Shorter PreCheck Lines? Check!

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Both dh and I applied for Global Entry. I think the longest part was waiting to hear if we'd been approved. I think it really might have been only a week, maybe two max, but it seemed longer. And once you are approved you have a certain time period (don't remember how long) in which to set up your appointment. The appointment itself was very quick. They were on time and the process took about 10 minutes. I got notification by email that I'd been approved while I was waiting to board my plane. We'd made our appointments on a day when I had a flight out of Albuquerque airport, which is where we had to go for our appointments (about an hour away).

We decided for the difference in price of only $15 for the 5 year period it would be worth it for Global Entry as opposed to just TSA Precheck.

[djyamyam Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djyamyam]

This has always confused me. I have NEXUS and use it frequently when driving back and forth between the US. Works great, and has been well worth the $50 I paid for it.

Where I get confused, is on one place it says that I can use Global Entry Kiosks and I have tried but then it tells me I have to have my fingerprints done. From what I can tell as well I have to pay separately for TSA pre-check but even on that I have seen conflicting evidence. Wondering if next time I am just better off signing up for Global Entry and not getting NEXUS or if I should pay the $150 and get both NEXUS and Global Entry.

When you get your Nexus, you have to provide your fingerprints when you go for your interview (they take iris scan and fingerprints). As a Nexus holder, you can use the GE kiosks. I've done so a number of times. You do not have to pay additional for GE or TSA precheck if you get approved for Nexus. It's redundant

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

You use your passport not your Nexus card at the GE kiosk. Correct?

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

You use your passport not your Nexus card at the GE kiosk. Correct?

For Global Entry, you use your passport not your global entry card (which you don't really need for anything , not sure why they issue a card???)
I would assume if what djyamyam says is true, you would use your passport in the machine same as US Passport holders.

[djyamyam Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close djyamyam]

You use your passport not your Nexus card at the GE kiosk. Correct?

Yes, passport

[shorts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shorts]

Both dh and I applied for Global Entry. I think the longest part was waiting to hear if we'd been approved. I think it really might have been only a week, maybe two max, but it seemed longer. And once you are approved you have a certain time period (don't remember how long) in which to set up your appointment. The appointment itself was very quick. They were on time and the process took about 10 minutes. I got notification by email that I'd been approved while I was waiting to board my plane. We'd made our appointments on a day when I had a flight out of Albuquerque airport, which is where we had to go for our appointments (about an hour away).

We decided for the difference in price of only $15 for the 5 year period it would be worth it for Global Entry as opposed to just TSA Precheck.

Luanne,

After the interview you were approved right away and notified by email? Did I read that right? That would be great.

Our closest airport where we fly out of does not do interviews. We will probably have to drive 4 hours to Chicago which will be hard to schedule without DH taking off time from work. But we do what we must.

Thanks everyone.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Luanne,

After the interview you were approved right away and notified by email? Did I read that right? That would be great.

Our closest airport where we fly out of does not do interviews. We will probably have to drive 4 hours to Chicago which will be hard to schedule without DH taking off time from work. But we do what we must.

Thanks everyone.

Yes. The interview took about 5 to 10 minutes, and they also fingerprint you. That was what took the longest for me, for some reason my prints didn't register well on the scanner. After I was done I went through security (no Precheck yet, lol) and while I was in the waiting room I got the email telling me I'd been approved. So it was within an hour. I was able to enter my KTN (Known Traveler Number) on my return flight so I did get Precheck on the way back.

After you get your KTN you can enter it into any airline profiles you have. You can also add it to any upcoming reservations. They do say that even if you have it entered into your airline profile you should check to see if you need to enter it when you make new reservations as well. So far I've been finding that the KTN is being populated automatically.

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

My wife and I haven't paid for the pre-check dealio but we were both pre-checked for this recent flight to Maui. We also both receive 1 checked bag free privilege with Alaska Airlines. Hopefully this doesn't end.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

My wife and I haven't paid for the pre-check dealio but we were both pre-checked for this recent flight to Maui. We also both receive 1 checked bag free privilege with Alaska Airlines. Hopefully this doesn't end.

If you have some kind of status with an airline that might be why you're getting TSA PreCheck. But from what I've read the random assignment has gone away. I used to get PreCheck pretty regularly, but other members of the family weren't getting it. We decided it was worth it to bite the bullet, pay for the Global Entry, and be assured that we'd ALL get it when we traveled together.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

We have Sentri passes (same as Nexus, but for the southern border), and they absolutely work the same as Global Entry. Holders of Nexus--and driving their own cars which have been approved by Nexus--can use the Sentri lanes on the southern border, and we have used the Sentri pass to re-enter the U.S. from the northern border. Both entitle the holder to Global Entry at airports which have it enabled, and to TSA Pre-check. You just have to be sure and register your "trusted traveler" number with the airline you are flying with. You register it on the personal profile page, or you can call and ask them to register it for you. If you don't register it with the particular airline you are flying with, it won't come out on your boarding pass.

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

Maybe its a perk of the Alaska Airlines signature card. I don't really know.

Pat, I am thinking of driving to Loreto from the USA and I want to take my boat. Is this a problem ?

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

You just have to be sure and register your "trusted traveler" number with the airline you are flying with. You register it on the personal profile page, or you can call and ask them to register it for you. If you don't register it with the particular airline you are flying with, it won't come out on your boarding pass.

I've read that even if your KTN is in your profile for the airline you may still need to enter it when you make your reservations. So far, I haven't needed to, but I've only flown a couple of times since I've had Global Entry.

[cmb Member Find all posts View Profile Close cmb]

We usually get pre-check from the airlines, but not always, so we applied for Global Entry a couple of months ago. It was only about a week to be approved, but to get an appointment for the interview is about a 6 month wait. We are scheduled for April The wait doesn't appear to be as bad in all locations. So I have at least 4 flights in the meantime and fingers crossed...

[shorts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shorts]

We usually get pre-check from the airlines, but not always, so we applied for Global Entry a couple of months ago. It was only about a week to be approved, but to get an appointment for the interview is about a 6 month wait. We are scheduled for April The wait doesn't appear to be as bad in all locations. So I have at least 4 flights in the meantime and fingers crossed...

Sorry you have to wait till April for the interview. We got approved and have an interview scheduled for December 20th. There were earlier appointments available but we can only go on the weekends. I'm glad we didn't have a long wait like you have. Is there another airport within a reasonable distance you could go to?

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

We usually get pre-check from the airlines, but not always, so we applied for Global Entry a couple of months ago. It was only about a week to be approved, but to get an appointment for the interview is about a 6 month wait. We are scheduled for April The wait doesn't appear to be as bad in all locations. So I have at least 4 flights in the meantime and fingers crossed...

Wow, sorry to hear about the wait. I wonder if more people are applying, or if the location you're going to has limited appointments. Setting the appointment was very easy for us. They had lots of openings, no waiting when we got there. We were able to schedule our appointments for a day, and time, that worked with another flight I had so we were already going to be at the airport.