Originally Posted by
RadioGirl
If a large majority of people sign up, the benefits of skipping to the front of the line, having a separate line or even using the kiosk all go away. Systems like this only benefit the members if membership is limited. (Just as being elite on an airline is useless if
everyone is elite.
)
I don't think that's an issue with GlobalEntry. It's extremely unlikely that a "large majority" of eligible travelers would sign up. The $100 fee plus the rigamarole of the application and interview will keep membership pretty limited.
In fact, there were only 4,400 active members of GlobalEntry as of
December 2008.
Furthermore, how many international trips do most Kettles have in a given year? Maybe Cancun once every 2 years? Canada over the summer? Certainly not enough to justify an additional $100 on top of the cost of the passport. (Actually, it would be $200 for 10 years, which is the length of passport validity for those older than 16.)
Only 20-30% of the U.S. population (#s vary depending on which website you look at) has been issued a passport. We need to keep in mind that FTers tend to have MANY more arrivals into the USA each year than the average person holding a U.S. passport.