for it unless we did a lot of flying. For me, the time I spend dealing with all the paperwork, getting documents, and paying for documents would have to be less than the time I'd spend going to the airport earlier. Unless there were lots of planned trips, it'd probably fall on the side of not worth it for me.

[AnnieW625]

This is new…..very new. DD1 did not get TSA Pre on our last trip back from Sacramento on 1/2 and she is 15 and was fine going through TSA by herself, and back in early 2020 pre pandemic when she was 13 and flew with my parents once and me once she didn’t get it either. We mainly fly out of small to
medium sized airports where security is pretty easy so it has pretty much been a non issue; although at times Sacramento’s lines get a little long (compared to Ontario, CA where there is never ever a line; Long Beach always has a line too, but it was never enough to make me want TSA Pre before I needed Global Entry in 2019).

Last summer when we flew out of LAX I was very happy that DD1 lucked out and got assigned TSA Pre on her boarding passes (my understanding is that it is random….but even before I had TSA Pre I never got it, but my parents or sister always got it before they had TSA Pre) because the general security line at LAX was insane. If she didn’t have it I would’ve stayed with her in the line because it was soo long. I am an avid and experienced flyer and I hadn’t seen anything like it since leaving Maui in 2003.

My advice prior to reading this is that if you fly out of large city airports (like LAX, Chicago, Newark, NY, Boston, SFO, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, DFW, or Denver) then make sure your kid has TSA Pre because it will make your life so much easier not having to accompany minors w/out TSA pre through a standard line, but if this new rule applies I would hope that it is enforced and probably won’t go through the hassle of getting TSA Pre for my kids. I would still do Global Entry though if you plan on flying internationally. That is a breeze even at LAX.

Here is the official info from TSA and maybe it is still random. :

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequentl...ty%20screening.


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[mmsmom]

My understanding is that they have always needed their own starting at age 13. They can sometimes automatically get it especially if they are traveling with someone that has it but it is not a guarantee. My kids have their own but they also have passports so it was easy to get. We did fly right after DS turned 13 and he almost got pulled to go through regular line but thankfully they let him through bc we had a tight connection. DD just turned 13 so she just went a few weeks ago. In our area they have kiosks at Staples and you can make an appt online. It takes a few days after getting fingerprinted to get your approval and number.

[pharmjenn]

Definitely a new change. We flew over Christmas and I made sure DS got his Precheck completed by November as he turned 14yo in December. Interestingly, I have it and my boarding pass did not have the designation. No one at either the airline nor TSA could identify why or how to fix it, so I went through the regular line and DS and DH went through precheck.
Now DS will be flying with alone in July to visit his cousins and he is sure he will be able to handle everything himself. Having precheck where I can watch him get through makes me more comfortable. I know I can request to accompany him to the gate but we are going to let him try.

[marinkitty]

That's definitely new! Before we got Global Entry for our three kids the older ones sometimes had to do the regular line even though DH and I always had pre-check due to having Global Entry ourselves. It is so much nicer not having to split up or stress about an extra long line. We do travel very frequently though, including internationally, and our home airport is O'Hare where even the TSA line can sometimes be fairly long but the regular line can be nightmarish on busy days, so for our it was a no brainner.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

wow -this is interesting. DH and i were just talking how we should get DS (newly 12) his own TSA pre-check, because it seemed like they only got it under the parents when they were under 12. i agree it must be a new thing if they are allowing this up to age 17! bc i swear everywhere i read said 12 and under.

both dh and i have pre-check and it's so useful and now that we have it, hard to go back.

[SnuggleBuggles]

It pained me yesterday to pay the $100 for global entry for ds2. I thought he might be young enough not to need it. In for a penny, in for a pound. We got his passport "just in case" back in 2020. Of course, mostly because I misunderstood and though he needed one to go to Canada. Oh well, I'm glad he has one now!

[ged]

after one "mercy" pass a few years back, i made sure we all had our own pre-check. we actually have global entry.

[scrooks]

Ugh! I didnt realize this. We don't have time to get if for DD (14) before spring break! Edited to add: EEK! She has no photo id! it looks like you need one?