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Are airport security fast lanes worth your money?

 
The Transportation Security Administration has an ambitious goal of enrolling 25 percent of all passengers in its popular PreCheck initiative by the end of 2013. (Chi Birmingham/The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH STORY SLUGGED BIZ TRAVEL ROAD BY JOE SHARKEY. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED.
The Transportation Security Administration has an ambitious goal of enrolling 25 percent of all passengers in its popular PreCheck initiative by the end of 2013. (Chi Birmingham/The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH STORY SLUGGED BIZ TRAVEL ROAD BY JOE SHARKEY. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED.
Published Sept. 20, 2014

Convenience versus cash. We pay for all sorts of services to avoid hassle and stress. Should paying for TSA Precheck to speed through airport security screening be one of them?

There are things to know before you decide. For example, you might not want to apply for Precheck itself but instead Global Entry, which gets you all the benefits of Precheck in addition to expedited re-entry through customs for little extra cost.

The basic bargain with Precheck is that you give the government information about yourself, submit to a background check and get preapproved as a low-risk traveler. It issues you a "known traveler number" that you use on your reservation and in your frequent-flier accounts. You're then very likely to get Precheck status for the vast majority of your flights, with a Precheck indicator printed on your boarding pass.

That means you can go through Precheck airport security lanes with lighter screening: no taking off shoes or belt, no removing your laptop from its case, no taking out your liquids and gels from your carry-on.

And most of the time, it means a significantly quicker line. The Transportation Security Administration's goal is less than five minutes.

Here are questions and answers to help you decide whether Precheck is worth the money and effort.

What does it cost? A Precheck application costs $85 for five years. That's $17 per year or $1.42 per month. More practically, over five years Precheck might mean the difference once or twice between catching a flight and enduring the stress of missing one.

What is Global Entry? Global Entry has a $100 application fee instead of $85, also for five years. But it includes expedited screening during international travel. On the way back into the U.S., you can use a kiosk that should be far faster than traditional customs inspection lines.

One key difference is that you need a passport to apply for Global Entry.

Note that application fees for both programs are nonrefundable, even if you are denied enrollment.

Is enrolling a hassle? Probably, especially for Global Entry. You need to apply and pay online, and schedule an in-person appointment, bringing an ID and submitting to fingerprinting. There are more than 300 more interview locations for Precheck than for Global Entry, which mostly has locations at international airports.

Apply online for Precheck at tinyurl.com/precheckapp. Apply for Global Entry at tinyurl.com/globaleapp.

Any downside to the fast lane? A practical drawback of Precheck can be the people you're traveling with. If they don't have Precheck and you're traveling together, you might find yourself waiting on the other side for your family or friends.

Can my children accompany me in the Precheck lane? Yes, children 12 and younger.

Do all airlines and airports offer Precheck? No, but all the major airlines and airports do. For lists of 11 airlines and 118 airports, go to tsa.gov/tsa-precheck.

Precheck or Global Entry? For anybody who lives near one of the Global Entry interview centers and already has a passport, it makes sense to pay $100 for Global Entry instead of $85 for Precheck.

Can I pay less? You can pay $50 to get Global Entry, and thus Precheck, through another trusted-traveler program, NEXUS, for Canada border crossing. But the interview will be at one of the northern border-crossing facilities. So applying only makes sense if you live near a northern border or will be traveling through and can coordinate the interview time with your travel plans. SENTRI, a border-crossing program for Mexico, gets the same benefit but costs the most, a total of $122.25 for five years.

To compare the programs: dhs.gov/comparison-chart.

Can I get free Global Entry? Maybe. You might get the Precheck and Global Entry fee reimbursed if you have one of the pricier credit cards and charge the fee to it. Examples are the American Express Platinum and Citi Prestige cards. If you have elite status with an airline, you might get reimbursed.

Is privacy a concern? A huge drawback for some will be supplying personal information to the government. And part of the application requires fingerprinting. That's a philosophical decision for consumers, not a monetary one.

Anything else? You must log in to your frequent-flier accounts and enter your number into your profile, so the next time your buy a ticket your boarding pass will be labeled with Precheck and you can use the expedited security lanes. (If you don't have a frequent-flier account, enter it into your individual reservation.)