# TSA PreCheck

10 Hacker News commenters recommended TSA PreCheck and 15 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Lets approved travelers skip some screening steps, with lines often short at many airports. Critics call it a paid two-tier line and say it is often no faster.

## Why people recommend it

- Short waits, often a few minutes (3 comments): "Precheck w/ touchless ID lines are virtually empty at most airports" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48274347)) "I have never waited more than 1-3 minutes in TSA precheck" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47987222)) "with TSA Precheck Touchless, it was a few minutes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47525443))
- Works well with digital ID (2 comments): "It's pretty optimal if you have TSA PreCheck + digital ID." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46891676)) "with TSA Precheck Touchless, it was a few minutes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47525443))

## What people warn about

- Called security theater (3 comments): "They could have done the population a (rare) solid and found a way to phase out the security theater." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49582828)) "Precheck always struck me as a tacit admission that the TSA is security theater" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49582760)) "all of this is absolute garbage security theater" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49583045))
- Lines often as long as regular (2 comments): "Except sometimes the TSA precheck and regular lines are the same" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49299954)) "The TSA Pre lines are often as long as the standard lines." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565624))
- Charges extra for faster lanes (3 comments): "It's a two tiered security line - theirs is faster, but you need money to get into it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46361336)) "in paying them again nothing changed except they took more money from me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49582741)) "The service we paid for on top of all of our taxes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47108474))
- Collects biometrics, enables surveillance (2 comments): "You submit permanent biometrics as part of PreCheck and Global Entry." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46832865)) "It is just a new way for the goverement to spy on citizens." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47524140))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Global Entry](https://hackerapproved.com/p/global-entry.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.tsa.gov/precheck)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "TSA PreCheck", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tsa-precheck/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).