Is TSA PreCheck Worth It? Benefits, Cost, and Tips For Couples
Airport security is rarely the part of a trip that travelers look forward to. Removing shoes, pulling electronics out of a carry-on, separating liquids, and then putting everything back together can add another layer of hassle to an already busy travel day.
We recently decided to see if we could make that part of flying a little easier by enrolling in TSA PreCheck.
Our local AAA office was hosting a temporary TSA PreCheck enrollment event. We reserved appointment times, brought our passports, completed the enrollment process, and paid $75 each. Our TSA PreCheck memberships are valid for five years.
While researching the program, we were struck by how many Americans still don’t use it. Based on our rough comparison of TSA PreCheck participation with the U.S. adult population, approximately 90% of American adults do not have TSA PreCheck.
That raises an obvious question: Is TSA PreCheck actually worth getting for couples?
Here’s what we learned about TSA PreCheck benefits, costs, eligibility, Global Entry, traveling as a couple, and even how certain Chase Sapphire credit cards can potentially cover your enrollment fee.
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What Is TSA PreCheck?
TSA PreCheck is an expedited airport security screening program administered by the Transportation Security Administration.
Once approved, travelers receive a Known Traveler Number, commonly abbreviated as KTN. You can add this number to your airline reservation or save it in your frequent-flyer profile.
When you’re eligible for TSA PreCheck on a particular flight, the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on your boarding pass.
That boarding pass indicator is important. Simply having a Known Traveler Number does not mean you can automatically walk into the PreCheck lane. Your boarding pass needs to indicate that you are eligible for TSA PreCheck screening on that flight.
What Are the Benefits of TSA PreCheck?
For us, the main appeal isn’t simply getting through security faster. It’s making the entire screening process a little less cumbersome.
TSA PreCheck passengers generally don’t need to remove:
- Shoes
- Belts
- Light jackets
- Laptops from carry-on bags
- Compliant 3-1-1 liquids from carry-on bags
You still have to follow TSA’s rules regarding liquids and prohibited items. TSA PreCheck simply means that certain items can usually stay inside your bag during screening.
That’s particularly attractive to us because we frequently travel with electronics. Between laptops, cameras, chargers, cords, microphones and other gear we use to create travel content, getting through security can sometimes involve a fair amount of unpacking and repacking.
According to TSA, approximately 99% of TSA PreCheck passengers currently wait less than 10 minutes at airport security checkpoints.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll never encounter a line.
PreCheck lanes can become busy during peak travel periods, operating hours may vary, and some smaller airports or checkpoints may not always have a dedicated TSA PreCheck lane available.
We certainly wouldn’t use TSA PreCheck as an excuse to arrive at the airport at the last minute.
Think of it as a way to potentially make security faster, easier and more predictable, rather than a guarantee that you’ll never wait in line.
How Much Does TSA PreCheck Cost?
TSA PreCheck enrollment is handled through TSA-authorized enrollment providers.
The current authorized providers are CLEAR, IDEMIA and Telos, and prices can vary depending on the provider. TSA currently advertises new-enrollment options beginning around $76.75.
We paid $75 each at the temporary enrollment event hosted at our local AAA office.
Because provider prices and promotions can change, check the current price through the official TSA PreCheck website before enrolling.
Membership lasts for five years.
Even relatively infrequent travelers may find the cost reasonable when spread over that period.
For example, suppose you take four round-trip flights annually. You might pass through a TSA security checkpoint eight times each year.
Over five years, that’s approximately 40 trips through airport security.
At a $75 enrollment cost, that works out to less than $2 per security checkpoint.
Whether that’s worthwhile depends on how much you value the convenience.
How Do You Apply for TSA PreCheck?
The best place to start is the official TSA PreCheck website.
You’ll select an authorized enrollment provider and complete the preliminary application information.
You then attend an in-person enrollment appointment where the provider verifies your identity and collects fingerprints and other information used in the security-vetting process.
We brought our passports, which made the documentation portion of our appointments straightforward.
Other combinations of acceptable identification documents are available, so check your enrollment provider’s requirements before attending your appointment.
Our experience was particularly convenient because the enrollment center essentially came to us.
AAA was hosting a temporary TSA PreCheck enrollment event at our local office, so we selected appointment times rather than driving to an airport or another permanent enrollment location.
Temporary enrollment events like this can be worth watching for if you aren’t located near a permanent enrollment center.
Who Is TSA PreCheck Best For?
You don’t have to be a weekly business traveler for TSA PreCheck to make sense.
