TSA PreCheck is one of the most useful and recommended tools for U.S.-based travelers who qualify.
For $79.95 to $85, travelers can get PreCheck for five years. With it, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) promises benefits such as getting through security in 10 minutes or less, using hassle-free touchless options such as facial recognition, and allowing children 17 and under to join their parents or guardian in the PreCheck lane.
However, according to one woman who recently took a United Airlines flight, there is one important detail that not everyone may be aware of. She says she certainly wasn’t.
In a recent TikTok video with over 75,700 views, content creator Blake Healey (@blakehealey) warned her audience not to rely too much on the program.
“Did you guys know that when you have TSA PreCheck… you can still go to the airport and then get denied and not be guaranteed TSA PreCheck?” she asks.
She says that’s exactly what happened to her. After applying, getting accepted, and paying for it, Healey says a TSA agent told her she couldn’t use the PreCheck lane.
“I got to the counter, I had my ticket, it said TSA PreCheck,” Healey says. “And I get up there, she’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, you don’t have PreCheck’.”
Healey tried to explain that she did.
“I have PreCheck,” she recalls telling the agent. “It says it on my ticket.”
However, according to Healey, the agent couldn’t see the status on her ticket and told her to go back to the United counter.
Since her flight was already delayed by about an hour and a half, Healey says she had time to figure out what was going on. She went back to United, where an employee checked her status.
“She was like, “Yeah, I see that you have TSA PreCheck on my computer,” Healey says.
The United employee then printed her a physical boarding pass and told her to show that to TSA.
But when Healey returned to security, she says the same thing happened.
“She’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s still saying you don’t have it,’” Healey recalls.
The TSA agent then explained that PreCheck has one important condition.
“You’re not guaranteed to have it every time,” Healey says the agent told her. “It says that you were randomly selected to go through regular security.”
Healey says she had never heard of this before, but after looking it up, she found out it’s true. It made her rethink how much she relies on it.
“Sometimes when I’m leaving for the airport, I’m like, oh, like, I can leave an extra, like, 10 or 15 minutes later because I have PreCheck,” she says. “But sometimes you’re not guaranteed PreCheck. So just letting you guys know.”
TSA does warn travelers about this, though the warning isn’t exactly front and center. TSA states in its official checkpoint guidance that it uses “unpredictable security measures” and that “no individual is guaranteed expedited screening.”
The agency also warns in its PreCheck eligibility guidance that it determines eligibility on a flight-by-flight basis.
While things like entering your Known Traveler Number wrong or issues with your ID can make it more likely for a traveler to be selected to use the regular security lane, it seems there isn’t a surefire way to avoid this happening.
“This happened to me last week in HNL,” one user wrote. “ I’ve had PreCheck for 10+ years and am an airline employee who has known crew member access hahhaha. No one could explain what or how this was happening.”
A second commenter said the delay almost caused them to miss their flight.
“Yup that happened to just me out of my whole family,” they wrote. “My husband and kids went through and I had to go back through the regular line. Almost missed the flight!”
A third commenter noted that the PreCheck lane is occasionally closed.
“Lots of airports close the TSA PreCheck lines at certain hours,” they wrote. “It’s super frustrating!”
Neither TSA nor Healey immediately responded to a request for comment.
@blakehealey1 Has this happened to anyone?!?! I was not aware this was a thing??? #tsaprecheck ♬ original sound – Blake Healey
