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Most parents can attest to the fact that flying with young children can be a stressful if not harrowing experience. In the United States, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tries to make things a bit easier by allowing families with children aged 12 and under to bypass stringent security measures. This expedited service is known as TSA Precheck, or TSA Pre for short.
The TSA Precheck experience is (almost) like flying in the good old days before 9/11. Shoes, belts, and jackets do not have to be removed, and laptops and liquids can remain in carry-on bags. Most importantly, individuals pass through the metal detectors instead of the controversial body scanners. This allows for much faster security screening which is most helpful when babies or toddlers are getting restless, hungry, or suddenly in need of a bathroom visit.
Some of you may have experienced the welcome relief of TSA precheck even if you don’t have young children. Larger airports are now using drug and bomb sniffing dogs that quickly scan a line of passengers so that they can then pass through expedited security in similar fashion.
Is there some way to get selected for TSA Pre every time you travel?
Actually, yes there is!
Strategies for Avoiding the X-Ray Body Scanners
Winding your way through TSA security especially at a busy airport is certainly extremely stressful. However, my primary concern has always been avoiding the body scanners. These devices expose you to unnecessary ionizing radiation, meaning that each time you are exposed you are adding to your risk of developing cancer. This increased risk is cumulative, meaning there is nothing you can do to “undo” the radiation exposure.
If there is an alternative to body scanners, then a smart traveler should take it. In 2011, the European Union banned scanning devices for that very reason.
Assurances that body scanners are safe ring hollow given the history of underestimating the amount of ionizing radiation exposure these types of machines produce. Neurosurgean Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of numerous books including the bestseller Excitoxins: The Taste that Kills, has this to say:
As for the assurances we have been given by such organization as the American College of Radiology, we must keep in mind that they assured us that the CT scans were safe and that the radiation was equal to one chest X-ray. Forty years later we learn that the dose is extremely high; it is thought to have caused cancer in a significant number of people, and the dose is actually equal to 1,000 chest X-rays.
I once stood in the security line next to a brain surgeon who said that he never goes through a body scanner and that anyone who does would refrain if he/she actually understood the risks.
Body Scanner or Patdown?
My strategy for years has been to avoid body scanners either by traveling with my children or to opt for a patdown when traveling alone. However, now that two of my children are older than 12, this approach is no longer working so well.
I’ve had at least a couple dozen patdowns by TSA over the years and never had a single problem. Yes, they take extra time so you have to plan accordingly. But, they certainly aren’t uncomfortable or problematic in any way. Just always have them out in the open (never request to have a private screening) and be super nice and respectful to the person patting you down even if she is taking a really long time and you need to catch your flight.
My husband disagrees with my take on patdowns. Case in point, I recently traveled with him and one of my teenage sons (older than 12), and while I went through the obligatory patdown to avoid the body scanner, my husband refused to do so. To my shock and surprise, he went through the body scanner with my son. He said that there was no way he was going to endure a patdown and ask our son to do the same.
I was horrified! I needed to find a new approach and fast!
TSA Pre to the Rescue
With my husband and I disagreeing on TSA patdowns, I had to find another way to keep my family out of the body scanners.
This solution turned out to be TSA Pre.
The TSA Precheck service allows low risk passengers to apply for and obtain a KTN (Known Traveler Number) which is put into your travel reservation and stamped on your boarding pass when you check-in for your flight.
Travelers with a KTN enjoy the following benefits:
- Expedited security lines. In October 2016, 97% of passengers waited less than 5 minutes.
- Shoes, belts and light jackets can be left on.
- Laptops and liquids can remain inside carry-on bags.
- Passengers use old standard metal detectors instead of x-ray body scanners.
Applying for a KTN requires an online application and background check which is good for 5 years. The cost is $85/person. This may seem expensive at first, but even if you fly once per year, this translates to $17 per flight which is significantly cheaper than a single checked bag on most airlines. If you fly on a single roundtrip flight per year, the cost is only $8.50 per flight.
The reduced stress and avoidance of any radiation exposure is infinitely worth it in my opinion!
TSA Precheck Downside
Besides the $85/person cost, note that TSA Precheck is only available to domestic flyers. If you fly international a lot, then it is a good idea to consider Global Entry. This is a similar program which includes TSA Pre but offers extended benefits such as expedited customs and immigration lines. The cost for Global Entry is a one time fee of $100/person.
Another downside to note is that TSA Precheck is not available at all airports. As of this writing, 180+ airports and 19 airlines accept TSA Pre. This is an increase of over 50% since 2011.
Even with such wide inclusion across the United States, TSA precheck is not available at every terminal, and the expedited lines might be closed during your particular hours of travel.
Possibly the biggest downside to TSA Pre is that you might not be allowed to use it on occasion. How can this be?
TSA Pre is purposely randomized to ensure safety and avoid abuse (such as what women flying alone commonly endure). As a result, you might find yourself in standard security lines from time to time. One way to improve your chances of always landing in the expedited line is to be sure that your Known Traveler Number (KTN) is put into the flight reservation when you book. Another tip is to check in for your flight as much in advance as possible so that the TSA Precheck logo appears on your boarding pass.
Have you signed up for and used TSA Pre before? If you are from another country, is there a similar service available? Please share your experiences in the comments section.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
I’m with TSA precheck, I’m pregnant, and I declined to use the body scanner. Therefore, I was forced to succumb to the pat down. I think this is a massive violation of our civil liberties. Either I get scanned, risking the safety of my unborn kid, or I get a violating patdown by a stranger. This country is the worst now.
