What about at the gate when they ask for passports to be shown?

That has never made sense to me.

At the gate in yyz and YUL I have always been able to use my nexus. They don't have to enter it into a computer, unlike at checkin. Nexus at the gate at ord for ac is ok, for UAL, well, it's like I handed her a bit of poo....:rolleyes:

In any US city I've tried, and I believe at YYZ too, check in kiosk's (UA-specific or the multi-airline ones) will not read a Nexus card (even though the code looks the same as the one on the passport), so you need to use your passports there, too.

I haven't had a problem showing Nexus for years as ID at TSA checkpoints (though I know others report they have). Haven't tried using my Nexus to board Canada-bound UA flights from the US in a long time - I was able to once at ORD - then stopped bothering trying. Really, doesn't matter to much since since really you need to have your passports on your person for air travel anyway.

And the further south you get in the US, the more it looks like poo :D

The funny thing is I have to show my passport more than the Nexus card when travelling by air. In all my times at the NEXUS machines, the iris scan is all that is necessary. The card never leaves my wallet. I have to show my passport to airline checkin and athe gate. I doubt if the IAH CO crew would know a Nexus card from poo. On the Canadian side they are much more familiar, but probably not universally.

And for TSA identification, I have enough trouble with using a passport card in Houston. "Are you travelling internationally today?" is the typical question when they have a domestic boarding pass right in front of them. I think a NEXUS card in Houston would trigger a brain fart.

You could be connecting to an international flight at another airport, so the question doesn't seem too crazy.

Except for the part where a) it's none of their business and b) if the passport card is good for ID through the checkpoint sometime, it's good for ID through the checkpoint all of the time.
It's not a crazy question per se, just an unnecessary and intrusive one.

Agreed. It could be they're simply asking out of curiosity.

I've had real conversations with security people (although to be honest, more often in Canada or the UK than in the US). Some of them are quite friendly! Others, not so much.

Thanks MKE-MR, that is exactly my point. If I had used a drivers license for the domestic leg of an international trip the subject probably wouldn't even come up.

Maybe they were trying to be friendly, or helpful, but I don't go to the checkpoint looking for new friends, or helpers.

When have you had to show a passport @ the gate in the US when flying UA to Canada?

"When have you had to show a passport @ the gate in the US when flying UA to Canada"

Well you do for CO and US (just came back from PHX)--especially if you are connecting, you need to show passport at gate, otherwise, you usually get a DOCS CHECKD stamp at check in (but not always). Even though we had DOCS CHECKD, the boarding announcement said have your passport and boarding pass in hand, even though they didn't check the passport when actually boarding (likely because they saw the DOCS CHECKD stamp):confused:

Interesting. For the last four international trips I've taken this year, nobody has asked to see my passport at the gate. When leaving YYZ last year they did ask.. I guess I'll see what happens when I do my NEXUS interview next month.

UA from ORD to YYZ and YUL always. Ex Canada always.

I fly these routes weekly.

The problem is with the passport number code. A person can only have one passport code at one time. The system is instanteous for issuing notices to countries when a passport number is invalidated. So lets say a pax is in line for CBSA and phones Passport Canada to report passport as lost or stolen, by the time they reach the front of CBSA line, the passport number is invalid and will be flagged for the agent.

The singular passport number is also true for diplomatic passports. A person being issued a diplomatic passport must hand in their regular passport at time of application.

Another point to consider is that a person is approved or rejected for new passport on the spot (when doing the application in person). If their paperwork is in order the old passport is invalidated on the spot and the application is approved. the rest is just getting the passport printed up. Applying the new passport number to the person happens at a later date, but just before the passport is sent to Canada Post for delivery.

To be honest, it's been so long, I almost forgot there was a time when this wasn't the case. But its since whenever Canada (or Transport Canada, or whoever it was) made it mandatory you have to show a passport at the gate for every flight to or from Canada. Must be since some point in the early 2000's?

Although at ORD, which is usually where my YYZ flights go from, they do it a little differently most much of the time for UA flights. At some point prior to boarding, they'll announce in the gate area those traveling to YYZ (or wherever in Canada) should come to the desk with a passport/BP, then they mark it as checked to make the boarding process faster. I'm guessing this is how it is for me about 80% of the time on UA flights to YYZ ex-ORD.