source: @robinrileyphotography

The Today Show has been airing story after story about the country-wide struggles that have plagued the TSA over the past few months, and while there will always be a vocal group on social media that’s ready to decry the shortcomings of airport security, some of the statistics presented in their latest reports were eye-catching.

Evidently 35% of people who work for TSA quit within the first year, with an average 117 people each week walking off the job. The agency’s spike in employee turnover is occurring at the worst possible time for travelers in the US, which has seen a 7% increase in the number of passengers so far this year in comparison to 2015 numbers. One of the latest debacles occurred recently in Phoenix, where 3,000 checked bags weren’t able to get to their flights in time due to a screening error by TSA employees. Their miscue was made worse when each of the 3,000 bags had to be shuttled to either San Diego or Tuscon for their eventual sorting and shipment, since PHX didn’t have the capacity to screen for explosives.

All this commotion is troubling for the frequent traveler, and only re-enforces our belief that those who spend a lot of time in airports should be utilizing every time-saving step they can. To avoid long lines, there still remains two prominent avenues for riders worrying about the wait.   

• TSA Pre-Check: You might be crabby for having to spend $85 and a couple hours with the very organization you’re trying to circumvent in the first place, but TSA’s in-house pre-screening program is still truly the best way to avoid the worst part of the airport lines. With availability in 160 airports and 12 different airlines nationwide, it’s easily the most wide-spread option available at the moment. It’s basically the airplane equivalent of paying Disney for a FastPass.

• CLEAR: A third-party player in the game of security bypassing, CLEAR is a bit pricier ($179 per year, whereas that $85 charge covers your for five years) of a service but is much easier to deal with from a logistical standpoint. Their spiffy 30-second spot brims with an electro-house thump that might not really get that specific point across, but CLEAR’s sign-up process is a relatively quick in-and-out procedure. You’ll still have to visit the airport to wrap up your application for fingerprinting, but it’s really only a 5-minute stop that’s available at multiple locations in each airport they service—which is 13, as of today.

We hope your future travels are line-, stress-, and delay-free.