I had previously written about my interview process for Global Entry in Houston and how overly excited I was about finally getting it.
Well if you are having doubts about whether to spend $100 for GE which last for 5 yrs and which automatically enrolls you in TSA Precheck then here is a story for you:
I was flying out of St. Louis this past Sunday and the security line was ridiculous. Had I waited in that line, I would have had to wait at least 30 to 45 min. I did arrive 2 hours earlier than my departure time but that was beside the point. Who wants to wait in line that long. Luckily with my TSA Precheck on my boarding pass, I was able to get in the Precheck line and there was literally no one there. It took me all but 5 minutes to go through.
I then went to check the monitors to see about my flight and it was delayed 45 minutes. Luckily there was a flight that was leaving in the next 10 minutes back to Houston. i went up to the gate agent (I was flying Southwest by the way) and asked if I could get on the earlier flight.
This must have been my lucky day because there was only one seat left and I was able to board the plane. Had I not had Precheck, I would have had to wait in line and get home close to midnight, an hour later that originally scheduled.
This is just one of many of my time saving stories by having Precheck. Unless you like waiting in lines, the fee is totally worth the time savings!
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Sure.. I’d pay the $100 for GE but I’m in STL and there aren’t any interview locations less than 4 hours away.
If I decided to go for GE and passed the interview, how long does it take to actually get in the program?
After approval, you can use the program. All you need to do for TSA precheck is to enter you known traveler number for each airline either online or you can call them. Once you do that, your ticket will show that you are TSA precheck and can use the designated lines.
If you have NEXUS which opens the door to Global Entry, do you also get SENTRI now too? I was in my GOES account yesterday and saw that I have NEXUS, Global Entry and SENTRI now available under my active profile.
I looked in my GE profile and I don’t have SENTRI. I could apply for it by adding a vehicle and paying an additional application fee. If you do have all three then that is pretty awesome 🙂 Must be new…
To answer Patrick’s question above, after submitting my application, I got conditional approval and invitation for interview 10 days later. Wait times for interview vary by location, but for me in SLC it was a couple of days. You can start using GE the next day after you are approved at the interview. I am not sure how soon TSA Precheck kicks in after that.
Thanks for answering the question M 🙂