The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last week that 6 more airlines have been added to the list of airlines that are available to offer TSA PreCheck.
Azul Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Swoop, PAL Express, VivaAerobus and Interjet have now been added to TSA Pre-Check’s roster. This brings the total to 73 domestic and international carriers.
- Austrian Airlines is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Part of the Star Alliance, the airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hub. It flies to Chicago, Los Angeles (seasonally), Miami (seasonally), New York (EWR & JFK) and Washington D.C. within the United States.
- Azul Airlines (a.k.a. Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A) is a Brazilian carrier based in a suburb of São Paulo. It has 4 hubs in Brazil and codeshares with JetBlue and United in the U.S. It flies to/from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando in the U.S.
- Interjet is a Mexican low cost airline headquartered in Mexico City. It’s the country’s third largest airline. It flies to Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City (JFK), Orange County CA, Orlando (MCO and SFB), San Antonio and San Francisco.
- PAL Express is the former Air Philippines and Airphil Express. Owned by Philippine Airlines, its main hub is in Manila. Within the U.S., it flies to/from Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City (EWR & JFK) and San Francisco.
- Swoop is a newer (2018) Canadian ultra low-cost carrier that’s owned by WestJet. Named after WestJet’s desire to “swoop” (or jump) into the Canadian market with a new business model (well, OK then…), its hubs are in Hamilton and Edmonton. Swoop’s U.S. destinations include Phoenix, Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, San Diego and Los Cabos.
- VivaAerobus is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA (they previously co-owned it with Ryanair). The airline has operating basis out of Cancun, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey, and flies to/from Houston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. It’s also scheduled to begin service to Chicago in late 2019.
Joe and I are always saying how great TSA PreCheck is – and that’s because it really is! 😉 But we realize that not everyone has or wants TSA PreCheck. If you don’t have a credit card that pays for it, it’s $85 per person and if you don’t fly very often, or tend to fly to/from airports that historically have bearable queues at the TSA checkpoint, it may not make financial sense to get it.
That being said, whenever more airlines are added to the TSA PreCheck program, it means more current Pre-Check customers will go on THAT line, instead of the regular checkpoint queue. So more airlines being added is actually good for everyone!
Click here to read the TSA’s 8/12/19 press release about Austrian, Interjet, PAL Express, Swoop and VivaAerobus, and here to read their 8/15/19 press release about Azul.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
