For nearly 25 years, saying goodbye at a U.S. airport has usually meant doing it before security. Meeting an arriving friend or relative required waiting at baggage claim or on the curb rather than watching them step off the plane.
A new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) program is making the gate accessible again—at least for some non-fliers.
Dubbed Gateside by TSA PreCheck, the program—which began rolling out on September 2—allows approved visitors without a boarding pass to pass through security at 13 U.S. airports:
- Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) in Arizona
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Ohio
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Texas
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) in Michigan
- Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT) in Kansas
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND) in Indiana
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Nevada
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California
- Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT) in Little Rock, Arkansas
- OKC Will Rogers International Airport (OKC) in Oklahoma City
- Eppley Airfield (OMA) in Omaha
- San Diego International Airport (SAN) in California
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) in Utah
Once past security, visitors can walk someone to a departing flight, wait at the gate for an arrival, meet a friend during a layover, or visit the airport’s postsecurity restaurants and shops.
There is, however, an important catch: Gateside is currently limited to people eligible for TSA PreCheck screening, including TSA PreCheck members and members of qualifying trusted-traveler programs with a Known Traveler Number, such as Global Entry. Gateside is free, but it isn’t a general visitor pass available to anyone who wants to spend an afternoon wandering LAX.
That makes the program less of a wholesale return to the airport experience of decades past than a new benefit for those who have already been vetted through one of the federal government’s trusted-traveler programs.
The rollout comes just before the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, after which access to airport gate areas became heavily restricted, and effectively off limits, for the vast majority of people without airline tickets.
Here’s what you need to know about Gateside by TSA PreCheck.
How to get a Gateside by TSA PreCheck pass
Visitors need to apply through TSA one to three days before the day they want to visit the airport. Applicants create an account at Login.gov, where they provide personal details (e.g., their name and date of birth) and their Known Traveler Number (the identifying number that is provided to people with a TSA PreCheck membership). Children can accompany an eligible parent or guardian but need to be included on the adult’s application.
Approved visitors do not receive a conventional physical or digital pass. Instead, they need to bring an acceptable ID and be prepared to show on their smartphone the live Gateside portal dashboard confirming their approval. The authorization is valid for the approved calendar day and allows visitors to leave and reenter the secure area that day.
Approved visitors then go to a TSA PreCheck security lane, where they will still be screened the same as all travelers and remain subject to TSA security restrictions. The visit isn’t a way around rules governing what can be carried through a checkpoint.
How Gateside differs from existing airport visitor passes
The idea of entering an airport without a boarding pass in the post-9/11 era isn’t entirely new.
Several airports have gradually introduced their own visitor passes over the past several years. Seattle’s SEA Visitor Pass, for example, dates to 2018, while New Orleans launched a similar program in 2019; airports including Orlando, Palm Springs, Tampa, and Tulsa have since created versions of their own. The details vary considerably by airport, particularly when visitors can enter, how far ahead they can apply, and how many passes are issued each day.
There is some overlap. Detroit and San Diego, for example, have their own airport visitor-pass programs and are also among the first airports participating in Gateside. Depending on the airport—and whether a visitor has PreCheck—there may, therefore, be more than one way to get beyond security without flying.
