Few things are as easy on the eyes as the following two magical words printed on your boarding pass: “TSA PreCheck.” The phrase means a smoother, and oftentimes faster, security procedure, which is usually one of the most painful airport experiences (besides buying the most expensive bottled water you’ve ever seen).

However, time is money, after all, and the option to save time doesn’t come for free. So, is it worth getting TSA PreCheck? Let’s find out.

What is TSA PreCheck?

TSA PreCheck is a Trusted Traveler program run by the Transportation Security Administration that allows you to go through a dedicated security line at more than 200 U.S. airports. When going through this line, you can keep the following items in your carry-on bag or on your person:

3-1-1 liquids.

Belts.

Laptops.

Light jackets.

Shoes.

Now that travelers are returning to the skies after pandemic lockdowns, TSA lines are getting longer, and many have decided that TSA PreCheck membership is worth paying money for. How much money? In the grand scheme of things, not that much.

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How much does TSA PreCheck cost?

TSA PreCheck costs $78 and is valid for five years, which comes out to $17 per year. Children ages 12 and younger can join their parents in the PreCheck line at no cost with no restrictions, while teenagers aged 13-17 can accompany parents or guardians when traveling on the same reservation so long as the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on the child's boarding pass.

Renewing your membership after five years costs another $78 if you renew in person or $70 if you renew online. However, there are multiple ways to get the membership fee covered. (More on this below.)

If you’re a member of another trusted traveler program, such as Global Entry, Nexus or Sentri, TSA PreCheck is included in your membership, so you might already have access to it and don’t know it yet.

TSA PreCheck benefits

There are several TSA PreCheck benefits, and when combined, they’re quite valuable to a frequent traveler. Examples include:

Security lines are often shorter. Just how much time does TSA PreCheck save? TSA estimates that 95% of TSA PreCheck passengers wait less than five minutes in the security line. This is a small amount of time separating you from the back of the security line to the terminal, meaning the most useful benefit is, of course, saving time.

You can leave your shoes on. Having to take off footwear in a public space that hundreds of thousands of passengers go through is so … icky. With TSA PreCheck, you can keep your shoes on and your socks clean.

Your laptop and liquids don’t need separate security bins. You know how sometimes you pack your carry-on bag so flawlessly, any disturbance will mess up the entire Tetris-style order inside? Being a TSA PreCheck member allows you to keep your laptop and liquids perfectly packed.

How to know if TSA PreCheck is right for you

You can never predict your post-PreCheck future, but following these steps can help you make the best possible choice.

Step 1: Compare different Trusted Traveler programs versus skipping such services altogether

Familiarize yourself with what Trusted Traveler programs are and what they do.

TSA PreCheck.

Global Entry.

Nexus.

Sentri.

Fast (for commercial truck drivers).

They’re designed for different kinds of travelers, but many also include TSA PreCheck. Are you a globetrotter? Do you cross the border between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico often? It’s possible that one of these programs works better than the other for your personal travel patterns.

Step 2: Assess the upsides

What it comes down to is this — how much time are you willing to spend at the airport? The upside of having access to a PreCheck line is less time waiting and more time doing the things you actually enjoy (like kicking back in an airport lounge or sipping on your latte while people-watching at the gate).

If you take early morning flights, you also get more opportunities to hit the snooze button.

Step 3: Understand the costs

Although TSA PreCheck membership isn’t free, $78 for five years isn’t an outrageous sum of money. That comes out to $17 a year; if you fly every other month, you essentially pay $3 a pop for less stress and more convenience at security.