Hey guys, how's it going? So the question today is apply for a TSA pre-check or not. Is it worth it for your family? Is it worth it for your trip? Is it going to pay for itself later on? Or go through some information about TSA pre-check for you guys to help you make a decision. We recently got back from a trip to Orlando and for us this time we decided yes it was worth it. But that's not always going to be the case and I don't know if that's going to be the case for you. It's really kind of an individual thing with your family. For me I decided that since this was the first trip for my kids flying that they remember that I wanted to make it as painless as possible and part of that was making sure that the airport part wasn't scary for them because I knew that the flight was going to be possibly an issue which it turned out to be. And also what helped make my decision was we were flying through MCO and the airline had sent me an email like a month before we left and they suggested that you get their three hours early if you didn't have a TSA pre-check. With that said we did get TSA pre-check and for my family of four we were able to get from returning our car, checking two bags, taking the kiddos to the bathroom through security to the jet blue terminal tram, over through the tram into the terminal all the way down to our gate in 45 minutes. 45 minutes versus three hours. Two hours and 15 minutes difference. To me that makes it worth it. Here are 10 things for you to know before you make your decision. Number one, you do have to apply for TSA pre-check. Go to the TSA website, go to TSA pre-check, click on it, through you fill that out. There is personal information that you do need to fill out. It doesn't take very long. After you do that, we'll ask you to schedule a face-to-face meeting with the TSA agent. I did mine at my local airport. However, I know that it's not available at all places my parents live in Montana. They have to go to Okinawa, Washington to get that meeting. Go in, it takes longer to park than the meeting does. Just so you know, meeting literally takes no more than like 15 minutes. One, if I don't know if something major happens. But they just go through all of the questions that you already went through, make sure that you're okay and good with those questions, then they fingerprint you. Now number two, it does cost $85 and that is non-refundable. Because it goes for the background check and the time that they spend there with you and that kind of stuff is the $85 whether you're approved or not. However, some credit cards will reimburse you for being reach-em-approved. Check with your card provider and see if that's available to you because then it's free. And then it's absolutely worth it. There is no question. It's your approved that approval is good for five years, so that ends up only being about $17 a year. Number three, two of your children, the age of 12 or under, can go security with you without having to get their own TSA pre-check approval. This means that when you go through your kids and yourself, you don't have to take off your coat, your shoes, your belt. This is what makes it worth it to me. My kids was never simplifying. They didn't have to do any of that stuff. We didn't have to worry about that, especially on a red eye, late at night. It was just so much simpler, so much easier. However, if your belt ring is going through security, even if they told you didn't have to take it off in the line, you will have to take it off, put it in one of the little bowls and send it through. So if I were you, if it's metal, just take it off anyway, even though that's all you not to just do it. This does mean that if you have children 13 or older, you will have to get their own TSA pre-check approval. So if you're traveling with teens, that is something to think about. It may not be worth it for you. But again, if you do have that credit card, if they cover that cost, it's absolutely worth it. Number four, you do not have to take off your shoes, your coats. You do not have to take out your electronics. You don't have to take out your liquids. You can go through security, not a big deal, which is great, especially when you've got the littles. This doesn't, however, mean that you don't have to follow TSA guidelines. You still have to follow TSA guidelines for carry on stuff. It doesn't give you any extra liquids. It doesn't give you any extra perks on that. It just gets you through the screening process faster. And you don't have to take those things out. So just remember that you still have to be good and do all of those things. Number five, not all airports participate in TSA pre-check approval. We need to make sure that your airport where you're taking your trips or where you travel almost often is in that list. You'll want to do that before you go get your pre-check approval. Make sure that where you're flying to is in that zone so that you don't have to worry about not having it available. Also with this, pre-check approval line isn't always open and available even at the airports that it is available at. So for example, we flew out on a red eye that didn't leave until like 1130 at night and the pre-check line was not available to us. However, when we did scan our boarding pass, I asked the lady at the security and I said, do I need to show this to someone? I'd be a pre-check approved. And she said, just show it to the guys. At the security, they'll have you just go through another section. You won't have to take off your shoes. You'll probably be fine. I did have to over make my dad and my mom take off their shoes. But I don't know if that's because they were just kind of a pitty about it because they went through and were like, hey, where TSA pre-check approved. We don't have to do this. They're like, well, do it anyway. So I don't know. Number six. You can use TSA pre-check approval for international flights when you're leaving the US. This does not get you through security internationally. Fast are coming home. However, when you're leaving the US and you have to go through security in the airports that you're leaving from here in the United States, it will. Number seven. You still have to follow TSA rules. This doesn't give you priority boarding from your airline. This just gets you through security faster. Number eight. The processing of your approval can take up to three weeks. However, you can go online and check your approval status. Mine showed up three days after I went in for my meeting. Then the letter came with the number on it seven days after my original meeting. It's a one week. You can get your known traveler number online when you view your status and then use it for your airlines. You don't have to have the paper. You don't usually have to show the paper even when you're traveling. Number nine. In order to use your TSA pre-check approval, you will need your known traveling number. You're K-T-N. That is the number that you will need to get to your airline. You will need to give it to each airline before you travel. This isn't automatically shared with them. They have no idea unless you tell them. Make sure you tell every airline that you're on that this is your own traveling number. Then it will be printed out on your boarding pass. If it's not on your boarding pass, whether you are pre-check approved or not, you do not get to go through that line. You need to make sure that it's on your boarding pass. Also with this, make sure that your driver's license or your ID that you're using has the same name as your boarding pass and that is the same name as your known travel number. If you use your middle name, it means to be on there. Finally, number 10. Just because you have been PSA pre-check approved once or before does not mean that you will get it again or that you will be able to keep it. They do have the right to kick you out of the club. You can be disqualified from you for it if you break the rules. It doesn't mean that you get it per life. It doesn't mean that you can't be kicked out. You have to do your part to keep this. Now that we have all 10 of those explanations, hopefully that helps you make your decision. In my opinion, this can be a great tool for a family. It gets you through so much faster. Like I said, we literally were from dropping off our car, checking two bags, going to the bathroom with the kids, through security, through the jet blue terminal that was supposed to take a long time to our gate and relax sitting young and getting the kids home before the flight in 45 minutes. It took us longer to get to the airport than it took us to get through security, which in my book is a plus. In fact, if they had a pre-check approval for the Burger King line at the airport, I would have used it because it took me just as long to get through the line to order my kids something for food for that night as it did to get through security and to our boarding gate. In my opinion, it's well worth it, even if it was just for this one trip. However, I know that it's going to be something that you're going to have to decide on your own. However, again, like I said, if you do have one of those credit cards that is for you, it's a no-brainer. Check your credit card, make sure before you go in for an approval, or if you're thinking about it, check their credit card and see if you can your bump up to one of those if it works for your family. Or if you already have that one, go get it. It's totally worth it. Hopefully this helps you guys, and we'll see you next time.