pinniped

I have no doubt that it's easy to accrue a ridiculous number of Southwest points. I've done it myself.

DjRocket

I'm kind of on the fence about this, want to use points (and I only have about 100k) to get a "freebie", but also realize the practical consideration is against my judgement. I guess what would make it conclusive for me is if there's a card/program that allows you to earn more than 3 times (per $1) points for purchasing the TSA pre check with it. Anybody know one? In the end though, nothing to lose sleep over, it's only $85.

Mort

And the corollary to that is that it just might be the best 9,000 points that one would ever spend.

HtomSirveaux

So regardless of how it's "paid" for - if I were to apply, is there a guess as to how long it takes from start to finish (ie. actually showing up on the boarding pass) to become effective? I'm only a 1-2 time/year flyer, but MCO is usually one of my endpoints, so it may be worth the cost to cover 5 years. Next trip is in late September and trying to decide if it could be used by then.

pinniped

Well, a well-used Starpoint can be worth 4-5 cents. Not that I trust this to stay this way after the Marriott merger, and not that I actually hold Starpoints to always get that much out of them. (Getting 3 cents is somewhat easier.)

I guess I still go back to the fact that TSA Precheck is only useful if you're going to actually FLY somewhere, so unless I knew that my future would NEVER include Southwest (for whatever reason), I'd spend the $85 on the Precheck and the 9,000 points towards the flight.

It was reasonably quick for me. I didn't have a flight that day or anything, but within 1-2 weeks I was using it with no problems. I did have to log back into my various airline accounts and add the KTN. I'd also check the forums here to see if any other steps need to be taken on existing reservations.

If you intend to fly international even once in that five year period, and you'd have no issues with the short interview process (mine was less than 10 minutes), spend the extra $15 for Global Entry...

camaross

It took me less than 10 days from the appointment to the date I received my KTN.

HtomSirveaux

Yeah, to be honest right after I posted my question I found it in the FAQ on the Pre site (though slightly hidden as "What happens after I submit my application?" rather than just "How long?") I'm pleasantly surprised since I figured government and all...of course the first appointments I could get for the wife and I was August 20th. So fingers crossed.

I'm be curious/nervous about this part. In addition to needing WN to note my KTN for my account, I will need them to add it to the existing tickets. In addition, the tickets were bought with just middle initials since that's what our drivers licenses have, but the passports have the full middle name and therefore so will the Pre. "Must match exactly" and all...

nsx

I decided to buy Global Entry rather than PreCheck. Then I found out that interviews were being scheduled 3 months in the future! The solution was to attempt a reschedule and refresh the near-term calendar until something appeared. This worked best very early in the morning (5 AM Pacific). I moved it to one month out, then one week out. Interview was very fast and they gave me my Known Traveler Number on the spot.

GE is valid for 5 years past your upcoming birthdate. So do the interview right after your birthday and you get 6 years.

toomanybooks

This says JetBlue is offering it free to Mosaic members.

http://kearth101.cbslocal.com/2016/0...eck-wait-time/

Zorak

Some airports are busier than others. When I applied, SFO had a huge backlog, but LAS was more wide open and I was going to be there anyway (except I had to schlep over to T3)

After my interview the email with my approval hit my smartphone before I even left the building

pinniped

I did mine during a trip through JFK. I had something like 3 weeks' notice on that trip and was able to snag the interview time there right when I needed it.

Wingrider

Gift cards are your friend. Burned off 140k couple weeks ago and converted a chunk of that to Amazon cards that became a nice roller bag for flights.

The circle of life continues...

Wingrider

First time around did a day trip to Seattle + CP and both did GE. Their schedule was almost next day at the time vs my home airport(s) or ones I flew to weekly like LAX. GE was great on flight back from Belfast later that year.

Then figured out I could get Nexus (Canada) comp'd from work a repeated the process. Booked a flight on points + CP and the 2 of us flew up to Seattle. used Hertz points to rent a car and did a trip up to the CA border and back. Quick walk across the border for the retina scans and back home that night. I think we spent more on meals than the flight or the rental car for the day.

GE or Nexus is worth having. Worth the money if you travel more than a couple times a year.

We have CLEAR at our airport so I got suckered into that because our PRE lines are getting long and hardly anybody uses Clear. They let you go right into the PRE line once they check your fingerprint/ ID.

HtomSirveaux

UPDATE: I made an appointment the day of my OP for TSA Pre for 8/20. However today I saw a note posted that said that they were taking up to 30 days to respond/communicate. Since my flight is mid-September, I went into slight panic mode and drove 45 minutes to the one center in the area open on Saturday. Went as a walk-in, waited 1.5 hours. 9 hours later I just went to check the status and I think it's already done. It has the below message and it's showing a KTN for me. That's crazy. Somewhat glad, but annoyed that I spent a bunch of the day on it.

"ELIGIBILITY DETERMINED
TSA mailed you a letter with information regarding your eligibility determination. If you do not receive this letter within 10 days of receiving this status, please contact the UES Call Center at 1-855-DHS-UES1."

HtomSirveaux

Okay, so quick semi-related question (sorry.) In theory, I've updated everything I need to with WN. I added my KTN to my RR account, and added it to my two reservations (ISP-MCO and MCO-ISP, booked separately.) For some reason I thought there was a place I could go to see the Pre-Check on the reservation. I know it used to show in the iOS app, but from what I hear that disappeared in the recent update. If I pull it up under "Upcoming Trips" on the website there is nothing listed under "Extras," but I suspect that would only show EBCI. Any way to put my mind at ease?