Airport Security Lines Are About to Get Worse―A Perfect Advertisement for TSA PreCheck
Julio Cortez/AP
Your laptop isn’t the only item you’ll have to part with at airport security.
Your laptop isn’t the only item you’ll have to part with at airport security.
For over a year, the Transportation Security Administration has been quietly testing new security requirements at 10 U.S. airports, including in Los Angeles, Boston and Las Vegas, that require passengers to remove any electronic item larger than a cellphone, not just laptops, from carry-on baggage so scanners can better read the contents of the luggage. These requirements could be extended to other airports, TSA said.
“This helps in obtaining a clearer picture on the X-ray machine,” a TSA spokeswoman told Quartz, adding the tests are not related to the recent ban on laptops and other large electronic devices on on U.S.-bound flights from the Middle East.
Passengers may also have to part with items other than electronics, TSA said. Food and other things travelers stuff in their bags to avoid baggage fees can also make it hard for X-ray machines to read the contents of a bag, creating false alarms.
“Everyday items can appear similar to explosives on an X-ray,” the TSA spokeswoman said. Those items could include packages of dense chocolate, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But as with the electronics ban, having some cash to spare goes a long way.
The restrictions are the perfect advertisement for the TSA PreCheck program, whose members are exempt from the stepped-up checks. TSA PreCheck members pay $85 for five years of membership after undergoing a background check and are granted access to less invasive security screenings and usually shorter, dedicated security lanes. TSA PreCheck applications jumped last year after hourslong security lines formed in Chicago and other large U.S. airports.
As of this month, 4.8 million people are enrolled in TSA’s PreCheck, up from 2.6 million enrollees a year ago, but TSA has said it aims to get 25 million people enrolled by 2025. What better advertisement than the alternative of a longer security line?
For those who don’t want to pay the additional fee, do yourself and your fellow travelers a favor: Instead of fumbling around emptying out your luggage, consider a digital detox on your next flight and leave the electronics at home.