I know it sounds like a ridiculous thing to do, but my mother was enrolled in TSA precheck (she is a frequent flier) and she wants out. She says she never agreed to it (I'm assuming she was enrolled by the airline) but it automatically prints on her boarding pass.

What is the best way to do this...talk to the airline and ask them to opt her out? Can you even opt out of this program once you are in? The TSA.gov website indicates that you can't (it says "TSA and airlines cannot limit printing of the TSA precheck indicator to the TSA precheck participating airports"). This makes no sense because someone at TSA and/or the airline had to approve my mom for TSA recheck in the first place...why wouldn't they be able to remove her?

I'm not sure I understand the problem. Just don't go in the TSA precheck line.

It varies by airport but sometimes the entry for the TSA precheck might be reasonably far away from the TSA precheck area. They're not going to force you to use the TSA pre line.

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I'm not sure I understand the problem. Just don't go in the TSA precheck line.

It varies by airport but sometimes the entry for the TSA precheck might be reasonably far away from the TSA precheck area. They're not going to force you to use the TSA pre line.

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That's exactly the problem...her boarding pass says A-List and TSA precheck. She prefers the A-List line because she is handicapped (but not in a wheelchair) and it is always the shorter line. But the TSA employees at the security checkpoint at HOU keep insisting that she HAS to go through the TSA pre-check line. She's discussed this issue with the airline employees at the airport and the TSA management at the airport, and they have all confirmed that she can use the A-List line. But then she goes to board her plane and gets hassled by the people at the security checkpoint telling her she's in the wrong line and needs to leave and go back through the TSA precheck line.

This has been going on for a couple of months with no progress. It's only HOU where she has this problem. The TSA staff at her home airport are completely accommodating.

I know on the United site there is a opt in / opt out page for precheck once you are approved for it. I assume it's the same for all airlines.

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I know on the United site there is a opt in / opt out page for precheck once you are approved for it. I assume it's the same for all airlines.

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I'm not sure Southwest is the same. The TSA precheck status automatically prints on her boarding pass. My son, who often flies as an unaccompanied minor on SW, also gets TSA pre-check status. But I don't have any recollection of opting him in to that. Actually, I can't even get his boarding pass online - we have to stand in line at the ticket counter. So, I know I didn't opt him into anything inadvertently simply by printing his BP.

All she has to do is fly a ****ty airline like spirit or frontier all the time who don't even give you the option of precheck

She's a frequent flier who prefers to stand in a longer line,, take her laptop/liquids out and her shoes off at security, and doesn't want to board with the early groups?

Why doesn't she simply stand in the long non-precheck lane and go through security with all the amateurs? I'm sure the TSA agent checking boarding passes would let her - they don't force people to go into the shorter, less hassle line

Also, at this point, you don't even have to "enroll" in precheck like many of us did back in the day. If you're over a certain age you automatically get it - which is annoying because elderly, infrequent fliers slow down the lane that used to be a perk.

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She's a frequent flier who prefers to stand in a longer line,, take her laptop/liquids out and her shoes off at security, and doesn't want to board with the early groups?

Why doesn't she simply stand in the long non-precheck lane and go through security with all the amateurs? I'm sure the TSA agent checking boarding passes would let her - they don't force people to go into the shorter, less hassle line

Also, at this point, you don't even have to "enroll" in precheck like many of us did back in the day. If you're over a certain age you automatically get it - which is annoying because elderly, infrequent fliers slow down the lane that used to be a perk.

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No, she wants to go in the A-List line, which is the line for frequent SW travelers and people in wheelchairs. At HOU, this also used to be the line that they would let families with young kids go in, before there was TSA precheck. She never travels with a laptop or liquids and doesn't mind taking off her shoes. At her home airport, the TSA precheck line would require her to walk farther, so she doesn't use it, and the TSA agents don't bother her about it. They let her go in the A-list line like she always has. She has never had to use the "regular" line because she is handicapped and/or A-List (take your pick, as both apply) and certainly doesn't want to start now.

She swears that at HOU the A-List line is always shorter than the TSA precheck line. I've never had to wait long in the TSA precheck line, so that hasn't been my experience. But all of the handicapped people in wheelchairs still go to the A-List security line, so she is frustrated that, even though she is obviously handicapped (she uses a cane but not a wheelchair), she is told she can't use the A-List line and has to use the TSA precheck line instead (her boarding pass says both).

