Originally Posted by
EdmontonTraveller
Bad news - Portland is one of 7 airports AC flies from where PreCheck won't be available on opening day.
Anyone care to explain (or speculate) why these airports - MCI, DTW, PDX, CMH - aren't on the initial list? I'd guess terminal check-in equipment, maybe some older CUTE gear, or worse: AC computers that haven't upgraded? But I have no idea - would love to hear why. And...will UA/AC connections from one of the unnamed airports w/ PreCheck print a valid PreCheck boarding pass? e.g. ABQ-LAX-YVR? AC-AC? UA-AC? Will I have to reprint @ LAX for my In-n-Out burger run? Presser gave a vague "from certain connecting airports" comment.
Note: The seven are also ineligible for AC mobile boarding pass, but some PreCheck airports (HNL, MKE) are also no-go for mobile BP. TSA BP scanning equipment the issue?
Good news - despite online (and mobile?) check-in being broken on Day 1, you'll at least be notified that you're eligible for PreCheck - easier to plan my day w/ info.
Thanks for any insight.
There are likely several factors at play here.
Some stations such as PDX, MCI, etc. are handled by UA. That is the reason you cannot OLCI for these airports. When I've flown from these airports I've received UA boarding passes (although that might not be common). There have been other situations where people checking in at these stations have had certain disadvantages (i.e. unable to add themselves to upgrade waitlists, etc. at the airport, etc.). I suspect that whatever system issue exists by UA handling these stations also impacts the pre-check data.
Terminal layout can also come into play. I recently flew through MCI, and found the layout to be quite intersting. On the concourse I was departing from, there were separate secure areas and screening lines for different groupings of 2-4 gates. At the screening area I went into for the AC flight there was 1 checkpoint, and that checkpoint had a single metal detector, x-ray scanner, etc. IIRC there were 3 gates in this departure area. I suspect that they would not add TSA lines for many of these smaller gate groupings, although could possibly have pre-check for some of the areas with a larger number of gates.