International check in question...
 

Got a question that I hope someone can help with. Pretty sure I know the answer.... BUT

Family trip to Europe next week, my wife and I are traveling OMA-ATL-MAD and my daughter who is a student in Savannah, GA is flying from SAV meeting us in ATL and then doing the ATL-MAD leg with us. She is booked on a single ticket with a layover in ATL (not 2 separate tickets) - the problem? I just realized we have her passport with us. So the question is, will she be allowed to board the SAV-ATL leg without a passport? I think not and I will need to overnight the passport to her BUT wanted to see if anyone here can tell me different :)?

If she does online check-in I think she should be able to board SAV-ATL… I don't recall if they will want to check the docs prior to the first leg. It may vary by station/agent?

I have had occasion where they WILL ask for passports at the beginning of the itinerary. You will probably get a lot of responses both ways. For $35.00 I wouldn't risk that situation and just Fed Ex the passport to your daughter. In the overall scheme of things, that small cost isn't worth the possible problems.

Agree - that's what we will do... thanks

100% they will check for her passport in SAV. If she's checking a bag, they'll ask at that point - otherwise at the gate before she boards. This is a given - I'd plan to send her the passport beforehand.

Has she flown DL using a passport before? If so it is likely stored in system as "verified." Thus no need to show it before domestic flight.

However if it is not verified, then 100% for sure they will ask to see it before boarding SAV-ATL.

The only option other than sending, going to local airport DL ticket counter. Show them the passport, so it can be noted in her reservation as verified by a DL agent.

I’ve been in this situation and always had to show the passport to board the initial domestic flight as DL doesn’t want to risk having to fly her back from ATL to SAV for free. Bags or no bags. If it was a separate ticket for her she could meet you in ATL no problem.

There are just so many things that could go wrong in this scenario. I would not risk it. It would just be a notation in the PNR, which I am guessing would not be sufficient. Agent in SAV could (as many do these days) play strictly by the book and not accept. Then what?? If you get into a "discussion" with a GA chances are you are not going to win.

I agree, I would overnight. However I know coming from Omaha to Savanah this may not be possible without outrageous FedEx/UPS pricing. Post Office Express Mail will likely be a 2 day turn around, and they've not been meeting the guarantee recently for lots of locations. Out of 5 recent USPS Express mail shipments, I've had only one arrive on time. (None had the same origin/destination)

It's only verified if you use the app (which has never worked for me) or scanned it at a kiosk. For whatever reason, an agent scanning it does not get it permanently marked as verified. Just gets you DOCS-OK for that one trip.

It's definitely worth it to hit up a kiosk one time to get that verification stored. That way if you're flying international without checked bags, there's no additional hassle.

As others have said, the safest approach is to send the passport to her. I would use either FedEx or UPS. Shipping via USPS is too risky regardless of method with them - I've had a few shipments either delayed or lost with them.

Might be a bit late but you can also use Delta Dash to ship for $92 if you can both do airport pickup/drop-off and get it the same day.

FedEx overnight is also $92 but is door delivery. UPS seems more reasonable around $60.