The airport rule that went away, and what PreCheck still buys you
For nineteen years, shoes came off. Since July 2025 they don’t — for anyone, at any age. Which quietly deleted the one screening benefit of turning 75.
For nineteen years, one of the few genuine perks of turning 75 was that you could keep your shoes on at airport security while everyone else stood in line in their socks.
That perk is gone, because the rule it was an exception to is gone. On 8 July 2025 the Department of Homeland Security ended the nationwide shoes-off requirement at domestic TSA checkpoints, for passengers of any age. Screening can still take a closer look at particular footwear, but the blanket rule is gone. Nineteen years of screening technology had made it unnecessary.
So the age threshold is still worth knowing about, but mainly for the opposite reason to the one people expect: it no longer does much, and if you are deciding whether to pay for PreCheck on the strength of it, the arithmetic has changed.
| Shoes, since July 2025 | They stay on in standard lanes, at any age. The old exemption for 75 and over no longer distinguishes you from anyone else. |
|---|---|
| What still comes off | A light jacket and a belt, in standard lanes, at any age. Laptops and liquids still come out of the bag. |
| TSA PreCheck | About $77–$85 for five years, depending on the enrollment provider. Shoes, belt and light jacket stay on; laptops and liquids stay in the bag; separate, usually shorter lane. |
| Global Entry | $120 for five years. Includes PreCheck, and speeds re-entry into the US through passport control. |
| CLEAR | A separate paid service, several hundred dollars a year. Moves you to the front of the identity-check line. It does not change how you are screened. |
| Shoes that still cause trouble | Steel toes, heel rods, heavy buckles and some orthopedic inserts have enough metal to trigger a second look, whatever the general rule says. |
The arithmetic that surprises people
Global Entry costs $120 and includes PreCheck. PreCheck alone costs roughly $77–$85. So the extra $35–$43 buys you expedited re-entry into the United States on international trips — and it's spread across five years.
If you travel abroad even once in five years, Global Entry is the better buy, and it isn't close. The line at passport control after a long-haul flight is the one that genuinely tests people. The main argument for PreCheck alone is that it's slightly easier to get: Global Entry requires an in-person interview, and appointment waits at some enrollment centers run to months.
Also on The Second Half Guide What Medicare doesn’t cover What Medicare does not cover: teeth, eyes, ears, and the very large one most people do not discover until a parent needs it. Worth knowing early. Read it →Global Entry is $43 more than PreCheck across five years and includes it. If there's any chance of an international trip, that's the one.
What PreCheck still buys you
Less than it did, and still something. The shoes were always the most visible part of the pitch, and they are now free to everyone. What remains is the jacket, the belt, the laptop, the liquids and the separate lane.
Which is really the point, and it survives the rule change: the value of PreCheck isn't speed so much as the number of separate physical operations you perform at the belt while people line up behind you. Standard screening still asks you to take off a jacket and a belt, take a laptop out, take liquids out, and reassemble all of it one-handed at the far end. PreCheck removes most of that.
For anyone with arthritic hands, balance issues, or a strong dislike of being hurried, that's the benefit. Not minutes saved — fumbling avoided.
A few things worth knowing
- Check your Known Traveler Number is on the booking. PreCheck only works if the airline has your KTN, and it doesn't always carry over from an old profile or a booking made by someone else.
- Some credit cards reimburse the fee for PreCheck or Global Entry, often once every four years. If you carry a travel card, check before paying.
- Medical devices and implants: tell the officer before screening. A joint replacement may affect how you are screened depending on the equipment in use, and saying so first turns a search into a formality.
- Medications and mobility aids don't count against carry-on limits, and liquids that are medically necessary are exempt from the usual limit — declare them.
- REAL ID is now required for domestic flights. A passport works too. Check your license has the star before you rely on it.
- Turning 75 no longer changes your screening. Shoes stay on for everyone in standard lanes since July 2025.
- Traveling abroad at all in the next five years? Global Entry, not PreCheck.
- Check whether a credit card you already hold reimburses the fee.
- Put your Known Traveler Number in your airline profile and check it appears on each booking.
- Tell the officer about implants and devices before you step through, not after the alarm.
- Confirm your driver’s license is REAL ID compliant, or carry your passport.
None of this is dramatic. But screening is the part of the journey most likely to leave someone flustered before they've even boarded, and a fair amount of it is avoidable for either nothing or about $24 a year.
This is general travel information, not personal travel advice. Prices, eligibility rules and program terms change, and can vary by provider, country or season. Verify current terms directly with the agency, airline, park or consulate linked above before you rely on them.
Where these facts come from
Checked on 10 August 2026 against the sources listed below. Dollar limits and program rules change — if you're reading this well after that date, verify the numbers at the links below.
- TSA — Screening for passengers 75 and older — https://www.tsa.gov/travel/tsa-cares/screening-passengers-75-and-older
- TSA PreCheck — https://www.tsa.gov/precheck
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection — Global Entry — https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry
- TSA — REAL ID — https://www.tsa.gov/real-id
Edward Silva
Edward spent more than forty years as a computer professional — long enough to pick up one useful occupational habit: when somebody hands you a summary, go and read the actual documentation. He started The Second Half Guide after noticing that most writing aimed at people his age was either talking down to him or quietly selling him something, and that the plain facts — the dates, the thresholds, the dollar figures — were somehow the hardest part to find.
He's married, with two grown sons, both married themselves. He is not a financial adviser, an attorney or an insurance agent, and this site doesn't tell you what to do with your money. It tells you what the rules actually say, and links to where he checked.