My question is, which pre-approve travel programs should we be looking into? Will pre-check still help when traveling to Europe, Maybe, anecdotally some people get pre when travelling internationally some don't I have receive pre for most of my int. trips on United or do we need global entry? GE gets you into the pre club more consistently but as noted above, YMMV Or is global entry just when we are returning for customs? Go read the global entry page if you unsure about the purpose of GE . It streamlines immigration and customs, but as usual you might get the big X at any time.It's all a bit confusing.

I also saw there are alternatives to the fingerprinting? I don't mind all the background checks but do they really need fingerprints, what is the alternative? I don't think you will be able to avoid the FP. It's how they establish identity both for initial background checks and then every time you come into the country. The alternative is not to join GE. It's their games and their rules

Thanks