TSA Precheck and 13YO Southwest Companion

[hlfuhrman]

Hello!

I am in the process of getting TSA PreCheck for myself, and also have a 13YO son as my Southwest Companion. The TSA PreCheck site says my son can accompany me through PreCheck if we are on the same reservation and Pre-check appears on his boarding pass (for children 13-17). However, SW Companions always have a different reservation number--does that mean he won't get the PreCheck indicator on his boarding pass? 

Has anyone had this situation or know what will happen?

Thanks so much for your help!

Hillary

[gsking]

He can only go with you if he’s 12.  If he looks young and says he’s12, he might be able to slide.

 Just get him precheck.  

[SoCalFlyer97]

---

@hlfuhrman wrote:

Hello!

I am in the process of getting TSA PreCheck for myself, and also have a 13YO son as my Southwest Companion. The TSA PreCheck site says my son can accompany me through PreCheck if we are on the same reservation and Pre-check appears on his boarding pass (for children 13-17). However, SW Companions always have a different reservation number--does that mean he won't get the PreCheck indicator on his boarding pass? 

Has anyone had this situation or know what will happen?

Thanks so much for your help!

Hillary

---

Hi! As you mentioned, per TSA:

Children 13-17 may join enrolled adults when traveling on the same reservation and if the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on the child’s boarding pass. Children 12 and under may accompany an enrolled parent or guardian in the TSA PreCheck lanes without restriction.

I assume the answer to your question is No PreCheck for your child since the reservation number will be different. As @gsking suggested, I would have him enroll separately but I would positively not declare to the TSA agent that he is 12 when in reality is 13.

Also, I would try calling Southwest Customer Service to see if your child's reservation as a Companion can be merged to your reservation. They may say "No" as this is a Rapid Rewards perk but it doesn't hurt to ask a CSA.

www.southwest.com/html/contact-us/

Keep in mind that there is still no guarantee that your child will get the PreCheck logo on the boarding pass with this method. Therefore, I would enroll him too in PreCheck.

[ChrisJCrowther]

I have been on the phone with multiple agents today, to include speaking to two agents here at the airport.  What a pain.

TSA’s official stance is any minor 17 and younger can go through TSA pre-check with their parent PROVIDING the airline puts the pre-check on the minors ticket.  They do not care if it’s on one reservation, two reservations. backwards reservations, upside down reservations, whatever.  The only policy they have is that the airline confirms the minor is in fact related to the TSA approved parent/guardian.

Southwest’s policy and/or the way they have programmed the computers ONLY allows Southwest to put the pre-check on minors traveling under the same reservation number… and if your minor is the companion then per Southwest policy and/or computer system they will be assigned a separate reservation number… so you are correct, if your minor is your companion, then your minor will never receive the TSA pre-check based upon the way Southwest has structured it’s policy and computer system.  

[dfwskier]

This topic has come up before:

https://community.southwest.com/t5/Travel-Policies/Teenager-TSA-Pre-Check/m-p/160081

I don't think it was resolved there

They key points are

1) TSA Pre must be on the teen's boarding pass 

2) The question is "Is SW's computer system smart enough to put it there?"

[DancingDavidE]

---

@dfwskier wrote:

This topic has come up before:

https://community.southwest.com/t5/Travel-Policies/Teenager-TSA-Pre-Check/m-p/160081

I don't think it was resolved there

They key points are

1) TSA Pre must be on the teen's boarding pass 

2) The question is "Is SW's computer system smart enough to put it there?"

---

I believe the discussion over there on point #2 was "no"

[gabelogan99]

---

@dfwskier wrote:

2) The question is "Is SW's computer system smart enough to put it there?"

---

Fun fact, and I'm not sure if you already knew this or not but... the computer system isn't smart enough to put the PRBD designation on a boarding pass for someone who purchased an extra seat.