Is TSA PreCheck changing? At a handful of airports, yes, and soon. TSA is rolling out a redesigned PreCheck lane that checks who you are with a quick face scan at an electronic gate, swaps the walk-through metal detector for a full body scanner and uses software to decide which bags an officer actually needs to look at. TSA Administrator David Cummins announced the new lanes on Oct. 6 and said they'd arrive at seven airports within about six weeks, which puts the first ones in place by mid-to-late November, just ahead of Thanksgiving. TSA's goal is to move roughly twice as many people through each lane, and if it works, the new setup could eventually become what PreCheck looks like everywhere.
What's Different in the New Lane
The biggest change happens before you even reach the bins. Instead of handing your ID and boarding pass to an officer, you'll walk up to an electronic gate that compares your face with your photo on file. If it matches, the gate opens and you keep moving. No digging for your license in a pocket you've already emptied.
Next, you'll walk through a body scanner, the kind most travelers know from the regular security line, rather than the metal detector PreCheck has used for years. That might sound like a step backward, but it's part of what TSA says lets it screen people faster without stopping them as often. Behind the scenes, new software scans the X-ray images of everyone's bags and flags only the ones that need a human to take a closer look. Officers spend less time staring at harmless laptop bags, and the line keeps moving.
Cummins also hinted that PreCheck travelers will eventually be allowed to bring a few extra things through the new lanes, but he didn't say what. For now, nothing changes about liquids, so the 3.4-ounce rule still applies.
Where You'll See It
TSA hasn't said which seven airports will get the new lanes first. That's the next piece of news to watch for, and we'll update this story when TSA names them. Each set of lanes reportedly costs about $4 million, so don't expect them at every airport anytime soon.
If you've flown recently, part of this may already feel familiar. TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, which also uses a face scan instead of an ID check, is already running at more than 60 US airports. To use it, you add your passport photo to your profile with a participating airline (American, Delta, United, Southwest and Alaska all take part), and it costs nothing extra for PreCheck members. The new lanes take that idea and build the whole checkpoint around it.
What If You Don't Want Your Face Scanned?
For now, you've still got a choice. Travelers who aren't comfortable with face scanning can keep using standard PreCheck lanes with a regular ID check. TSA hasn't explained yet how opting out will work at the airports getting the new lanes, so if it matters to you, ask an officer at the checkpoint before you walk up to the gate.
Why TSA Is Doing This
PreCheck has a crowding problem, and it's partly a victim of its own success. Roughly 50 million people now have it, and TSA wants to add about 20 million more over the next three years, according to Cummins. Anyone who's watched a PreCheck line snake past the regular one on a holiday morning knows the current setup is already struggling to keep up.
The new lanes are TSA's bet that technology, not more officers, is the fix. If the seven test airports really do double how many people each lane can handle, expect TSA to push it much further. And if you don't have PreCheck yet, the busiest travel stretch of the year is a good time to think about it, since one membership covers five years of shorter lines.
