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How does Global Entry work for You?

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Old May 4, 2017, 12:01 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: drewguy
US Airports

Atlanta (ATL)

E concourse/transfer passengers
Global Entry kiosks are on the left wall as you enter the immigration area (the queues for the non-GE are to the right). After completing with the kiosk (facial recognition, no reset), continue to the far side of the room and turn right for the GE exit booths. Your face will be matched visually by the agent (against a line up of those recently through the kiosks) and you proceed to baggage claim. If you have no problems with your connecting flight (and no reason to open the bags) move them over to the drop off belt. There are two queues at security. Sometimes one is set up as TSA Precheck, sometimes they are both regular. Amusingly, when they have a Precheck line, there's usually nobody in the other one.

Boston (BOS)

All passengers follow a first hallway, then a bend, entering a second hallway; at that point you see the non-GE situation to your left through the glass. GE kiosks are at the far end to the left, with one (or two) immigration agents checking for slips with an X, then downstairs to baggage claim. GE customs exit, easy to miss, at far end (left side as you face luggage belts).

Charlotte (CLT)

No MPC. Customs exit has two booths. There is a dedicated GE customs lane with signage on the left. May have to walk past (and get dirty looks) general customs queue to see GE signage.

Chicago (ORD)

The kiosks are immediately apparent as you come down to the immigration/customs area, although sometimes long lines for "regular" immigration can slow access to the kiosks. After baggage claim there is a single exit to transfer/arrivals, with a specific desk for GE customers sometimes staffed.

Denver (DEN)
After the long walk from your gate, signs for global entry point you straight down the escalator (non-GE get forms checked and may queue). Kiosks to right using 2.0. If an X or to declare a sign points to agent. Otherwise proceed to baggage reclaim area. Give slip to agent at exit and proceed to airport main entrance.

Houston (IAH):

There is a single, roped off separate area on southern (terminal E) end of the arrivals hall with kiosks as you enter the hall, and an additional bank of kiosks near officers at a desk that check (and keep) GE receipts as one is entering the central immigration area. Proceed to the bag claim escalator past agents that may pull people for further questioning. After claiming bags downstairs, proceed directly to recheck. Agents in the area may pull you aside for bag inspection. There is no GE or standard exit queue.

Los Angeles (LAX):
International arrivals come into the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). After the walk to escalators, GE lines are well marked. LAX uses GE 2.0 facial recognition - just smile at the camera and it will tell you what to do next. You'll then go past an agent with whatever interaction they deem necessary. On to baggage claim and either taxis or a connecting flight.

Miami (MIA):

The kiosks are in the centre of the hall, between US and Tourists. Turn left when you have cleared and down the stairs/escalator to Customs. Turn left at the bottom and your GE Customs line is there.

New York (JFK):

T8
After receiving your "non-X" GE slip, you proceed to baggage area (if you have any), then head for the customs agent. There is a sign on a stand: "GLOBAL ENTRY EXIT", this lets you bypass any "others" waiting to see an agent.; There is a CPB agent who checks your pp (after collecting your slip). You then go to collect your luggage (if you have any), unless you are singled out for extra scrutiny, you are free to leave.
Once you are in baggage collection area, it seems all pax have "equal status" since GE no longer have their slips. [GE pax would still have their GE cards to show if needed.]

T7
Upon arrival in the Immigration area, the kiosks are on the back wall, facing the front of the inspectors booths. Turn left and you may have to walk right across the area to get to them. There is a special exit for Customs.

Philadelphia (PHL):

Global Entry kiosks are immediately on the right if arriving from an A-East gate (A2-A13). After successful facial recognition take your receipt to the Global Entry cubicle next to the kiosks. Hold up your receipt as your pass the GE officer in the cubicle and tell them if you have anything to declare. After claiming checked luggage, exit the FIS through the GE customs line, and give the officer your receipt.

San Francisco (SFO):

International arrivals G concourse - United/*A
Corridor from planes with floor and ceiling markings for different categories (GE, MPC, US, Foreign) that ultimately end up in lanes demarcated with tensa-barriers. GE is to the far left, where the kiosks are along the wall. Use kiosk, wait for agent, who will ask any questions, then pickup any bags and head past all carousels. Connecting flights to left; exit to right.

Seattle
Just before taking the escalator to the baggage hall the GE kiosks are on the right. New software so no receipts. After baggage collection join queue to the left for GE passengers. Agent asks questions as well as checks you for the GE kiosk record.

