United Airlines has announced the launch of International Remote Bag Screening, an initiative by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This initiative will take place in the airline’s San Francisco hub, but only for arrivals from Sydney, Australia, for now.
Still, this will be a major boost in airport experience for passengers and simplfy connections.
Upon arrival at San Francisco, eligible connecting passengers will go to CBP for passport control and customs, and then directly proceed to the TSA checkpoint, without the need to recheck bags. Those checked bags will be sent over to the connecting flight, to be picked up at the passenger’s final destination.
Waiting around at baggage claim after an international flight can take a long time with the higher amount of checked bags, so this should be a modest time saving for passengers.
“We’re streamlining the international arrival process by eliminating extra steps for travelers to pick-up and re-check their bags on connecting flights,” said Jennifer Schwierzke, United’s Vice President of Customer Operations Strategy and Execution. “Together with CBP, we’re testing this new process on routes between Sydney and San Francisco and plan to expand to additional international routes in the months ahead.”
We’ve recently seen other airlines begin similar intiatives, such as American’s customs clearance at the arrival gate in DFW.
I think it’s a win for passengers as airlines slowly roll out new ways of doing international arrivals, which can be time-consuming for many with checked bags and those without Global Entry or Mobile Passport Control.
Featured image by the author.
