Who does TSA consider a guardian?

June 19, 2024 10:47 AM

Should a 13 year old enroll in TSA-PreCheck if they will be traveling with grandparents, or can they piggyback on the grandparents' enrollment? This hinges on how the TSA defines "guardian". Do you have direct experience with this situation?

The TSA guidelines say,

Children 13-17 may access the TSA PreCheck lanes if they have a TSA PreCheck logo on their boarding pass. To be eligible to receive the TSA PreCheck logo on their boarding pass, the passenger between the ages of 13 and 17 must be on the same airline reservation with a TSA PreCheck-eligible parent or guardian.

If the TSA is using the legal definition of "parent or guardian" then I believe grandparents wouldn't qualify. However, from the context, it sounds like the TSA may allow the child to travel with any adult, as long as the other criteria are met.

I should probably just get the kid their own TSA PreCheck, but it's not free in time or money, so if it's not necessary it would be nice to be able to skip it.

posted by Winnie the Proust to Travel & Transportation (10 answers total)

My daughter just started having a precheck logo appear on her pass when she is booked on a reservation with me, I didn’t have to register her as my daughter or anything.
posted by rockindata at 11:10 AM on June 19 [1 favorite]

Used to be the whole family on a ticket with a precheck person got precheck. But yes, my (they are younger than 13) kids get precheck because one of their parents does.
posted by atomicstone at 11:21 AM on June 19

What should happen is your 13-17 year old should automatically have a precheck on their ticket if one of you do.. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/i-am-traveling-my-family-can-they-also-use-tsa-precheckr-lane
posted by atomicstone at 11:24 AM on June 19

Response by poster: Thank you for the answers so far.

I'm asking specifically about the situation where the child, 13-17 years old, is traveling with someone besides their parents.

atomicstone's link says,

To be eligible to receive the TSA PreCheck logo on their boarding pass, the passenger between the ages of 13 and 17 must be on the same airline reservation with a TSA PreCheck-eligible parent or guardian.

What happens if the passenger between the ages of 13 and 17 is on the same airline reservation with a TSA PreCheck-eligible grandparent?
posted by Winnie the Proust at 11:33 AM on June 19

Are they traveling on the same reservation as the grandparents? If so, the the TSA pre-check should show up on their boarding pass - they don't seem to ask for the relationship, just noting a minor is traveling with adults on the same reservation. If they don't get the TSA checkmark on their boarding pass they will have to use the regular lanes. If that happens, the grandparents can go thru the regular lines and show their TSA pre-check to get expedited screening (don't have to take off shoes, remove liquids etc)
posted by metahawk at 11:44 AM on June 19 [4 favorites]

This is one of those "TSA had some secret weird stuff they do and there are no guarantees" situations. If you buy all the tickets on the same reservation it is very likely the kid will get a Precheck checkmark on their ticket. Heck, several years ago I almost always got one without being enrolled myself when I was traveling with my enrolled husband, and I'm an adult. (I have since enrolled, so I don't have any recent anecdotes, but I distinctly remember being like "why would I bother getting Precheck myself when I almost always travel with you?")

I would take the chance, personally. Check in early and you'll see on the boarding pass whether they got it or not so you can budget appropriate time. I'd bet you $5 they get it.
posted by potrzebie at 12:34 PM on June 19 [5 favorites]

In my experience, they are using guardian in the colloquial sense. I travel with my nephew (now 16) at least once a year and he has always gotten the precheck indicator when I book our tickets together. The airlines don’t ask about guardianship status at booking, and TSA only rarely asks what the relationship is. As long as the tickets are booked together, I’d say the child is likely to get pre-check.
posted by tinymojo at 2:03 PM on June 19 [4 favorites]

I have traveled with non-enrolled coworkers who ended up with TSAP enabled on their boarding pass, so either that's a major glitch in the system or something that just happens when people are all on the same reservation.
posted by emelenjr at 2:47 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]

My (decidedly not minor) brother got to go through pre-check when I booked both of our tickets (because I have pre-check). So it seems pretty likely that a minor will also be included on the TSA pre-check, as long as their ticket is part of the same reservation.
posted by ldthomps at 6:44 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you all for these responses. It's exactly the info I was looking for. I'll mark the question resolved.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:49 AM on June 20