On the day I was supposed to fly back to Los Angeles from Atlanta, I received an unpleasant phone call in the wee hours of the morning. In a sleepy haze, I heard an airline agent explain that my flight had been canceled and if I wanted to make it home, i had to be at the airport in 90 minutes to get rebooked on another flight.  Only partially packed and only 45% awake I went into “scramble mode”.  I woke my ride to the airport, threw last minute things in a bag in the dark because everyone else was still asleep, donned my last clean outfit and ran for the car.  For a woman who usually takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get out the door in the morning, I was a model of efficiency.  Thankfully I only had carry on luggage and there barely any traffic on the freeway…I was going to make my flight!!!….until I didn’t. Where did I go wrong? The security check line.  They get you every time.

How many times has this happened to you? You check in online, skip the queues waiting to talk to an agent and print your boarding pass at a bank of empty kiosks.  You’re sailing through the process and you start to fantasize about strolling to your gate after having a leisurely $8.00 cup of Starbucks coffee (that would only cost $4.25 if you were anywhere but the airport) and perusing the magazine racks for the perfect inflight reading selection. Suddenly you come around the corner and you stop dead in your tracks as you take in the 5-mile long snaking line of people inching along as if they were in a funeral procession.  Not only will you not be able to get your cup of overpriced coffee, but now you have to start stretching out for the dead sprint you’ll have to do if you have any chance of making it to your gate in time.

…and you’re gate closes in 10 minutes.

Well, that’s pretty much what happened to me that morning.  There were two major things standing between me and my gate:

1.  My inherent shyness and
2.  My lack of TSA Precheck privileges

If I was more demanding, I would have started asking people to let me go ahead of them because my gate closing time was fast approaching.  Instead I just kept looking at my iphone clock and willing people to not have laptops to take out or complicated shoes to undo.  I did ask one of the security guards policing the line if he thought I would make it to my gate. He assured me I’d be fine…he was wrong.

But, if I had the elusive TSA Precheck privileges  I could have made my flight which in actuality pushed back from the gate just as I was shoving my 3 oz bottles of liquids back into my bag.  TSA Precheck is like a frequent flyer’s VIP handling service.  No long lines, no need to strip down or haul out your electronic devices. I’ve even heard you can take liquids with you…OVER 3 ozs.  Gasp! Amazing.  But as I said, this privilege is also elusive.  This is not a program you can sign up for on your own.  Like the best parties in high school, you’re either invited or your not.

I think I WILL keep my shoes on, thank you very much.

After reading up on it a bit, it sounds like airlines decide which of their regular flyers will be bestowed this status then you find out at the airport if you can waltz through security without a care in the world or if you have to slum it with the rest of the commoners.  I haven’t been flying enough on the same airline this year to even get on the radar, but I plan to change that in the near future (you hear me, United Airlines???).  Unfortunately, TSA is only for domestic travel, but that’s still worth it if you can get it.

 It can be a bit complicated because even if you get to use the TSA Precheck line on one flight, it does not mean you’ll always be invited to use it.  According to the TSA Precheck website, if you are selected, it will be updated in the barcode of your ticket and you’ll be told at a designated check point if you can go through the expedited line or not.  Since it isn’t guaranteed, its a little chancy, but I have to imagine that once you start getting access to TSA Precheck, you’re liable to stay on that magical list.

Or there’s always the Global Entry program that I’m thinking of applying for and will probably blog about in the near future…that little gem whisks you through customs for international flights AND gets you on the TSA precheck list domestically.  Definitely the difference between boarding your flight to get home at a decent hour and staring at a stand-by list for hours while blowing all of your vacation money on $8.00 cups of airport coffee.

Happy Travels all!