Airport security checkpoints have been the end of the line since soon after the 9/11 attacks for most friends and relatives who want to see off departing passengers. That is changing at some U.S. airports.
The Transportation Security Administration is allowing eligible TSA PreCheck members without tickets to pass through security and enter gate areas, reviving a tradition that largely disappeared after the attacks 25 years ago this week.
The program, called Gateside by TSA PreCheck" is free, but interested members must apply online one to three days before their planned visits and receive approval before going to the airport. If approved, they can enter security using a TSA PreCheck lane with an acceptable form of identification. The passes are valid for one calendar day, but reentries are allowed on that day.
Ive never once been asked to show ID at the gate on any domestic flight in the US and fly several times a year. On this most recent trip I was asked to show my passport when boarding in Honolulu to Tokyo and again when boarding in Osaka to Honolulu but that’s it.
Someone else mentioned that gate agents can see your photo when they scan your boarding pass and someone else pointed out that you have to already be cleared by TSA pre-check to even make it this far, so it’s not something I’m even concerned about. I was just answering the question of how someone could swap places with a ticket holder to board a flight.