TSA precheck

[Manatee Diver]

Thank you. I didn’t mean to muddy the waters (or air), just to point out all of the programs are done at a governmental level and individual airport/airline authorities cannot just ask to be in any given program. The host government holds the rights to include if they deem it is warranted.

Unless there is something specific to the Cayman Islands I see no reason why Cayman Airlines can't be part of TSA Precheck, as there are at least three UK carriers I doubt that there are any legal reasons that preclude it.

 

[RogueClimber]

Thank you. I didn’t mean to muddy the waters (or air), just to point out all of the programs are done at a governmental level and individual airport/airline authorities cannot just ask to be in any given program. The host government holds the rights to include if they deem it is warranted.

Indeed.

But also good to remember is that it is up to each airline to participate in working with pre-check. The airline has to put (The US Government approved) pre-check on your boarding pass or else you are out of luck.

When I was living in Toronto it was nice that Nexus acted as pre-check for Canadian TSA (though I did still need to pull my computer out) and as long as I had my Nexus number listed as my Known Traveler Number, my return flights (USA to CA), on Canadian, carriers showed Pre-Check on my boarding pass. (Departing internationally or domestically within Canada only required showing my Nexus card)

 

[KathyV]

Unless there is something specific to the Cayman Islands I see no reason why Cayman Airlines can't be part of TSA Precheck, as there are at least three UK carriers I doubt that there are any legal reasons that preclude it.

There isn't any problem when you are leaving the US and traveling to Cayman with many airlines. I've used Global Entry and TSA with AA, UA, and Delta many times when traveling to Grand Cayman and other foreign countries. I don't know why CA and some other smaller airlines don't accept TSA status for flights originating in the US and print the TSA status on your boarding pass.

But it would be great if governments could negotiate international agreements to recognize and accept safe traveler status at airport security when you are traveling within/from a foreign country, the way that they accept passports and visas from different lands. Like when flying Cayman Airways to/from the Sister Islands - or when leaving Grand Cayman to come back home to the US on a US carrier or CA.

But it seems unlikely to happen and so there's no TSA-like option when I am in Cayman, only when I am in the US and on the way there.

 

[Alucard]

Kathy, I very much doubt that you have used Global Entry when leaving the USA - that is only for entering the country. TSA Pre is for leaving.

It's not about "accepting TSA status" - there is a whole process to get the airlines to the point where they can participate in the program - it's not just as simple as adding a "TSA Precheck" to your boarding pass.

Only clarifier I would add is TSA Pre-Check is not only "TSA Pre-Check is for leaving the USA, nowhere else." It is for departing flights, within or leaving the US

Thank you, you are correct and that is a good observation. If that's the worst thing I have messed up in that long post, then I am doing pretty well.

 

[KathyV]

Kathy, I very much doubt that you have used Global Entry when leaving the USA - that is only for entering the country. TSA Pre is for leaving...

Thanks for the great summary, but GE includes TSA pre. In order to get through security at US airports you have to show your boarding pass (hopefully stamped TSA pre) and a valid ID, usually your drivers license or state id card, or your passport, or your global entry card - and the global entry card usually conveys TSA precheck status. So it is correct that you don't use the GE card "to leave the country" but you can use at security when you are traveling by air in the US on your way to an international (or domestic) flight.

When I was applying for TSA and/or GE I learned that GE usually includes TSA as long as the airline cooperates and it appears on your boarding pass. So GE it is the better, more flexible option. I have never applied separately for TSA and I regularly get the TSA pre stamp on my boarding passes.

My understanding is that Global Entry will work pretty much the same as your passport in the US. I once used the GE card at an incoming immigration kiosk (I think it was at MIA?) because I couldn't locate my passport for a panicky few minutes, and the GE worked fine, but I was happy to quickly find my actual passport anyway! I very much doubt that GE would be acceptable to incoming immigration in a foreign country because they would still want to see a passport.

 

[tkaelin]

I don't mean to prolong this discussion but see the following from TSA. If the TSA precheck is not on your boarding pass put there by your airline, showing a GE card or TSA KTN is not getting you in the TSA precheck line, at least according to TSA. Can I access the TSA Pre✓® lane by showing my Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI card or TSA Pre✓® approval letter?

 

[caydiver]

Tkaelin I guess my experience has been similar to yours. That said I cannot even use machines at airports for international travel for boarding passes so I don’t really care which line I have to wait on or whether it is before or after security. I would love to fly private and skip all of it but we don’t always get what we want. Boy those airlines are out of line!!!

 

[tkaelin]

Our biggest problem has not been the security line leaving the states but customs/immigration in the states upon the return. That is solved if you have GE, at least in the NYC area or now with mobile passport app. That being said the constant on the procedure for US customs/immigration is change. We take 4 trips a year out of the US and the procedures entering the US for customs/immigration seem to change month to month, again at least in the NYC area. In June, there was a "line" for those with the mobile passport app separate from GE that was shorter than the GE line, which was pretty short.

 

[hilljo88]

Huh? The TSA only operates in the US..." Qupote

You would think TSA is only in the US, but every time I leave GCM, my carryon camera bag gets flagged and pulled apart, and just before boarding, I get paged to go to a back room, and my checked bags get inspected. And I have Global Entry, known traveller status with all the airlines. So after the third consecutive time this happened to me, I found a security supervisor at GCM and politely asked her what I could do to make it easier for the screeners to see I was not bringing anything objectionable on the plane. She said it wasn't local security, but US TSA that was flagging me. The curious thing is that I fly on average at least once a month, much of it international, and GCM is the only airport where I have any issues. Now, I just put my camera, strobes, dive lights, computer in my backpack so those items are easy to pull out for inspection

Morecowbells: Interlining bags into GCM often results in your luggage arriving on a later flight. Take medicines and anything you need for an overnight stay in your carryon. TSA out of Miami will only be half the hassle. The waiting time to get through GCM immigration has run a full hour for flights arriving in the 2:30ish time frame. The new airport is a major physical upgrade, but that line is a painful bottleneck. There is a VIP service for about $60 which will whisk you through the local line in a NY minute.

 

[morecowbells]

Fortunately, we are flying direct to Cayman Brac out of Miami. The return will for sure be a PITA seeing that we will have to fly from Brac through GCM. I do have Global Entry which has been the best $100 spent. Entering Miami and DFW has been a breeze, Atlanta on the other hand has been awful. The pre check line seems to run on banker's hours. Thanks everybody for your input.