Basic question about airline check-in

The passport will be checked by the airline’s staff probably a couple of times. If you checl in online you may be called to the podium in SFO to present your passport. If you checkin in person at PDX it will be presented there instead.

Then expect to show it when your boarding pass is scanned as you board.

I would expect that it would happen at Portland as well, especially if checking a bag.

OP -- if you've not done so, I strongly suggest down loading the United app. You should be able to upload your passport and it's then checked. Makes on-line check-in easy when time comes for OLCI and you'll receive your mobile boarding pass.

I've flown from New Orleans to destinations in Europe many times, first connecting on the east coast, usually on United, but sometimes American or Delta. I recall always being called to the podium in New Orleans, before boarding commences, to present my passport, even though I've usually checked in online. I've begun just going to the podium once I see an agent there, to show them my passport, in order to not wait until they call me up. Also, of course, they want to see it again at my US connecting airport. I also second the suggestion to download the United app if you haven't already done so, and inputting your passport and other information before your date of flight. Makes it faster at the airport. (You may also not be able to check in online if you haven't done so.)

You will have your passport checked in Portland. Despite the fact that you are connecting in the US your itinerary is an international one. Allow extra time for check in. You’ll want to enter your passport info online but you will not be able to complete check in online or obtain a boarding pass. In SFO you’ll be asked for your passport again at the gate.

Hi Michele. Others have suggested downloading the United mobile app. That's fine if you want, but definitely not necessary; up to you. We've never done that, you can just insert your passport in the machine at the ticket counter at PDX; takes 30 seconds. Have a great trip!

Michele, I just flew last month from PDX to Croatia, connecting first in Dallas and then in London, on American Airlines.

I did not show my passport to any human in the United States.

Instead, I scanned it on the AA app on my phone as part of check-in. That seems to have satisfied the normal need to inspect my passport.

In Dallas, they used a newer biometric scanner (I think TSA is testing it there) to scan people's faces as we boarded the plane to London. We did not have to show our passports there at all. (Again, I assume that AA had the scan from the app that I used.) The scanner scanned each face as we passed through the gate and it identified us that way. Then we were each handed a piece of paper with our name, face, and that photo on it to act as our "boarding pass." We were told to have our passports in our hands as we walked through,but no one actually opened them.

Perhaps they aren't using this new scanner yet at SFO, so there I'd expect you'll have to show your passport.

FYI, to fly back to the US from Venice, I was also able to check in online with the AA app scanning my passport once again. This allowed me to skip lines at the Venice airport (I had no checked bags). I had a mobile boarding pass so I could go right to the security line, then through passport control and on to my gate. I did have to show my passport at the automated kiosk in Venice at passport control, then show that to the passport control officer. And at the gate, I had to get a paper boarding pass so had to show my passport to the agent there.

Michele, there are other advantages to downloading the United app. For one thing, you will get instant notifications if there is a delay or problem; you can check flight and upgrade statuses and you will get a mobile boarding pass that you can use to board. You can also check the status of any bags you check and find out where to pick them up.

I download the app for any airline I fly, and have always been glad I did. In fact, when I was flying Air France from CDG, I was able to book one of the AF lounges to use for my 7+ hour layover there. There was no way to do it online that I could find, and I didn't want to have to walk there only to find I couldn't get in.

Hi Michele! Yes, there are biometric scanners at boarding in SFO international terminal. I fly a few times a year to Europe from SFO, on United, last time was in mid August. Once you download the UA app, as others have suggested, you can upload your passport info. Then UA has to check your ID, (Don't know if a vaccine cert is needed for France, will leave that to others), you get a 'pending' notice via email & I seem to recall also on the app. I've rarely waited more than an hour, & last time just 5 minutes, for a confirmation that my information had been accepted. That approval is also stamped on the top of your boarding pass. At that point, you can check in on line, & get both your boarding passes. Of course if you're checking bags you'll need to show your passport at the PDX UA check-in counter, but if not, you will get both boarding passes on the UA app. (I always print them again at the airport, I like to have a paper backup.) So, assuming you do this ahead of time & don't have a checked bag, & printed your boarding passes, WHEW, you just show your passport to PDX security, and transit in SFO. At SFO, you shouldn't need to go through security, the domestic terminals are connected via a walkway with international. At the gate in SFO, they have a biometric scanner, you put your face in front of it. I don't recall whether the UA staff wanted to SEE my passport or boarding pass at the gate, but hey it's a good time to check you've still got it on you! Have a fantastic trip & there's great take-away sushi half way down the international wing on the left.

Thanks all. I will download the United app, and I appreciate having an idea of what to expect. Good tip about the sushi at SFO, also!

Last April when we flew from Redmond to Rome by way of SFO, I downloaded our passports to the United App. We got our boarding passes online and only showed them once to TSA in Redmond. Arriving in SFO on United meant that we did not have to go through TSA again to reach our United International gate. This isn’t necessarily true with other airlines. Because our passport was downloaded we did not show it again or our boarding pass as everything was verified by stepping in front of a camera as we boarded the plane. I hope that makes sense.

@Alan - yes, you most definitely can check in online for an int'l flight; I've done it twice, VS out of EWR and AF out of JFK; they will, however, confirm passport validity either when you check a bag or at the gate. I checked in online both ways back, too. my AF flight was a year ago, during Covid.