Frustrated with the long security line you stood in at the airport when you started this trip?
Sign up for the TSA PreCheck program.
While you can't skip the lines altogether, you'll get into a much shorter one at the checkpoint. And you can keep your shoes, belt and light jacket on and your liquids and laptops in.
Start the process online, at tsa.gov/PreCheck. It takes about five minutes. After that you must show up in person at an enrollment center for a further 10-minute evaluation process that includes taking fingerprints (electronically) and initiating a background check. A five-year membership costs $85 -- that's only $17 per year.
Most enrollment centers are at airports, so you may actually be able to complete the registration process while you're waiting for your connecting flight. Find the nearest center at universalenroll.dhs.gov/locator?serviceCode=11115V.
Here's the documentation you'll need:
• A current, valid passport. That's the "gold standard," says regional TSA spokesman Sari Koshetz.
Lacking a passport, you'll need:
• Another other form of government ID -- driver's license, ID card or Permanent Resident Card,
and
• Your birth certificate.
Note that your legal name must match exactly on all identification documents you bring to enrollment.
The background check takes anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to complete, but improvements in technology have shortened the process. So it's possible that, if your trip takes a week, you may get your notice from the TSA via email with your "Known Traveler Number."
Plug that into every airline reservation you make -- online; by phone with an airline reservation agent; or, if you're having a third-party travel management company like Expedia or Travelocity. You can also plug it into your frequent-flier profile. "TSA PreCheck " will appear on your boarding pass.
Call the TSA -- application: (855) 347-8371; customer service: (866) 289-9673.