TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is officially live at more than 60 airports across the country, and after the chaos of the recent government shutdown, this is genuinely the best news airport security has had in months. The Transportation Security Administration wrapped up an aggressive rollout late last month, hitting its target of expanding the hands-free, photo-based screening service to 50 additional airports by spring — even with a partial government shutdown still technically dragging on.
If you have TSA PreCheck (or access to it through Global Entry) and you’ve been hearing about Touchless ID without really knowing what it is, this is the post that catches you up. Here’s everything you need to know about how it works, where it’s available, how to opt in through your airline, and which credit cards will reimburse you for the application fee so you never pay out of pocket.
You can browse the full list of cards that include the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry credit here
What Is TSA PreCheck Touchless ID?
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is a separate, faster lane within existing PreCheck checkpoints that uses facial recognition to verify your identity. Instead of pulling out your boarding pass and ID at the podium, you walk up to the camera, get matched against your passport or driver’s license photo on file, and keep moving.
It’s similar to how Clear works, but it’s free for anyone already enrolled in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. There’s no separate membership fee and no monthly cost.
The program is optional and opt-in. Just having PreCheck doesn’t automatically enroll you. You have to link your account through a participating airline before your trip, which I’ll walk you through below.
Which Airports Have TSA PreCheck Touchless ID?
The Touchless ID lanes are now at most major hubs and a significantly expanded list of medium-sized airports, from Atlanta and LAX to Jacksonville, Boise, and Albuquerque. As of late April 2026, 60+ airports are participating.
A critical caveat: even at airports on the list, Touchless ID is not always available at every terminal or every checkpoint. Coverage varies by airline partnership and individual checkpoint staffing. The technology can also go offline temporarily for maintenance. Always bring a valid Real ID or approved alternative as a backup.
The TSA has not published a single master airport list, but six participating airlines maintain their own. Each airline’s lookup page is the authoritative source for whether your departure airport has Touchless ID active for your specific flight.
How To Sign Up for TSA PreCheck Touchless ID
Signing up takes about two minutes and happens entirely through your airline account, not through the TSA directly. The general process is the same across all six airlines: log into your loyalty profile, find the Touchless ID or biometric opt-in setting, agree to the photo match, and you’re done.
Here is what you’re looking for in each airline’s app or website.
American Airlines AAdvantage. Log in, go to your account profile, and look for “TSA PreCheck Touchless ID” under your travel preferences. Toggle it on. American was one of the first airlines to roll out Touchless ID and is now available at more participating airports than any other carrier.
Delta SkyMiles. Open the Fly Delta app, go to your profile, tap “Basic Info and Passport Details” and select “Touchless ID”
United MileagePlus. Log into your United account, navigate to profile preferences, and look for the Touchless ID opt-in. United also requires that your Known Traveler Number be saved to your profile.
Southwest Rapid Rewards. Southwest recently rolled out Touchless ID and the early adoption has been strong. Sign up via the Southwest app or website under account settings.
Alaska Mileage Plan and Hawaiian Airlines. Alaska and Hawaiian use a unified Touchless ID enrollment under their shared ownership. Log into your Alaska account and enable it under travel documents.
You only need to opt in once per airline, but if you fly multiple carriers regularly, opt in across all of them. There is no penalty or downside to enrolling with multiple airlines, and your single TSA PreCheck membership covers you across all of them.
Do You Still Need a Real ID?
Yes. Even if you opt into TSA PreCheck Touchless ID and your departure airport is on the list, you should always travel with a valid Real ID, passport, or other TSA-accepted form of identification. The Touchless ID lane can be temporarily out of service, your terminal might not have it active, and the photo match occasionally fails for reasons that have nothing to do with you (hat, glasses, lighting, hair change since your last passport photo).
Real ID enforcement has been in effect since May 2025. If you don’t have one, get one. Touchless ID is a convenience layer on top of normal ID requirements, not a replacement for them.
Best Credit Cards That Cover TSA PreCheck and Global Entry
If you don’t already have TSA PreCheck, this is the moment to enroll. Touchless ID is the best version of PreCheck that has ever existed, and a handful of premium travel cards will reimburse the application fee outright as a statement credit. You charge the PreCheck or Global Entry fee to a qualifying card and the credit posts within a few days.
A large selection of cards currently include this credit. Annual fees range from $95 to $895 depending on the card.
You can browse the full list of cards that include the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry credit here
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID vs. Clear: Do You Still Need Both?
For most travelers, no. Clear at $209 a year was already a tough sell for anyone with PreCheck, since PreCheck handled the security screening half of the equation and Clear only sped up the ID-check portion. Touchless ID essentially folds Clear’s identity-verification advantage into PreCheck for free, which makes the Clear value proposition much weaker for the average flyer.
Where Clear still wins: airports where Touchless ID is not yet available, the standard non-PreCheck lanes (Clear works in those, Touchless ID does not), and a handful of stadiums and event venues where Clear partnerships exist outside of airports. If you fly out of a non-Touchless-ID hub or you frequently travel without PreCheck access, Clear can still earn its keep. For everyone else, Touchless ID is the smarter free option.
If you’re paying for Clear primarily because of one specific airport, check that airport’s Touchless ID status before your next renewal. The list keeps growing.
Important note: While Clear may not help you move faster through the airport in most cases, I have definitely personally encountered situations where it sped things up significantly. A lot of the cards in the list above cover both PreCheck/Global Entry and Clear, so there’s no reason to not have them all!
What About Global Entry After the Government Shutdown?
Global Entry processing took a beating during the recent partial government shutdown. The program was suspended for 17 days in late February before DHS reopened it on March 11, and processing delays and interview cancellations are still working through the backlog. If you have a Global Entry interview scheduled, check the Trusted Traveler Programs portal before you go to confirm your enrollment center is fully operational.
Existing Global Entry memberships were never canceled. Your Known Traveler Number is intact, your benefits are intact, and Global Entry kiosks are operating normally at international airports. The shutdown caused friction in enrollment, not in the actual program. And critically, Global Entry membership grants you access to TSA PreCheck Touchless ID at no additional cost, so the same opt-in process applies whether you got into PreCheck directly or through Global Entry.
For more on the shutdown’s impact on PreCheck specifically, see our earlier coverage of the TSA PreCheck government shutdown situation.
Bottom Line
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is the rare airport security upgrade that is genuinely worth the small effort to enroll. It is faster than the standard PreCheck lane, it costs nothing beyond the membership you probably already have, and it now covers most of the airports a typical US traveler would actually fly out of.
Two minutes in your airline app gets you set up. The right credit card makes the underlying PreCheck membership free. And the next time you walk past a snaking standard security line at a major hub, you’ll feel like the system is finally working in your favor.
Build it into your pre-trip checklist alongside checking your seat assignment and confirming your KTN is on your reservation. It’s that easy to start using.
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