We think it can be particularly useful for:
- Travelers who fly several times each year
- People who regularly carry laptops and other electronics
- Families managing children and carry-on luggage
- Travelers who find removing shoes or belongings physically difficult
- People who dislike the uncertainty of long security lines
- Travelers who frequently have airport connections
- Anyone who puts a premium on reducing friction during a travel day
For us, this last point may be the most important.
We’re not necessarily looking to race through an airport. We like the idea of making the beginning of a trip a little calmer.
Who Probably Doesn’t Need TSA PreCheck?
TSA PreCheck isn’t necessary for everyone.
If you fly once every several years, paying for a membership may provide relatively little value.
Likewise, if your home airport consistently has very short security lines, the time savings may be minimal.
Before enrolling, consider how often you realistically expect to fly during the next five years.
There’s also another important group that probably shouldn’t purchase TSA PreCheck separately:
Travelers who already have—or intend to get—Global Entry.
TSA PreCheck vs. Global Entry: What’s the Difference?
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are related, but they solve different travel problems.
TSA PreCheck helps primarily when you’re departing from a participating U.S. airport.
Global Entry helps when you’re returning to the United States from an international trip.
The important difference is that Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck eligibility.
Global Entry currently costs $120 for five years and requires an application, background check and interview.
That means someone who knows they want Global Entry generally doesn’t also need to purchase a separate TSA PreCheck membership.
Global Entry essentially gives eligible travelers both benefits:
On departure: TSA PreCheck eligibility at participating U.S. security checkpoints.
On return: Expedited U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing after international travel.
For someone who travels internationally frequently, Global Entry may therefore offer better overall value.
Does TSA PreCheck Work Outside the United States?
This is one of the most important distinctions to understand.
TSA PreCheck generally does not provide expedited security screening at foreign airports.
Suppose you’re flying from Los Angeles to London.
TSA PreCheck may benefit you when going through security at LAX.
But when you fly home from London, TSA PreCheck doesn’t ordinarily give you access to a special security lane at Heathrow.
Likewise, TSA PreCheck doesn’t expedite U.S. immigration when you arrive back in Los Angeles.
That’s where Global Entry becomes useful.
Some foreign airports have U.S. preclearance facilities where travelers complete U.S. immigration procedures before boarding their flight to the United States, but that’s separate from TSA PreCheck.
Is Global Entry Worth It If You Take Only One International Trip a Year?
This was especially relevant to us.
We generally take about one international trip per year, along with a couple of domestic trips.
Had we made this decision before enrolling in TSA PreCheck, Global Entry would have been worth considering, as the $120 Global Entry membership includes TSA PreCheck eligibility.
But because we’ve already purchased TSA PreCheck for the next five years, getting Global Entry immediately would create considerable overlap.
For travelers in a situation similar to ours, another option is Mobile Passport Control, a free U.S. Customs and Border Protection program available at participating locations to eligible travelers.
That can provide another way to streamline entry into the United States without purchasing an additional trusted traveler membership.
Our current plan is to use our new TSA PreCheck memberships and evaluate Global Entry again as our travel patterns evolve.
When our TSA PreCheck memberships approach expiration, we may choose Global Entry rather than simply renewing PreCheck—particularly if we continue to take international trips every year.
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry for Couples: Do Both Travelers Need Them?
This is a question that deserves special attention for couples.
Trusted-traveler memberships belong to individual travelers, not households or couples.
If one adult has TSA PreCheck and the other doesn’t, the enrolled traveler’s boarding pass may show the TSA PreCheck indicator while the other traveler’s boarding pass does not.
The enrolled traveler could use the TSA PreCheck lane, while the other adult may have to use standard security.
For couples who almost always fly together, that isn’t especially convenient.
One person may breeze through security only to wait on the other side for their travel partner.
Global Entry works similarly.
Each adult who wants to use Global Entry must have their own approved membership.
If one spouse has Global Entry and the other does not, they may end up using different processing options when they return to the United States.
For most couples who regularly travel together, we think it makes sense for both adults to have the same trusted-traveler benefit.
That doesn’t necessarily mean paying for both TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.
Usually, the decision would be:
TSA PreCheck for both travelers
or
Global Entry for both travelers, which also provides TSA PreCheck eligibility.
The calculation may be different when one spouse travels substantially more than the other. If one partner flies weekly for work while the other flies once every few years, individual enrollment decisions could make sense.
What About Children and TSA PreCheck?
Families receive somewhat different treatment.
Children age 12 and younger can generally accompany an enrolled parent or guardian through the TSA PreCheck lane.
Children ages 13 through 17 may also use the TSA PreCheck lane with an enrolled parent or guardian when the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on the child’s boarding pass.
