So you finally got TSA pre-check. Here’s how to avoid being the most annoying person in line and get through fastest.

• TSA PreCheck is an airport-security express lane that can save you time while traveling.
• The program now has more members than ever — over 20 million passengers are enrolled.
• Gilbert Ott, a travel expert, said that these etiquette tips can keep you from holding up the line.

TSA PreCheck can save you so much time in airports, and more travelers than ever are getting in on it. 

The TSA reported on August 8 that more than 20 million travelers are enrolled in the program — a new record number of users since PreCheck first became available in 2013.

In the TSA PreCheck line, pre-screened travelers can go through security quickly without taking off their shoes or removing electronics or liquids from their carry-on bags. It costs $78 to enroll for five years, but you can get the service essentially for free through credit cards such as Capital One Venture, Capital One Venture X, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Delta SkyMiles, and American Express.

TSA PreCheck passengers aren’t required to take off their shoes. But in Ott’s experience, passengers who wear fancy loafers or shoes with buckles or studs often get stopped because they set off the scanner. 

“The main thing is metal, either as part of the shoe or in the boot or heel of the shoe,” Ott said. “Ceramic and rubber are usually fine. Basically, sneakers tend to always work.”

Be ready before it’s your turn

When you first get in line, Ott recommends having your boarding pass and identification out before it’s your turn to show them. That way, you won’t spend time searching for these documents while others wait behind you. 

If everyone followed Ott’s advice, he said he thinks we’d all get through security faster. 

“If you think of the 20 seconds it takes somebody to do this very basic thing, and you’d multiply that by 50,000 people going through an airport’s screens a day, you could pretty much just walk through an airport without stopping,” Ott told BI. “We can all have a better time.”