Face First with Touchless ID: The TSA PreCheck® Upgrade That Saves Time

While there are a multitude of trusted traveler programs designed to smooth your passage through airport security and customs, one feature recently added to TSA PreCheck pushes that program beyond basic security streamlining into a nearly wait-free airport dream: Touchless ID.

TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is an optional enhancement to the existing TSA PreCheck program that uses biometric facial recognition to confirm traveler identity at select security checkpoints. Instead of showing a physical ID to a TSA officer, travelers simply step up to a camera, pause briefly, and receive confirmation once their identity has been matched to the photo associated with their passport and boarding information.

The system works by securely comparing the live image captured at the checkpoint with existing government-issued travel documentation already on file through your airline. According to TSA, images are not stored long-term for U.S. citizens, and participation remains entirely optional. Travelers may always choose to use traditional ID verification instead.

Travelers may opt-in to Touchless ID with their participating airline of choice directly. Typically, this is completed via airline loyalty accounts, most often within the traveler information section.

Touchless ID is currently available at select airports across the United States and continues expanding. For frequent flyers, particularly those already enrolled in TSA PreCheck, the experience feels like the logical next evolution: no digging through bags for identification, no handing documents back and forth, and significantly reduced checkpoint interaction time.

Full disclosure: I am not a traveler who gets to the airport two hours early. I would rather miss a flight (I never have) than spend an extra moment in the airport. So, when TSA PreCheck unveiled its Touchless ID program where I could simply use my face as my ID, allowing me quicker passage through the airport security gauntlet, I jumped at the chance.

Thus, I arrived bleary-eyed at Portland International Airport at 6 a.m. for a 7 a.m. flight to Santa Ana in Southern California hoping to get through security in a time measured in seconds instead of minutes.

With my digital boarding pass featuring the Touchless ID symbol denoting my access, I approached the empty Touchless ID line and confirmed with the agent that I could proceed. I bypassed the regular TSA PreCheck line of 40 or so people and walked to an agent who instructed me to stand on a spot on the floor for my photo. Less than a second later I was in the baggage screening and metal detector line. This portion is always fast at Portland International Airport, so I was through the other side in approximately 1.5 minutes – a record for me.

I was through security so quickly, in fact, that I still had time to grab breakfast well ahead of my 6:20 a.m. boarding time.

In short, the experience was, well, short. And that’s exactly how I like it. My return journey from Santa Ana, unfortunately, didn’t allow Touchless ID at the time due to a system outage, so I was stuck presenting my ID like everyone else. That vastly different experience highlighted the massive time-savings between the two programs.

Since then, I have been an evangelist for Touchless ID. If you have TSA Pre-Check already, you’re one step closer to enjoying this seamless process for yourself.