TSA currently describes this family benefit as allowing eligible children 17 and under to accompany parents through PreCheck without purchasing their own membership, subject to the applicable boarding-pass requirements for teenagers.
Global Entry works differently. Each traveler who uses Global Entry must have their own membership, including children.
There is, however, a helpful financial benefit for families: Global Entry application fees for children under 18 are waived when a parent or legal guardian is already a member of—or is also applying for—Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS.
Your Credit Card May Pay for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
Before paying an enrollment fee, check the benefits attached to your credit cards.
Some travel credit cards provide a statement credit for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS.
One particularly useful example is the Chase Sapphire family of cards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred TSA PreCheck Benefit
As of 2026, the Chase Sapphire Preferred includes a new benefit that provides one statement credit of up to $120 every four years when an eligible TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS application fee is charged to the card.
This is notable because the Sapphire Preferred has historically been positioned as Chase’s lower-annual-fee Sapphire travel card.
To receive the benefit, you need to use the eligible Chase Sapphire Preferred card to pay the qualifying application fee.
Chase says the credit applies to the first qualifying application fee charged to the account and may be used for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS—but not all three during the same four-year benefit period.
Chase Sapphire Reserve TSA PreCheck Benefit
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers a similar benefit.
Cardmembers can receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years for a qualifying Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fee charged to the card.
An Important Chase Sapphire Tip for Couples
There’s an important limitation couples should notice.
The benefit is generally one application-fee credit per eligible card account every four years, not one reimbursement for every person traveling in the household.
For example, if one couple shares a Chase Sapphire Preferred account and charges one person’s $120 Global Entry application to that card, the available four-year credit would generally be used.
Charging the second spouse’s Global Entry application to the same account would not generate another $120 credit during that benefit period.
Even an authorized user’s purchase can trigger the account’s single available credit. Chase’s current terms state that the first qualifying fee charged by either the primary cardholder or an authorized user receives the credit.
Couples with separate eligible credit-card accounts may each have their own benefit, depending on the terms of their individual cards.
So before either traveler pays an application fee, it is worth reviewing all of the travel credit cards held by both partners.
You may already have a benefit that covers some—or potentially all—of your household’s enrollment costs.
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Should You Choose TSA PreCheck or Global Entry?
A simple way to think about the decision is:
Consider TSA PreCheck if:
- Most of your flights are domestic
- You want an easier airport-security experience
- You rarely travel internationally
- You want a simpler enrollment process
- You don’t need expedited U.S. immigration processing
Consider Global Entry if:
- You travel internationally regularly
- You want expedited processing when returning to the United States
- You also want TSA PreCheck eligibility
- You don’t mind completing the additional Global Entry application and interview
- A credit-card benefit will reimburse your $120 application fee
If you’re choosing from scratch and expect to travel internationally with some regularity, the additional benefits of Global Entry can make the extra application process worthwhile.
If you’ve already purchased TSA PreCheck—as we have—the decision is less urgent.
Don’t Forget to Add Your Known Traveler Number
Once you’re approved for TSA PreCheck, you’ll receive a Known Traveler Number.
Don’t forget to actually use it.
Add your KTN to your frequent-flyer profiles and include it with airline reservations.
Before entering airport security, check your boarding pass for the TSA PreCheck indicator.
If it isn’t there, confirm that your Known Traveler Number, name and date of birth were entered correctly on the reservation.
Your TSA PreCheck membership alone doesn’t guarantee access to the PreCheck lane on every trip.
Is TSA PreCheck Worth It? Our Take
We haven’t had our first opportunity to use TSA PreCheck at an airport yet, so we’ll reserve final judgment until we have some real-world experience with it.
But the enrollment process itself was much easier than we anticipated.
Our AAA pop-up event made the application process particularly convenient. We scheduled our appointments, brought our passports, completed the enrollment process, and paid our fees.
And now we’ll have the benefit for five years.
For someone who flies several times a year, we think TSA PreCheck can be a relatively inexpensive way to reduce friction in airport travel.
If you rarely fly, it may not be worth the cost.
And if international travel is a regular part of your plans, take a close look at Global Entry before purchasing TSA PreCheck separately.
Most importantly, check your credit-card benefits before paying either fee.
With Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve now offering up to $120 toward TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS every four years, you may already have a way to cover the application cost.
For couples, check both partners’ cards before applying.
A little planning before enrollment might make getting through the airport easier—and potentially make the trusted-traveler benefit effectively free.
Program rules, enrollment fees, credit-card benefits and eligibility requirements can change. We recommend checking the latest information from the TSA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and your credit card issuer before applying.
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