Icelandair and ORD questions.
 

We are flying for first time on Icelandair next week and have a couple of questions regarding TSA issues.

I was told by the Icelandair phone agent that they don't "participate" in the program that lets us have Pre-Check at the airport.

So my two questions:

1- Is it true that we won't have pre-check for TSA on outgoing flight from ORD?

and

2- on return to ORD, can we use the phone APP "mobile pass" to get to customs agent when coming in on Icelandair?

I found last trip (on UA), that the phone app was actually quicker/easier than using global entry(since could do the questions on phone while walking out of the plane, instead of stopping at the machine).

Thanks for any insights.

Most foreign airlines do not participate in Pre-check. I think the only one that has started is Lufthansa. I find it really annoying that you take the interview/background check, but then you still get the royal TSA treatment if you fly with anyone other than US airlines.

As to your second question, I only use the GE kiosks...never knew there was another option!

This is incorrect. AC has participated since just after Pre-Check's inception. WS & AM more recently.

LH markets Pre-Check as a competetive advantage and it's a real pity that BA lags as UK Nationals are eligible for GE which qualifies them for Pre-Check.

FI could, of course, choose to participate in Pre-Check, but may not find it to be worth the cost, all depending on the demographic of its passengers.

As to the use of GE vs. APG, you can always make an audible on arrival, but the reality is that many find that the selection rate for Customs inspection is much lower through GE. That may be anecdotal and CBP, of course, will never disclose its rates.

FI departs from T5, there is no precheck in T5, so no.

Another question. Does Comfort Class get access to the lounge at ORD?

There's a list of the pairs (airlines and airports, I think sometimes with terminals or concourses) on the TSA.gov website. Most U.S. airports participate, but as others have said, not all (or perhaps not many) non-U.S. airlines participate. Therefore, you can fly out of a U.S. airport and still have no option but the regular security lines. We last flew out of Washington National (Reagan) on Air Canada, and they had it, but Icelandair from Washington Dulles did not.

Not to hijack the thread, but if anyone has flown Icelandair recently and can answer my question above regarding their seating, I'd appreciate it.

Sorry - I don't see an earlier posting from you on this thread. Can you repeat the seating question?

Oh, I'm guessing it was this, on a different thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...-767-300s.html

There's a lot of information on an existing thread, including a Wiki - probably best to post your question there.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...seat-maps.html

Thank you for the links; very helpful. It sounds like Icelandair's seating charts are indeed incorrect, and that Seat Guru's and what one poster described is what I'll experience. I did call Icelandair to ask about seating, but the answer I got was a little different as to which rows were exit rows on this plane. In fairness, though, the person indicated it was a guess, so I'm taking that as a guess only. The rep indicated that certain seats were blocked off and if we want to change to those, we can ask about that possibility when we check in at the gate. There is no firm policy on who can or cannot sit in an exit row; they leave that up to the person checking people in.

In any case, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I was unable to find much info by searching, so what you found is helpful. Also, being a newbie, I guess I posted in the wrong section, as the mods moved my post.