While having TSA PreCheck already makes passing through airports far easier, the process is about to get even more effortless.
TSA PreCheck globetrotters traveling on United Airlines through Chicago’s O’Hare airport or Los Angeles International Airport, may soon be able to keep their physical IDs in their wallet during when dropping off luggage.
United Airlines has added new information to its website about locations where it is testing a new touchless TSA PreCheck process for its bag drop shortcut. As part of the testing taking place, facial recognition technology is being implemented, allowing travelers to move through security far more quickly without having to show a physical ID.
(For the time being however, while testing of this new approach is underway, physical ID checks will still be required in conjunction with the facial scans.)
The new facial recognition technology is only in use at Chicago’s O’Hare and LAX for the time being, but the airline’s website says there are plans to add the touchless ID at even more locations across the country. Travelers are encouraged to keep checking the United website for announcements regarding the latest airports to join the new system.
Separately, Delta Air Lines has already rolled out such technology in Atlanta, Detroit, and New York – at both JFK and LaGuardia international airports, according to NBC.
In the case of Delta, there are dedicated check-in lanes for the touchless ID process.
“The agents working at the TSA PreCheck and Clear lines told me to use a new special lane for biometrics that allowed me to skip ahead of both the regular PreCheck and the separate Clear lanes,” Clint Henderson, the managing editor of The Points Guy travel website, wrote in a post about the new development. “After one minute, the TSA agent waved me over. I simply showed my face in front of a camera, and the agent told me to go ahead to the screening machines. There was no wait.”
And in yet another development designed to make life easier, the Department of Homeland Security, in November, said it is working on offering entirely self-service screening options that allow for skipping TSA agents altogether.
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