MPsince1984

Sorry to keep piling on, but...

I didn't apply for Global Entry to "buy" pre-check. I went through the process (application, interview, FBI background check) to create an opportunity to get through US customs smoothly and promptly after International Travel, especially after long, tiring flights.

The first bonus is that I've been able to use the US Global Entry program to get into Australia just like it works on the way home.

My TSA Precheck experience has been at 100% since GE approval, and I do appreciate that very much, but that was not why I applied for GE.

ubernostrum

Yup. I applied for GE because I knew I was about to start doing more international travel than in the past, and I'd had enough experience with waiting around in customs lines to know that a more convenient experience was worth the signup fee. Getting Pre thrown in is just icing on the cake.

Downside: I'm still learning to adjust my arrival times a bit. Showed up to YUL this morning at 6:30 for a 10AM flight to the US, and was through check-in, security and customs preclearance with still over two hours left until my flight. Ended up taking a walk around the terminal and entertaining myself with a bit of planespotting (saw a Royal Jordanian 787 for the first time).

traveller001

I have no idea what TSA is doing. On a flight a couple months ago they were using an Ipad "randomizer" to speed things along. Seemed silly considering all the info Homeland Security has and they opt to basically flip a coin?

PS I rarely get pre-check even holding a SIDA badge at said airport.

Steve_19

The fee is around 100 USD for GE, if I remember correctly, so I don't feel it is outside the reach of to many people. (GE also gives the additional benefit of easier entry to the US). For the value and time saving well worth it IMHO.

I would (and do) rage more at the gov't for forcing us to put up with the TSA and their methods.

GUWonder

The airlines shared more than just flight history for those who opted in by way of FFP. And using flight history is part of the background checking.

PreCheck approval is not -- and has mostly not been -- limited just to the carrier in which non-DHS-paid-program membership people had FFP elite status. For example, people who opted in with AA as elites had increased chances of getting PreCheck LLL with other PreCheck participating airlines too -- just not as high as with the airline with which they had elite status.

GUWonder

The passenger background checks in the main are mostly pointless; and random exclusion/inclusion for PreCheck LLL screening for a trip doesn't increase the security risk to my flights; rather random inclusion into PreCheck LLL ought to decrease the risk in aggregate -- more so if the TSA were to use the freed up resources to focus on better contraband WEI interdiction.

pinniped

Is this a trick question? Do you have some reason to believe Precheck or Global Entry would reject your application?

Neither one are "hard" to get, provided you are willing to accept the background check and meet the qualifications. Since I've voluntarily submitted to other government background checks in the past, I didn't feel like I was really giving up any incremental "freedom" by signing up for GE. The Man already knows everything about me, and probably you too, so might as well get expedited CBP/TSA, right?

I guess someone might say Precheck by itself is "easier" since there are interview stations all over the country, whereas the GE site list is much shorter - mostly major international airports. I just waited until I had a New York trip planned, started my online app about 2 weeks prior to that, then booked a 7AM appointment one morning at JFK, and I was literally out of there at 7:15.

I sympathize with *some* of the points in the OMNI P/R discussion that this thread has devolved into - namely that there was a time when you wouldn't have had to submit to a background check to avoid the more inane aspects of security theatre. But while I may rant a bit on FT about it, when I get to the airport I'm glad I have GE/Precheck.

johnwb

There should be no fee for Global Entry. If the purpose of the program is to enhance security, (which it was last time I checked), then we should aim to have all of the lowest-risk passengers enrolled, not the subset of low risk passengers who are willing to pay a fee. It's not a Disney ride folks.

knit-in

You might be giving the ability to pay 20 dollars a year, more credit than is due.

BSBD

Really? That was certainly not my experience. I was an AA opt-in, and never got PreCheck LLL with other airlines until I enrolled through the PreCheck program and provided a KTN.

GUWonder

Not all people have the same experiences.

To answer your question: really.

BSBD

Thank you, Captain Obvious

Has this been discussed here previously? Your comment is the first I've ever seen/heard that FF opt-in could span and has spanned multiple airlines.

GUWonder

It's not $20 per year. It's $100 up-front that may come with -- but doesn't guarantee -- PreCheck LLL screening even when/where PreCheck is available and you are flying on a PreCheck eligible carrier. Also, not everyone paying is approved; the costs to acquire membership generally aren't just limited to the $100 application fee even if approved; and the membership can be suspended or revoked within the five-year period.

There is no guarantee that the $100 application fee will result in one use of PreCheck LLL per year for each of the five years that may be covered by the application/membership fee. And they don't generally refund money, so forget about prorated refunds at $20/year.

If DHS is so confident both in scoring people (to make some free people more equal than other free people) and in the efficiency of these "Trusted Traveler" schemes, then they would be doing the country a favor by allowing free opt-ins since we the traveling public already pay DHS a good chunk of money when we fly within/to/from the country.

FliesWay2Much

No, PreCheck is all about silencing criticism from frequent flyers -- formerly the TSA's most vocal and influential critics. As many of us have said before, PreCheck is nothing more than the old Communist system of Apparachik in which the government grants a "privilege" to a class of citizens in exchange for loyalty. The government can withdraw the privilege at any time for any reason (or no reason), which ensures loyalty. It's worked like a charm.

GUWonder

Getting PreCheck LLL when flying airlines on which they hold no elite status, despite having no KTN entry, has been repeatedly indicated on FT before. Much like it's been mentioned when non-US persons have been getting PreCheck LLL for boarding passes despite the KTN field probably or certainly being empty in the PNR.