The Memorial Day weekend means longer than usual lines at airport security checkpoints. And if you don’t have TSA PreCheck it’s a good bet you’ll find yourself standing in those very long line.
But there’s a free, ‘secret’ way to bypass those lines at more than 20 airports in North America and Europe.
For travelers without paid memberships in TSA PreCheck or CLEAR, there’s a free virtual cueing program at select airports.
Passengers can go online before they get to the airport – or when they’re at the airport – and reserve a time slot to go through a dedicated lane at the airport.
It’s like a restaurant reservation. And it lets you bypass others waiting in line.
How – and where – to get a reservation to go through airport security and skip the lines
The free airport security line reservation programs are part of Clear RESERVE, which is managed by CLEAR, the company that also runs the paid Clear Plus program that uses fingerprints or eye scans to expedite your checkpoint journey. And to make it just a bit more confusing, the Clear RESERVE program is branded differently at participating airports.
As of May 2024, free timed security checkpoint reservations are being offered at these airports in North America and Europe.
United States
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
- New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Orlando International Airport (MCO
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
- Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Canada
- Calgary International Airport (YYC)
- Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
- Halifax International Airport (YHZ)
- Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
- Toronto International Airport (YYZ)
- Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
Europe
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
- Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
- Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Hanover Airport (HAJ)
- London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
- Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO
How to book your free security checkpoint reservation
If the security checkpoint reservation is offered at your departure airport, use the airport or Clear Reserve website to book your time.
Enter your flight and contact information, and if a reservation slot is available, you will receive a confirmation email with a QR code.
When you arrive at the airport, show your QR code at the designated TSA checkpoint lane.
Your reservation will have a 20-minute grace period. But if you have made a group reservation, everyone on the reservation must be there at the appointment time.
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