Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

TSA Precheck and minor children

Posted by (Duluth 🛶 ) on

Next spring I will be bringing 2 of my grandchildren to London. The youngest will be 11 years old, and the oldest will be 15 at that time. I have TSA PreCheck, and according to the TSA FAQs, the youngest will be covered automatically so I can bring her through with me.

However, I'm a little confused about the 2nd restriction dealing with kids 13-17.

Children 12 and under may accompany an enrolled parent or guardian in the TSA PreCheck lanes without restriction. Children 13-17 may join enrolled adults in the dedicated lanes when traveling on the same reservation and if the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on the child’s boarding pass.

I will be booking the flights for the 3 of us (probably on Delta) and my boarding pass has always had the TSA PreCheck indicator on it (Delta has my KTN). But will the 15 year old's boarding pass also have that? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Posted by
3983 posts

There is no guarantee that the 15-year-old will automatically get TSA pre-check on their boarding pass just because you have it. Just enroll the 15-year-old in TSA precheck now if you want a guarantee that TSA pre-check will be on the boarding pass. If you do not have the KTN before you make the reservation, you can add it to the reservation ahead of time of at the airport when you print your boarding passes.

Posted by
8048 posts

When traveling with others on the same reservation, on Delta, I have had good luck getting them included in my Precheck. This included my wife for a while, until she got her Precheck, and recently My wife with her Mother getting precheck.

Basically, it comes down to the younger child will go through precheck with you, as the adult, regardless of what their ticket says. The older likely will have Precheck on their boarding pass, but it is not a guarantee that they will.

For what it matters, there is no guarantee that you will have Precheck on your boarding pass, they randomly make you go through a full screening from time to time.

An addition: You did not ask, maybe are already prepared, but you just can not take your minor Grandkids out of the country as you please. You will need some type of notarized letter from both parents granting permission to do so, with trip details (where, when) and if only one parent is around, proof that they have sole and complete guardianship of the children. I would also have some type of authorization to make Medical care decisions for the duration of the trip.

Posted by
7976 posts

An addition: You did not ask, maybe are already prepared, but you just can not take your minor Grandkids out of the country as you please. You will need some type of notarized letter from both parents granting permission to do so, with trip details (where, when) and if only one parent is around, proof that they have sole and complete guardianship of the children. I would also have some type of authorization to make Medical care decisions for the duration of the trip.

Paul, first, thanks for the info and your experience. I am aware that going through TSA PreCheck is not guaranteed for anyone, even me, but I think there's only been one time that it hasn't appeared on my boarding pass since it first came out. I don't really want to pay $100 for a one time thing, so I guess I'll take my chances.

Also, I am very aware of the need for bringing along an authorization letter. I am a retired family law attorney, so I actually drafted quite a few of these for my clients. 😊 But thank you for taking the time to mention it.

Posted by
8048 posts

No problem, many are amazed that the title of Grandpa and Grandma does not carry much legal weight worldwide.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.