You don’t get a patdown with TSA precheck. You go through the metal detector which is safe.
Do you have a link showing the dangers of dental x-rays? My holistic dentist uses digital x-rays and always wants them done, and doesn’t feel they are any risk. Is that the truth?
Beware. A dentist who calls himself/herself “holistic” really isn’t if they push x-rays. Some dentists are using this term very loosely nowadays .. it’s more of a marketing ploy than the truth.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/hidden-dental-x-ray-danger/
thank you for this article. I am concerned about signing up for TSA Pre because of the direction our tyrannical government agencies are going. Right now I usually travel alone (I have no kids), and I always opt out of the body scanner. However, like your husband, I dislike pat-downs because I have gotten some passive aggressive TSA agents who have deliberately tried to make me miss my flight or have touched me VERY inappropriately on purpose (even though they were female). However, I will never go through the scanner as long as I have a choice.
It worries me that TSA Pre will turn into a stronger form of government overreach, though, especially as we would be paying them (funding them). I worry about the future “mark of the beast” etc.
But we also have to deal with the immediate threats first such as the body scanner technology which I am convinced is very bad. Flying on an airplane already exposes us to high magnetic fields (I have even brought a Trifield meter on board to measure it).
Try to fly at night. It minimizes this type of exposure.
Thanks for the info, and discussion.
However, I haven’t paid for PRE, and somehow the last flights I’ve had have put me in that line. I’m only flying a few times a year, so maybe I just got lucky. But, yes, I would choose the patdown over the scanner.
Yes, I agree Sarah. We have a family of 7 all together. I have 5 kids 12 and under and it is a time saver. My husband works for Delta Airlines so we are standby, but we don’t care. We don’t do body scanners and my husband and I don’t care about the pat downs. Like you said, we are polite and just comply. I will say, when flying last week, even though in pre-check, they still made us take our jackets off and shoes off, not my children. That was in L.A. and even K.C. It just varies airport to airport I guess.
Just thought people should know how totally incorrect most of this article is. The AIT “body scanner” does not use x-ray or any other ionizing form of radiation. It uses tiny radio waves, bounced off the skin, to detect items hidden under clothing. It’s not perfect, but it’s not cancer causing. You get more radiation from walking down the street than from the body scanner. You’re also more likely to develop cancer just from using the microwave in your house. Sure it’s a valid option to opt out and get a pat-down. As a TSA officer myself, I’m more than happy to oblige. And I definitely encourage people to sign up for pre check, it helps everyone out. But do not be so readily deceived by any articles online about TSA or our policies/procedures/equipment/stories. Just like so much stuff online, much of it is false. We are always trying to improve to provide the most effective screening in the most efficient way. We do nothing to intentionally hurt or inconvenience anyone. We are only here to make the traveling public as safe as we can. It’s not easy, but it’s what we want to do. Safe travels
Unfortunately, your assurances ring hollow. I realize the new body scanners use a different technology, but not all the body scanners have been replaced (how many, who knows?) and as a passenger, we can’t tell the difference just by looking at them. They look exactly the same to me and I fly quite a bit! Cell phone radiation is just “radio waves” too and most studies show that brain cancer patients report above average cell phone usage. You sound like a conventional dentist who says the same thing about dental x-rays! http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/02/06/backscatter-screening-machine.aspx
Cancer cluster in TSA agents: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/30/did-airport-scanners-give-boston-tsa-agents-cancer/
Sarah, I’m surprised your Hubs has a problem with the pat-downs, as you said, I find them NOT a big deal at all. Kent gets them too and doesn’t mind them. Although I have been tempted to do the pre-verification just because it would save time.
Missed you in Alabama!
Kel
I think what also bothers him is how passive-aggressive some (not all!) TSA agents are about patdowns. It seems like they sometimes purposely take their time to frustrate you and get you to go through the body scanner to speed things up so you don’t miss your plane. I’m happy to get a KTN number to avoid this whole psychological warfare they play on passengers and probably have been trained to use as they see fit. I realize its dumb to have to pay to secure a right you should already have (kind of like having to pay a fee to keep your analog meter instead of getting a health damaging smart meter), but right now it’s not about making a point … it’s about keeping your family healthy and OUT of those machines. I am hopeful those machines will be gone at some point in the future just like the EU has already ditched them. They did change to a different technology in the past couple of years, but they aren’t any safer … they just eliminated the “naked” aspect of the machines.
Thank you so much for you important information about avoiding the x-ray machine at the airport. I will immediately explore that possibility.
Ironically enough I just traveled last week and was informed that the body scanner they are using is an RF emitter and is lower exposure than a standard cell phone. Rf is non-ionizing radiation (lower end on the spectrum- like radio waves) where x-ray is ionizing radiation. Honestly too much of either one is unhealthy, which is why the push to remove wireless from the home or isolating as much as possible. We are exposed daily and medically depending on your personal exposures in persona, medical, and dental arenas. There is no telling a true measure of an individuals’ exposure without doing a study. But completely concur that if there is a way to avoid additional exposures, do it. If you don’t need x-rays, opt out. I chose the pat down as well, even if people thought I was crazy and it took a little extra time. It was worth it to me.
I don’t believe a THING a TSA agent tells me about those machines. They gave me a similar line a few years back. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/snookered-by-the-airport-body-scanner/
You were smart to choose the patdown!