No plane ticket? New TSA program allows you to go to the gate

It’s been around 25 years since people without a plane ticket could access concourse gates at airports.

Now, a new Transportation Security Administration program will enable family members to greet or see off their loved ones at 13 airports across the country, including Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International.

Gateside by TSA PreCheck is now available at Nevada’s busiest airport and the TSA hopes to make the program available at the more than 400 commercial airports nationwide by the end of the year.

Under the free program introduced earlier this week, persons who possess trusted traveler identification, including TSA PreCheck, Global Entry providing similar passage for passengers doing international travel, NEXUS for air, land and sea passage between the United States and Canada, SENTRI for similar treatment between the United State and Mexico and FAST for commercial trucking passage between the U.S. and Mexico and Canada, and CLEAR, a private trusted traveler company, are eligible.

Program participants can sign up for gate access through an online TSA portal and children can accompany registered adults.

“The Golden Age of Travel is taking off,” the TSA says on its website. “Gateside by TSA PreCheck provides members with access to the terminal beyond airport security, even when they aren’t flying. Just use your KTN (known traveler number) to apply and use the same dedicated TSA PreCheck lanes for a smoother entry. As an exclusive benefit for our most trusted travelers, this new program makes it easier to return to the gate for welcomes and send-offs, meet friends during a layover and enjoy dining and shopping along the way, bringing back the moments that once defined air travel.”

The only cost is the expense of acquiring a known traveler ID, which range from $85 for five years with TSA PreCheck to $219 a year for CLEAR.

The TSA portal for Gateside says applicants should make their requests one to three days in advance of using it. Participants must show an acceptable identification, including Real ID, to access gates.

Airports where Gateside already has been activated include Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona; John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio; Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas; Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Michigan; Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Kansas; Indianapolis International Airport in Indiana; Los Angeles International Airport in California; Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas; Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City; Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska; San Diego International Airport in California; and Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah.