Customs and Border Protection Services Make Traveling Internationally Easier

International travel can be a stressful experience even for an experienced flier. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) offers a multitude of services designed to make coming home easier.

Best known for providing border protection services, CBP also offers a variety of services to simplify traveling abroad for both well-seasoned travelers and first-time international fliers.

In 2023, PIT became one of seven airports in the country to offer Global Entry, a mobile app from CBP that allows members to use their handheld devices to re-enter the U.S., avoiding a wait in line with a completely touchless experience. The app, which has since expanded to other airports, is ideal for frequent international travelers.

Global Entry allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. The application fee is $120, and membership lasts for five years and includes TSA Precheck. All applicants must undergo a background check and an in-person interview.

Although now perhaps one of the better-known services available to travelers, Global Entry is not the only tool that makes the security screening process more seamless.

For infrequent international travelers

Mobile Passport Control (MPC) is ideal for the passengers looking to quickly make their way through Customs. Whether a family of first-time fliers, a group of friends with varying degrees of international travel experience or a solo anxious international traveler, MPC offers a smooth process that can alleviate even the most inexperienced traveler’s anxieties.

Unlike Global Entry, MPC is a free app that does not require an enrollment application, background check or fingerprints to enroll.

Passengers download the MPC app to their mobile devices, scan their passports, take a photo of themselves and answer a few questions up to four hours before their flight lands. Then all a traveler has to do it present their passport in the designated MPC line to finalize inspection with a CBP officer.

Easy access to Canada

CBP also offers NEXUS, a program designed specifically for traveling across the Canadian border. NEXUS allows pre-screened travelers to pass through the security checkpoint quickly with a dedicated kiosk.

NEXUS participants, who pay $120 for the application and must be screened by U.S. and Canadian officials and undergo an in-person interview, have dedicated processing lanes and can access the NEXUS kiosk to enter Canada and the Global Entry kiosk to renter the U.S. Once approved, membership is valid for five years.

Increased international service launches at PIT

As PIT’s international air service portfolio continues to grow, passengers have more options to fly overseas and put the CBP services to use.

In the past year, PIT’s international air service portfolio has grown. Icelandair has extended service, now offering flights four days a week from April to October. British Airways offers service to London Heathrow once every day, expanding from six to seven days a week.

American Airlines recently added another international route to PIT, with service to Punta Cana set to start on Dec. 6 and operate through April 11, 2026. The flight to Punta Cana joins American’s nonstop seasonal flight to Cancun.

PIT also offers nonstop flights to Toronto and Montreal via Air Canada.