Originally Posted by
jackal
As alluded to by mrswirl, in your instance, UA is not allowing or disallowing you from using PreCheck.
There are two completely separate, independent ways to qualify for and sign up with PreCheck:
1) Be invited by your airline, OR
2) Become a Trusted Traveler via the CBP's Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI programs
For #1, airlines are typically only inviting their top (or near-top) elites. In UA's case, they're only offering it to Plats and 1Ks. In any case, if you opt-in to PreCheck via an invitation from UA, you will only get the benefit when flying on UA. Also, UA doesn't make the ultimate decision about whether you will receive PreCheck on any particular itinerary; they transmit your information to the TSA, who then responds back with a "yes" or "no," which UA then encodes in your boarding pass. Even if you qualify, TSA reserves the right to deny you PreCheck benefits on any particular itinerary (and appears to do that somewhat often) in order to introduce a certain amount of "randomness" into the process and keep you from getting too complacent about airport security.
For #2, you get your interview (as it sounds like you have done) and then receive a PASS ID number. You can then place that PASS ID into the Known Traveler Number field in any airline reservation (regardless of whether you've been invited to participate by that airline or not), and that will be transmitted to TSA (along with your name), and they will again determine whether to allow you access to PreCheck on that particular itinerary.
Note that UA
never allows or disallows you from precheck. As you mention, UA simply sends your info to the TSA, who determines, on a flight by flight basis, whether you will be granted use of the program for that time.
Also, you do not have to be "invited" by your airline if you don't have a TT number. Any UA MP member (I think, but at least any elite member, at least, from what I can tell) has the checkbox to apply. My wife, a 2P, without a TT number, or invitation from UA, has been successful with pre-check both directions on at least her last two trips. Some got invitations, sure, but it is not mandatory. I suspect FF status will help your acceptance (or acceptance rate) with the program.
Originally Posted by
ralfp
Got PreCheck (verified beforehand using PDF barcode reader).
Scan BP: get error about "Invalid Sig". I guess that means the hash didn't match... hmmm.
Scan the mobile BP (quite a PITA when using an iPad) and it works.
I would guess it wasn't reading the bar code properly, causing an invalid sig. Maybe the bar code was too weak, or the reader wasn't working properly. I know my wife had this issue once, must have pulled the mobile bp away before it had finished reading it or something. But scanned it again and 3 beeps.