Hi Carol,

Interesting DH article, thanks for posting it!

You might want to change the thread title to "USA pre-clearance on way toward approval" to avoid confusion.

PREcheck and pre-clearance are two different programs.

TSA pre-check is a program to ease the pre-boarding security inspection for known travellers who are in the TSA data base and who have been determined to pose little threat. These individuals can use the TSA PreCheck Lines when entering the secure area before departure and keep their belts and shoes on, etc. and get through the process faster. This lets TSA focus more of its resources on the rest of the travelers.

Pre Clearance, on the other hand, moves the US Customs and Immigration inspections from the US arrival airport to the foreign departure airport. It involves creating a sterile departure gate area for US bound flights and travellers headed to the US pass through their inspections before takeoff. When the flight arrives at the US airport it just pulls up at a regular domestic gate since everyone aboard was inspected by US Immigration and Customs before departure.

This is a good thing for US SXM travellers since it will allow us to make quicker connections in places like CLT.

V/R
Bill