Like I said, I realize this sounds like a ridiculous request, but I just don't want to have to bail my mom out of jail for getting into an altercation with a TSA rep over a security line disagreement. Since she's tried talking to both TSA and SW management at HOU but is still having the problem, I'm trying to come up with other options on how she might can solve it (that don't end up getting her on the no-fly list).

Oh that makes sense. I see lots of non-pre check people find out they have pre check once they get to the TSA agent. The agent will tell them they can go to the pre check lane at that point, but Ive never seen them make people do it. I would think saying, "I'm handicapped and that's too far of a walk. I'm okay going through regular security" would suffice.

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Oh that makes sense. I see lots of non-pre check people find out they have pre check once they get to the TSA agent. The agent will tell them they can go to the pre check lane at that point, but Ive never seen them make people do it. I would think saying, "I'm handicapped and that's too far of a walk. I'm okay going through regular security" would suffice.

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You'd think, but evidently not at HOU. She gets scolded for being in the wrong line. One time, she just ignored the TSA agent and walked around him/her like she didn't hear that she was in the wrong line (frankly, I'm surprised that didn't get her detained). The other day, she said the TSA lady told her she "better not get in the A-List line again". Since she flies so often, I'm afraid the TSA staff will start to recognize her, label her as "troublesome", and make her travel even more difficult just because they can. We are baffled as to why they would force someone to go in the TSA precheck line.

When you book a flight it asks for your known traveler number or whatever it's called. If you leave it blank when booking you shouldn't have precheck on your boarding pass.

Disclaimer: I've never done this so its an assumption

Also, pretty sure she had to agree to it. The airlines will offer it to you at no charge if you fly a lot but definitely don't think they can do the background check without your approval.

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When you book a flight it asks for your known traveler number or whatever it's called. If you leave it blank when booking you shouldn't have precheck on your boarding pass.

Disclaimer: I've never done this so its an assumption

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I've been reading up on it, and this would appear to be the case. However, knowing my mother, I'm 99.9% certain that she doesn't have a known traveler number. She's doing good just to keep up with her rapid rewards number and credit card number.

Also, my son got picked for TSA precheck when he flew as an unaccompanied minor a couple of weeks ago. And I know he doesn't have a known traveler number. So, this makes me think SW is identifying certain passengers as TSA-pre. I could be wrong, though. I will ask her.

Regardless, though, the Southwest website has a FAQs page that specifically says you DO NOT have to use the TSA precheck line and can continue to use the A-list line (now called Fly By Security) if you so choose.

You can get randomly picked for precheck. But it won't print on your boarding pass. Basically if regular security is slow they'll often send every 5th group, or whatever the case may be, to the precheck line.

I asked her about the known traveler number and she said she's never heard of it. From what I read, you have to input it every time you buy a ticket, and she said she's never done that. She also said TSA-Pre prints on her BP, but I haven't verified that with my own eyes.

I told her to call SW customer service and explain it all to them and see if they could help. Other than that, I'm at a loss of how else to help her - other than to make sure I always have bail money in case she decides to whack a TSA agent with her cane.

At one point, someone entered the known traveler number on her account. She may be able to unlink it.

Ask for her log in info to SWA Rewards

Pretty sure you have to hav a number for it to print on the boarding pass. I know united saves mine so I don't have to put it in every time

I'm in her rapid rewards account and I don't see any reference to the known traveler number. It's not under her name and other personal info, and I checked the reservation for her next flight (it's next week and is already booked), and it's not showing there, either.

I also went through the steps to book a flight. There is a place where you can enter a known travel number, but it is not auto-filled (whereas her name, birthday, and rapid rewards account number are auto-filled).

I should stop posting when I'm tired. What I wrote doesn't make sense

What I meant is that at an airport like Las Vegas where I was on Saturday, you might have to go farther to get to the TSA Precheck line.

Some airlines like United out of Houston Intercontinental put all their frequent fliers in the TSA precheck line. Thus, often times the TSA precheck is significantly longer than the regular line. I don't think I've had any trouble going in the shorter line but, I can't say that I had that specific problem for sure. I have the same problem at SFO where there are tons of United FF in the TSA Pre line.

My last flight out of SFO two weeks ago, I got super lucky because I didn't get TSA Pre but... I did get in the Premeir Access line which probably saved me 200 people in line.

