Was traveling through LGA a few days ago and kids were not allowed to join me in the Touchless ID lane - guy barked "new policy as of a week ago". Anyone have any updated information on that?
FWIW I don't see anything about it on the TSA website.
Have not checked all the airlines but-
Delta's website says kids have to opt-in and lets kids opt-in.
American's website says the opposite (after not saying anything about it for awhile) and will not let children opt-in to Touchless ID (says you have to be 18 to opt-in):
Traveling with children
Children 17 years and younger on the same reservation can join you in the TSA PreCheck® Touchless ID lane. They won’t use Touchless ID and will have their boarding pass scanned.
Hey Peter, that’s a shame. Sounds like a mismatch of expectations by the airlines vs. TSA policy and local agents implementation. I feel the same way about TSA agents as I do about NYPD mounted police; like, that guy’s on a horse, and I’m a mere pedestrian that can get trampled. With TSA, if I don’t comply, I guess I don’t fly, even if I think they’re selectively enforcing a silly rule. TouchlessID is 18+… ok, so the kids can’t join; I guess it’s general, PreCheck, or CLEAR, if they’ll allow them. Wish it were clearer and better. And, the least the folks at LGA could do is bark a little less… bah!
I mean, waiting the 90 seconds in the TSA pre-check line was not intolerable versus the 30 seconds in the Touchless ID line, but would be nice if they could all get the baseline rules in order on a new major initiative (versus focusing on taking away PDBs earlier). That's the TSA Gold+ service I expect!
@1990_ all credit is due and owing to the underscore, which surely has been responsible for your meteoric rise to OMAAT Diamond.
Can't do better than NY's motto!
@peter_ 100% It's all about that sweet, sweet "_" ...and for those working in NY, but living in the Garden State: Liberty and Prosperity! (I draw the line at Connecticut... 'Transplanted'? What? Bah!)
My experience: UA and DL allow a child to opt-in. The whole family, child included, gets boarding passes that say touchless. The gatekeeper at the entry to pre-check allows the entire family into the touchless lane. HOWEVER: at the actual checkpoint, the TSA agent does not have the child look at the camera. Instead, the TSA agent asks you to scan the child's boarding pass. Thus, we've been able to use the touchless lane, but you still have to keep your phone handy, with the boarding pass handy.
@cravencottage Right, that's been my experience as well when I've used the touchless ID lanes with children on prior occasions. The problem is AA does not let you opt-in for children. So AA needs to fix it. I've submitted my complaint to AA to inform them / ask about this... and off it goes into the void...