Originally Posted by
beachmouse
It's not just direct costs for Global Entry; it's also indirect costs. Even though I live east of the Mississippi River, the nearest place I can go for Global entry is 300+ miles away by car. Literally half the states in the country have no interview location for Global Entry.
So easy to have to spend a couple hundred dollars beyond the cost of application to get GE if you don't live vaguely near a GE interview site and can't combine your interview with another trip.
Tell me about it; I'm in the same boat. I live in Omaha, and flew to Chicago specifically to do my Global Entry interview. My parents live in the suburbs, so I scheduled a short weekend visit with them, and did the interview on arrival at ORD and spent the rest of the weekend with them. It was a nice short family visit, but I only did the trip for the interview.
People shouldn't need Global Entry (or membership in any other special program) to take their PEDs on a plane. Vetting the devices is a fairer approach.