jsnydcsa

https://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/faq

Asking for a friend.

Will a US Citizen TSA Precheck member and United FF (w/ all details in the PNR) receive a TSA pre-check marked boarding pass for their United Airlines flight from IAD to LHR?

travelmad478

Yes, why would they not? PreCheck only has to do with getting through airport security; it has nothing to do with one's eventual destination.

The only time I've had trouble with my PreCheck (actually, GE) credentials not appearing on my BP is when I book a US-LHR ticket with BA, which has no place to enter/store that piece of data. But if the ticket was purchased from UA--assuming UA has the passenger's Known Traveler number entered in the record--then it should not be a problem.

cestmoi123

Yup. It's carrier-driven, not destination-driven.

violist

Both responses are accurate, but when the program was initiated,
international itineraries were specifically excluded from PreCheckability,
so the OP's question is not completely out of the blue.

jsnydcsa

All of my IAD outbound travel is either domestic (Pre-Check of course) or international on a non-Pre-Check carrier. So, I've never even thought of Pre-Chek for outbound international travel.

An older friend and his wife are making only their second international trip ever in very long lives (the other, I think, was a very-long time ago), so they're a little nervous about everything from running out of gas in the car to the airport to whether they'll be able to understand the LHR tube map. I think you get the picture.

They have Pre-Chek and are United Gold. So, they understand the processes (and have done it many times on domestic). Indeed, they're fascinated and use the United iPhone App for check-in.

For this LHR trip, they're particularly worried about all the TSA line mayhem they've "heard" about. So, I've been trying to calm their nerves by saying they can handle this, make sure United has TSA # and Passport info in the PNR, do the online check in, go to the Pre-Check line ...

Just wanted to be sure for them.

Often1

The sole difference in their departure routine will be that UA will check their Passports, likely at check-in and at the gate. Other than a document check, their departure should not be significantly different than any domestic departure.

IAD is significantly easier than many airports as it has a dedicated Pre-Check checkpoint. The line for that checkpoint moves fast and the entire checkpoint is well run and efficient. If your friends are not familiar with IAD, tell them that if they are headed for a checkpoint with a down escalator, they are at the wrong checkpoint. The Pre-check checkpoint is well-signed, but people nonetheless miss it.

jsnydcsa

If they're checking in online (and perhaps with only iPhone-based BPs) and NOT checking bags, they can go straight to TSA Pre-Chek? Correct?

MADPhil

They should be able to do that but should make sure to have their passports checked by the gate agent ahead of boarding to make things smoother.

Edit: in some cases the need to check passports inhibits OLCI.

travelmad478

As long as OLCI is available from the airline, then yes. At some point, they will need to have their passports checked (by the airline) in order to get onto the plane, but TSA is not the one that does that.

Often1

Yes. But, you've suggested that they don't often travel internationally. If they haven't traveled recently, it's extremely unlikely that they will be able to OLCI in any form and will need to present their passports at a counter before BP's are issued.

As you've suggested that they are nervous travelers, prepare them to simply check in at a counter and then proceed to a checkpoint.

violist

UA uses passport reading machines, and I always have gotten
to bypass the human eyes thing unless I have special requests.

Just did it in Hong Kong, so it's not just stateside. Of course I
do have a persistent record with the airline, so at some point
somebody must have seen the original document. If the
travelers in question have put their data in, they ought to be
able to do likewise.

Oh, yeah, this disquisition is meant to imply that they will
likely have to check in at a kiosk at least, so none of this
straight to Precheck stuff.

jsnydcsa

Over the w/end, I learned that they had not (yet) put their US Passport information into their United Mileage Plus FF Accounts. AND, to make matters more interesting, when they had booked the tickets online (using Travelocity), they neither included their US Passport information NOR did they include their United FF Mileage Plus numbers in the Travelocity booking process.

OK, flame on. I understand.

Flame off.

So, over the weekend, they went added their US Passport information to their United FF Profile and also went online on United's site and "linked" the Travelocity / UA reservation to their Mileage Plus accounts so that the IAD-LHR trip now shows up in their "My Reservation" section of their United Profile. So, now, everything is "linked."

But, based on the comment above, I'm thinking that as far as United is concerned, they (e.g. United) have never "seen" the travelers' passports in person/at a counter/at the airport. So, I'm sensing a strong possibility of getting dinged from online check in and having to go at least with a kiosk or, possibly, a ticket counter agent. But, that still wont slow them down viz-a-viz using the Pre-Chek line. So, time gained by using pre-Chek is time lost by having to use kiosk/counter. Net-net, I'm OK with that and can smooth that over for them.

The "nice" thing about all this is that they are both retired and are taking an early morning flight from IAD to LHR (it's like 8:45 am). So, they have the ENTIRE day before the flight to try OLCI and see if works, or if not, clear up anything with United by phone (to at least avoid problems at the airport).

jsnydcsa

So, 23 hrs and 59 minutes before their flight, when they became online check-in eligible, they tried to check in. No dice. Message about unable to check them in online.

They called UA and were connected with the Philippines. Unfortunately, UA rep could not help. Claimed that because ticket was booked via Travelocity, this was the problem. I think that's an outright falsehood as I'm sure United is capable of "handling" travel agent booked reservations.

So, I drove them out to the airport and I offered to park and go inside and walk them through the whole process and find a friendly/helpful counter agent. They declined. I just dropped them curbside and sent them on their way.

I'm barely onto the Dulles Access Road (for the uninitiated, less than 2 minutes had elapsed from pulling away from the terminal drop-off) and they text me that they went to the kiosk and checked in w/o any issue, machine scanned their passports and they were on their way. They were walking to the Pre-Chek line. No hassles at Pre-Check and they were from curb to checkin to Pre-Check to airport-train-ride to sitting having a cup of coffee at the departure gate in less than 30 minutes.

So, I guess "seeing" the passports via the scanner at kiosk check-in "counts" as officially laying hands/eyes on it.


This disquisition is correct. See above.

In my reply congratulatory text, I reminded them that they should at least try to do kiosk check-in at LHR for their return. Given their "luck" so far, can't hurt to try.

wrp96

Unless you are flying Southwest, which can't figure out how to do Pre for international itineraries.