Airport security

Long TSA lines? Skip them with this free service

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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.

Self-service security screening? It’s being tested

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Self-service checkout works at the grocery store.

So why not self-service screening at the airport?

That’s what the Transportation Security Administration has in mind.

For the next six months, TSA and the Department of Homeland Security will be testing a self-service checkpoint at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas.

Starting in mid-March, travelers enrolled in TSA PreCheck will have the option to use TSA’s Innovation Checkpoint at LAS and test out a prototype technology that includes new body scanning technology that lets passengers complete the screening process on their own.

As they do now, travelers will empty their pockets and put all carry-on items into bins that go through the X-ray machines. Then each passenger steps into an enclosed scanning booth.

If, for example, the passenger has left a cell phone in their pocket, the booth directs them to step out, empty their pockets and try again.

The goal, TSA says, is to use this technology to cut down on instances where a TSA agent is required to conduct a pat-down or secondary screening.

Curious about how it works and ready – or not – to give it a try?

Here’s a TV clip from TODAY.

Guns in Peanut Butter & Inside a Raw Chicken: TSA’s Top 10 Catches from 2022

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Officers for the Transportation Security Administration see a lot of stuff in the carry-on bags of passengers. Some of it is just fine for people to take on the plane with them. Other items, such as baseball bats, meat cleavers, and even Magic 8 balls, falls on the prohibited items.

So do knives, guns, and other items that are clearly weapons. Yet people try to sneak that stuff by all the time. In fact, even before the end of December, TSA found a record 6301 firearms in carry-on bags at airports. More than 88% of those firearms were loaded.

Some travelers forget they have a knife, gun, or some other prohibited item in their bag. Others know exactly what they’ve packed and go to creative lengths to try to get prohibited items past the checkpoint undetected.

The most outrageous items end up on the annual list of TSA’s Top 10 Catches.

This year, the list has some whoppers, including a gun found stuffed inside a raw chicken at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), gun parts inside a peanut butter jar at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and a knife inside a laptop at Richmond International Airport (RIC).

Here’s the full 2022 list, in a corny video put together by TSA.

The agency has been doing this year-end round-up for a while. And our favorites are still the early ones hosted by the late Blogger Bob” Burns. We’ve included his 2016 round-up below.

Travel Tidbits From An Airport Near You

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TSA May Still Make You Wear A Mask

The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a ruling that allows the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to require mask-wearing on planes, trains, and other forms of transport.  

The TSA stopped enforcing a mask mandate in April of this year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask mandate was struck down by a federal judge in Florida.

Are you still wearing a mask when you fly? COVID is still out there and we’ve seen lots of people wearing masks in airports and on planes.

Longer Hours for SEA’s Spot Saver program

Hate waiting in long airport security lines?

A great amenity popping up at airports is a program that allows travelers to make a timed reservation to go through the security line.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was the first airport in the U.S. to offer the service, which they call Spot Saver. And it has become so popular that SEA is now expanding the program, just in time for the upcoming busy holiday travel season. 

Previously, the advanced check-in option for security checkpoint lines was only available during the busiest times of the day, until 1 p.m. Now travelers can use the service afternoons and evenings as well.

Other airports around the country offer a similar service. Check your airport’s website for the option before getting in that long security line.

New Airport Socks Alert

The Stuck at The Airport fashion reporter has a great collection of airport socks. And it looks like there’s an opportunity to add a new pair to the collection.

Here’s how to get them:

Washington’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) turns 60 this month, on November 17. And throughout November, airport visitors who purchase three items in the Duty Free Americas shops can show their receipts and get a free pair of socks. But only 1000 pairs are available.

There will also be special events on the airport’s anniversary day, November 17, including free cookies and throwback prices for coffee.

Some airports ease travel. Others make it harder

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Now you can reserve a checkpoint slot at Miami Int’l Airport

One of the newest, and most welcome airport amenities are free programs that allow passengers to schedule the time they go through TSA checkpoint screening.

Examples include the Spot Saver program at Seattle-Tacoma Internation Airport (SEA), the LAX Fast Lane at Los Angeles International Aiport, the EWR Virtual Line at Newark Liberty International Airport, MCO Reserve at Orlando International Airport, PHX Reserve at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), and JFK T4 Reserve at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

There are also a few other checkpoint reservation programs operating at airports around the country.

Some are limited to certain airlines, specific checkpoints, or concourses, and may be offered during limited hours. Be sure to read the rules and directions on your airport’s website.

Miami International Airport (MIA) just joined the list

MIA Reserve is a six-month pilot program for passengers flying from MIA airport on American Airlines.

During the trial, passengers may reserve a checkpoint screening time, for free at MIA TSA Checkpoint 4 from 5 am to 7 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Reservations are limited and can be scheduled up to 72 hours before a flight.

Amsterdam Schiphol reduces passenger capacity. Again.

Citing a shortage of security workers in the coming months, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS) will once again reduce the number of passengers allowed in the airport.

This time the airport is reducing the number of daily passengers by 18%, through at least October 31. In a statement released last week, Schiphol officials said they expect to continue applying limits on the number of daily passengers until at least the end of the year.

That’s bad news for passengers and for airlines.

AMS had set a limit of 67,500 departing passengers per day during September and 69,500 during October.

The new maximum will be 54,500 per day for the rest of September and 57,000 per day in October.

London’s Heathrow Airport and several others also have passenger capacity limits in place at least through the end of October.