Actually, what you said did make sense to me, but I think that's because her problem is so weird!

She doesn't want to be in the TSA-pre line. She's been using the Southwest A-List line for nearly 10 years with no problem, so nothing is going to change her mind about that. But as long as she has A-List status, it shouldn't matter what line she gets in. The people at her home airport don't care. That TSA-pre line is a farther walk, so they see her cane and A-list status and let her go in whatever line she wants. The people at Hobby just aren't that accommodating and /or smart. She has been told multiple times by front-line TSA staff at HOU that if she is TSA-pre then she HAS to go in that line. She went in it once a few months back and it was long, she had to stand for a while, and it was really uncomfortable for her. I'm pretty sure the TSA-pre line could be empty and she still would never go in it again. This past trip, she made it all the way up to the TSA podium in the A-List line and the TSA lady told her she was in the wrong line and needed to walk all the way back out of the A-List line and go get in the TSA-pre line. WTH kind of sense does that make, especially when talking to a partially disabled person? Then the lady told her that she would make an exception "this time" but if she got in the A-List line ever again, she wouldn't be allowed through. It's all just craziness, but I'm trying to be helpful.

We have the name and email of the head of TSA at Hobby and I'm going to draft an email for her explaining the situation.

The weird thing is, though, I can't for the life of me figure out how/why she is even getting TSA-pre on her boarding pass. She never applied for it and doesn't have a traveler number. And it always prints out on her boarding pass. My idea was to get her out of TSA-pre, but it's kind of hard to do that when I don't know how she got in it in the first place. And it kind of makes me wonder about the integrity of the program...how many other people got TSA-pre status without asking, applying, or getting a traveler number???

You don't need to enroll to get it. My mom gets it with Southwest as well. Before I had Pre myself I'd get pissed since she has never enrolled and rarely flies.

Id call Southwest and see what they could do. Does seem a strange request though. Also very strange that they require she use the lane.

I just want to say thanks for all of the replies; they have been very helpful. It's easy for her to get worked up about stuff like this, But everything posted here has helped me explain the situation and help her form a plan to (hopefully) get the problem resolved. I do appreciate it.

I'm a little late to the party here but...

When precheck was originally launched the TSA solicited frequent flyers from a handful of airlines (UA, AA, and SWA I think) who met a certain set of criteria. I guess they figured if you hadn't blown up an airplane after flying XXX,XXX miles you probably weren't going to. They soft launched precheck with these people. These people will not have a known traveler number unless they register directly with precheck or Global Entry. I was in this group initially with AA.

For this group of people precheck is tied to their frequent flyer numbers in the Airline's computer system. That in turn authenticates with whatever system the TSA has.

I've done exactly what your mother wishes to do at one airport I frequent. When they rejiggered for precheck they moved the First Class line way off to the side. As a result during busy times the plain First Class lines will only have 2 or 3 people while the precheck line will have 10's or 100's...most of them people "diverted randomly" to that line who have no idea what to do.

My solution is to check in at the ticket counter and ask them to remove my frequent flyer number, print my boarding pass, and then add my frequent flyer number back in. This is with AA; with SWA you could make it even easier since you aren't vying for an upgrade before flight. Just book your flight without your FF #, check in online/at the airport, clear security, and then add the number back in at the gate. Make sure to force them to reprint your boarding pass so you can visually verify your number is there. The downside is she wouldn't be able to use priority security.

I would be surprised if the TSA lets her opt out on her own though. Their general training reinforces that the TSA should make decisions about where a passenger goes and how they are screened. If the passenger wants to control that process that means the passenger could be gaming the system. If you find someone high up with enough brain power to understand the logic of your mother's request you might have a shot. The odds of finding a boot on the ground with that level of intelligence is probably pretty slim.

GiggigityAg...thanks for the reply. That was helpful info on how she wound up on the TSA-pre list without a known traveler number.

She actually called Hobby and got the name and email address of the director of TSA there. I helped her draft an email, and he followed up by calling to talk with her about this specific problem. She said he was very nice and based in their conversation, she is not expecting to have any problem when she leaves HOU on her outbound flight early next week. He confirmed that she can use either the TSA pre line or the priority-A-list line. And if she does have trouble, she has an email that she can show, and she knows exactly who to ask for to get it resolved. Kudos to the HOU staff for helping her sort this out!

I'm impressed. I guess atleast at management levels there are some competent folks.