Building on its partnership with German carrier Lufthansa, which in September 2016 became the first European airline to offer PreCheck, the Transportation Security Administration is adding more foreign carriers to the list. The popular service lets members—who pay $85 for five years, or $17 per year—breeze through security at more than 180 U.S. airports without having to remove shoes, belts, light jackets, or laptops.
The Thursday morning announcement adds 11 airlines, including some well-known international lines like Emirates, Avianca, and Virgin Atlantic—the first U.K. carrier to join TSA PreCheck—along with budget-line Spirit and two smaller carriers serving Florida and the Caribbean, Aruba Airlines and Miami Air International. The other new partners are Boutique Airlines, a small, San Francisco-based regional line; Southern Airways Express, which operates a fleet of commuter planes in the South and Mid-Atlantic states; Sunwing, a low-cost Canadian carrier; Key Lime Air, a Colorado charter line that flies to Wyoming under the name Denver Air Connection, and Xtra Airways, a Florida based charter company.
Until recently, Etihad Airways had been the only foreign airline to offer this perk to passengers. Other large international airlines are no doubt interested in joining the PreCheck club, but as TSA has explained, the process is far from simple: airlines must meet all TSA security requirements and upgrade reservations systems to sync with the U.S. government’s Secure Flight prescreening system. It remains to be seen whether other heavyweights like British Airways and Japan Airlines will get in the game. Now, however, most airlines in North America are; the list of TSA PreCheck participants includes Aeromexico, Air Canada, Alaska, Allegiant, American, Cape Air, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, OneJet, Seaborne, Southwest, Sun Country, United, Virgin America, and WestJet. (The total number of airlines participating in TSA PreCheck is 30.)
Curious as to what other benefits TSA PreCheck offers—and how you can enroll? Here's everything you need to know.