Originally Posted by
joachimm
Pretty much, TSA PreCheck reimbursement and lounge access for myself when traveling alone. In my case, my wife was the primary having been offered the 100k bonus last year. We added myself and two kids as AUs about a month before a 16 day trip to Hawaii where the TSA PreCheck came in incredibly handy every step of the way. We waltzed through TSAPre at KOA when there were at least 80 people in the non-pre line. It's possible we'd have missed the flight to OGG otherwise.
It was also just easier to have Emerald Exec on my account as well since I do most of the travel planning. We got minivans as upgrades on two of the islands- one of them didn't have exec aisle, I think maybe KOA?
Also my kids were 16 and 18 and I figured adding them as AUs might help establish some credit history.
I totaled it up and we received around $4K in benefits and extras in year one including the sign-on bonus so I wasn't really concerned with the extra $175.
I could not talk my wife into renewing for year 2, so I jumped on the 100K offer a couple weeks back. I may even add the 3 AUs so we can get GE, since there was only time to get TSA Pre before the Hawaii trip and our family goes abroad at least once a year to see relatives.
yes, I can see $175 paying for 3 other Global Entry/TSA Pre pays for itself. I have to see who I want to extend the 3 cards to. My wife for sure, but not sure if I want to give it to my parents or my in-laws.
I'm doing the math, and there's no way year 2 on the Plat card pays off in anyway. You can't get over the $450 fee as there are almost no additional benefits that add up to $450 as the initial Global Entry application is in year 2 of 5 year coverage, and IMO, the rental car and HHonors status and the lounge access is not that valuable if you travel less than 4 times a year.