Alaska Airlines Now Lets You Use Frequent Flyer Miles For TSA PreCheck Membership

Image courtesy of zonaphoto

It’s been two years since the Transportation Security Administration declared that the PreCheck airport security fast lanes — no removing shoes, no taking your laptop out of your bag — is only for paying customers. Now Alaska Airlines is letting its frequent fliers use their airline miles to pay the PreCheck  membership fee.

Alaska Airlines launched a new program on Monday that allows passengers to redeem 10,000 miles to cover the $85 cost of PreCheck screening charged by TSA.

The deal, which is redeemable until April 30, isn’t just for one pass-through of the TSA PreCheck lane, it covers five years of the program.

“TSA Precheck is a game-changer for those of us who travel frequently for work or pleasure,” Sangita Woerner, Alaska’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “This partnership between Mileage Plan and the TSA will allow more of our customers to take the guesswork out of the day of travel.”

But is spending 10,000 miles worth $85? That, of course, depends on what you use your miles for now.

A look at the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan shows that passengers earn miles in different ways: actual flight miles for the purchase of certain tickets, points through partnerships outside of the airline, and bonuses through credit cards and other promotions.

According to Alaska Airlines’ award chart, a trip on the airline in the continental U.S. will run you between 10,000 and 120,000 for a round trip flight depending on which ticket you book.

Passengers interested in redeeming their miles for the TSA PreCheck program can begin the process by sending an email to TSAredemption@alaskaair.com including their name and Alaska Airlines mileage plan number.

After deducting the 10,000 miles from applicants’ accounts, the airline will reply with a code that can be used on the TSA PreCheck application website.

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