United Airlines Is Working To End The Worst Part Of International Connections: Rechecking Bags In The U.S.

Aviation watchdog JonNYC, who usually has the best internal leaks, says that United Airlines is working on eliminating the need for passengers to re-check their bags for connecting flights after arriving from an international destination. That requires working both with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as foreign airports.

United:
this sounds a but family to me somehow, but also maybe not. UA says they’re working on eliminating the need to re-check bags when connecting from an international flight.

— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) June 25, 2026

United actually already has this for their Sydney – San Francisco flight. What JonNYC is saying is that they’re working with Customs and Border Protection on adding to portfolio of flights where this is supported.

Airlines love this. It cuts down on passenger delays at customs that cause misconnections. And passengers love skipping the hassle of reclaiming bags at the first arrival airport in the U.S., dragging them past a customs agent, and then dropping them back off with airline once they’re through.

There are actually (4) different programs that avoid at least part of the usual land in the U.S., go through immigration, collect your bag, drop it back off, then go clear security:

• International Remote Baggage Screening. That’s the program it sounds like JonNYC is referring to. Passengers don’t have to claim their checked bags at the first U.S. arrival airport and then recheck them. No more picking up your bag, dragging it through customs, and dropping it back off to get re-checked. You still go through immigration, and you still have to re-clear security before taking your next flight. But your bags get checked all the way through. CBP receives and reviews the foreign-origin bag image remotely

• One Stop Security. Passengers get off the plane and are cleared through immigration right there. They don’t have to claim connecting bags, those are transferred onto their next flight automatically. And passengers go straight to their next gate – no need to reclear security. TSA recognizes the foreign security screening that the passenger did prior to boarding their international flight as sufficient to allow them onto the U.S. airport concourse.

• International-to-International Baggage Transfer. For passengers connecting from one international destination to another international destination ia a U.S. airport, they can skip reclaiming bags and walking them through customs. The bag remains with the airline and customs while the passenger goes through immigration and security for their next flight.

• U.S. Immigration Preclearance. Passengers go through immigration before they fly to the United States, so when they get off the plane at their first U.S. destination it’s like arriving on a domestic flight (and so bags can just get transferred).

Interational Remote Baggage Screening

With International Remote Baggage Screening, the passenger clears immigration but doesn’t have to pick up and recheck their bags for their connecting flight. Bags remain in the baggage system and are screened remotely, so the passenger heads straight to TSA without reclaiming the bag.

Here are the flights currently set up for this:

• Seoul to: Atlanta (Delta, Korean Air), Detroit (Delta), Minneapolis (Delta), Seattle (Delta, Korean Air), Los Angeles (Korean Air)
  
• Sydney to: Los Angeles (American), San Francisco (United)
  
• Tokyo Haneda to: Atlanta (Delta)

In order to set this up, there needs to be an electronic chain linking an image of the screened bag from its foreign origin airport to the actual bag itself.

• The foreign airport’s baggage screening system needs to produce an exportable X-ray or CT image in a format the U.S. system accepts.
  
• That image has to be associated with the bag tag, passenger, inbound flight, and onward itinerary.
  
• The image and data have to be transmitted securely early enough for Customs and Border Protection to review the bag while the aircraft is enroute.

Then the airline and airport systems need to recognize an eligible bag for this, whether Customs releases or holds it, whether there’s a missing or corrupt image, and whether the passenger’s itinerary has changed or if they’re misconnecting.

At the U.S. destination, the bag needs a secure route from the inbound aircraft where it’s unloaded directly into the bag transfer system, with a diversion path into a customs examination area. There needs to be exception handling.

One Stop Security

This is actually the holy grail. The passenger clears immigration as they deplane, and there’s no need to reclaim and recheck bags or go back through security before a connecting flight.

There are only two routes where this is fully in place:

• London Heathrow – Atlanta (Delta)
  
• London Heathrow – Dallas – Fort Worth (American)

Here, TSA accepts London Heathrow security screening as sufficient for entry into an airport. Under law, though, TSA can recognize screening at up to six foreign airports. So far there’s only one. To qualify:

• screening at that airport has to occur under an aviation security agreement
  
• passengers cannot access checked bags
  
• passengers at that airport don’t commingle with unscreened people or property
  
• security for high risk passengers, weapons, explosives, and other threats meet standard U.S. requirements.

International-To-International Baggage Transfer

When you land in Miami off of some international flights, and you’re connecting to certain other international flights, bags get transferred directly.

In Miami, passengers staying in the U.S. have to collect their bags, take them through customs, and drop them back off for connections. So this is only for international-to-international connecting passengers. And only for some of those.

I don’t know of any listing of which airlines, flights, and routes are covered by this. Miami is the best known example of a U.S. airport where this exists. For instance, bags off of Iberia’s flights that are connecting to other international flights get transferred automatically.

There’s also (3) other airports I’m aware of where this is in place, at least in a limited way.

• Dallas- Fort Worth for instance from Qantas to American Airlines international flights and from Japan Airlines to American Airlines international flights.

• Houston Intercontinental for ANA to United Airlines international flights for layovers under 12 hours.

• Guam for Japan Airlines to other international flights.

U.S. Immigration Preclearance

There are 15 foreign airports where passengers clear U.S. immigration and customers before they board their international flight.

• Canada: Calgary; Edmonton; Halifax; Montréal–Trudeau; Ottawa; Toronto Pearson; Toronto City; Vancouver; Winnipeg
  
• Ireland: Dublin, Shannon
  
• Caribbean: Aruba, Nassau, Bermuda
  
• United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi

What Else United Airlines Is Doing: Pets

JonNYC also notes that United will offer app uploading of pet in cabin documents, though I share his sketpicism that making declaring a pet in cabin easier (and paying the fee) will cut down on fake service animals. While ’emotional support animals’ are technically no longer allowed, the passenger just has to be willing to self-certify that it’s actually a service animal and then they:

• No longer have to pay the pet in cabin fee
  
• No longer are subject to size animal size limits
  
• No longer have to keep their pet inside its carrier under the seat for the duration of the flight

I don’t think making pet in cabin rules compliance easier moves the needle here. But it makes things easier for people predisposed to do it the right way, and easier on United’s airport staffing, too.