When you get to the airport, you don’t have to be super wealthy or politically connected to go to the front of the check-in line. These are special lanes at airport security for people who’ve earned special TSA clearance.

Along with breezing through the line where you see the above sign, you can keep your shoes, belt and jacket on. Additionally, no suspicious eying of your laptop or purse. Best of all, you don’t have to surrender to an intrusive whole-body scanner.

You need to qualify for TSA PreCheck. It takes several weeks to complete the process, but worth the one-time $85 fee to qualify. First, you must call or go on line to make an appointment to visit one of 300 TSA airport office locations.

Before your appointment date, you’ll be told what documents and proof you’ll need to bring to prove you’re a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. Your info will be processed, and soon you’ll get a Known Traveler Number. Then, when you or your travel agent book your flights, you can breeze through the PreCheck lanes at the airport. For more info, go to www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck

It can happen to any naive senior traveler who ventures into the world. Misdirected flights, grungy hotels, traffic nightmares, street hustlers, ptomaine restaurants and more.

Of course, if it happens to you, it’s not funny. But when portrayed in a tragi-comic movie, it can be hilarious. Here are just a few examples you may want to enjoy again on DVDs, classic movie websites or cable TV before venturing out into that big world again.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013): Ben Stiller stars in this remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye movie. With both imaginary and real misadventures throughout the world, Mitty manages to survive and win the heroine.

In two recent incidents, passengers who fought over legroom and involved flight attendants, caused the pilots to abort the flights. These relatively minor incidents created major delays for everyone else aboard.

Of course, every senior frequent flyer has been affected by this kind of space war, and no peace is in sight. Airlines are always finding more ways to squeeze passengers into ever-decreasing lower-class seat spaces. That means anyone taller than Tom Thumb or Tom Cruise will continue to have troubles with passengers directly in front and behind them.

Advice for what it’s worth: When taking your seat before the flight, talk to the passenger who may be affected. Find a courteous agreement about adjusting the seat-back, so each of you will be as comfortable as possible within the limited space.

We won’t mention the airline, usually one of the most reliable, but a recent incident should be a lesson for all seniors and their families. After being wheeled to the departure gate by an airport employee, an elderly woman was shunted off to a corner and forgotten.

She not only missed her flight, but caused relatives to panic when she failed to show up at the destination airport. Fortunately, other than delays, no great harm was done. However, in similar frequent incidents, the results were much more severe, including medical emergencies and worse.

Conclusion: Those of us with fond memories of the good old days of commercial flight can still remember when trusted airport and airline employees always did their jobs right. Not so in today’s hectic, often hostile, airport world. Therefore, if relatives are scheduled to fly, whether elderly or otherwise confined to wheelchairs, be there at the gate to be certain they go aboard their flights. Another choice is to send companions with them for the entire journeys.