Flyers who don’t want to deal with the hassle of long security lines and happen to be flying with Cayman Airways, French Bee, Titan Airways or Zipair are in luck.
The Transportation Security Administration added the four airlines to its expedited TSA PreCheck program on Tuesday. This allows passengers flying with these carriers to forgo the process of taking off shoes and removing laptops from their backpacks.
The addition of French Bee and Zipair marks an expansion of low-cost international carriers into TSA PreCheck. French Bee is a relatively new low-cost carrier that operates from its base in Paris Orly Airport (ORY) and flies to Los Angeles, Miami, Newark and San Francisco. Zipair — which just launched flights to San Francisco in June — is a Japanese low-cost carrier and a subsidiary of Japan Airlines.
While not low-cost carriers, Cayman Airways and Titan Airways are both smaller airlines.
Cayman Airways is the flag carrier of the Cayman Islands and primarily flies to destinations within the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean. It also flies to U.S. cities Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Tampa, and it operates a seasonal flight to Denver.
Titan Airways is a British charter company that — in addition to charters — occasionally uses its planes to operate flights on behalf of other carriers.
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TSA PreCheck is now available at 200 U.S. airports and 90 airlines with the most recent expansion.
The expedited screening program has become increasingly popular for flyers, and TSA announced on Saturday that it currently has 16 million active TSA PreCheck users. In May, TSA also expanded the program to allow for teenagers 13 to 17 years old to accompany a parent or guardian who is already enrolled in TSA PreCheck.
Despite TSA PreCheck’s increasing popularity, coupled with the chaos of delays and cancellations that mark summer travel, the agency has kept wait times low for the expedited screening program. This summer, travelers in TSA PreCheck spent around 10 minutes or less in security screenings.
Costing $85, a five-year TSA PreCheck membership is open to travelers who are U.S. citizens. TSA PreCheck can be renewed six months before the membership expires, with five-year renewals costing $70. Members of other travel programs like Global Entry are also eligible for TSA PreCheck.
There are also ways to get TSA PreCheck without paying the out-of-pocket costs for the program. Certain credit cards offer statement credits that will cover the TSA PreCheck application fees, which reimburse travelers once they’re enrolled in the program and when they renew their memberships.
TSA PreCheck issues flyers a Known Traveler Number that indicates their eligibility for the program. Flyers can then apply that number to flight bookings with participating carriers at select airports and skip the long security lines.