Washington (IAD):

Main Terminal
The kiosks are around the corner to the far right after you come down the escalator from the moon rover, behind a metal swinging gate marked for crew and GE. Starting Spring 2017 After using the kiosk, you'll enter a lane to for an agent to review your slip and to make any declarations (food, etc.), and then you proceed out a central door to the baggage claim area. There is no further check after this point. Post-2021: Using GE 2.0 and agents tend to take more time studying passport; door to baggage area a bit closer to GE checkpoint. Spring 2023: New facial scanners in place that are touchless - just look at screen, it images face, and directs you (in most cases) to proceed to the line. CBP agent confirms identity and checks passport, and asks if anything to declare.

Midfield (transfers) terminal (UA-UA only; limited hours)
The GE terminals are against the wall, on the left, immediately that you enter the arrivals immigration area. Do not join the barricaded area as you have gone too far. After you have your receipt you walk down the back of the inspectors booths to Customs. Note: No TSAPre available here.


Foreign Preclearance Airports

Montreal (YUL)

(All US bound flights)After CATSA security, the GE machines will be in your left. Facial recognition and no receipts will be issued just instructions to proceed to US or GE officer.

Vancouver (YVR)

(Most daytime US-bound flights. Not available for late-evening / night US-bound flights) GE/Nexus get expedited access to security, although it takes a bit of talking to convince the line guard to grant access because there is no reason to carry the GE card for air travel. Post security, the GE machines are in a dedicated area off to the left. After getting the receipt, you hand your receipt, passport and boarding pass to an available agent. Agent scans your boarding pass and if you have checked bags, a picture of your bag is displayed to the officer. American Citizens are waved past with ease. Non-American citizens are required to answer the standard "Where are you going / what are you doing" questions that apply to non-American citizen travellers. Non-American business travelers using GE at YVR can expect all the standard probing immigration-related questions regarding the nature of your business in the USA.

Dublin (DUB)

Preclearance:
After security, find 3 or 4 GE kiosks located on the left hand side. After getting the receipt, walk up to the CBP agent on the far left (from the passengers' point of view). Need to stop at CBP agent's desk and hand over passport + receipt + boarding pass. The BP is scanned to bring up picture(s) of bag(s) (in case bags were checked).
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How does Global Entry work for You?

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Old Jan 2, 2019, 10:20 am
  #211  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Warsaw,IN
Posts: 33
GE experiences - Ohare

During my most recent arrival, I used GE in Ohare. Got an O receipt.
There was an exit sign for GE members by the GE kiosks, which led me to baggage claim area. I verified with an Airport staff in the GE area, if I could enter the exit lane to collect my baggage.
The only place I had my "O" receipt checked was at the exit gate and had me scan my baggage before being cleared.

Can anybody with recent experiences arriving through Ohare share their experiences?

I had watched some YouTube videos by CBP about Global Entry and it showed a CBP officer verifying your receipt before allowing the member to baggage claim, which is what I was expecting.

The Global Entry membership is truly a privilege and one that needs to be very very carefully/seriously maintained.
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Old Jan 2, 2019, 3:44 pm
  #212  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
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Originally Posted by vnangli
During my most recent arrival, I used GE in Ohare. Got an O receipt.
There was an exit sign for GE members by the GE kiosks, which led me to baggage claim area. I verified with an Airport staff in the GE area, if I could enter the exit lane to collect my baggage.
The only place I had my "O" receipt checked was at the exit gate and had me scan my baggage before being cleared.

Can anybody with recent experiences arriving through Ohare share their experiences?

I had watched some YouTube videos by CBP about Global Entry and it showed a CBP officer verifying your receipt before allowing the member to baggage claim, which is what I was expecting.

The Global Entry membership is truly a privilege and one that needs to be very very carefully/seriously maintained.
There used to be an officer checking between the kiosk and the baggage but I haven't encountered one in a while.
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Old Jan 2, 2019, 5:00 pm
  #213  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Warsaw,IN
Posts: 33
Originally Posted by MADPhil
There used to be an officer checking between the kiosk and the baggage but I haven't encountered one in a while.
in Chicago???
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Old Jan 2, 2019, 8:00 pm
  #214  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
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Originally Posted by vnangli

in Chicago???
ORD T5, at least when GE was new.
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Old Mar 9, 2019, 6:33 pm
  #215  
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Entered LAX in November 2018 at Terminal 6 CBP and it was the same old procedure - use the GE kiosk, big O for food items, and then CBP 👮.♀️ At exit for baggage claim to take forms. I showed him my bag of cookies and candy and was pleasantly surprised not to be sent to X-ray machine. So as of 3 months ago nothing had changed at LAX except we lucked out with a friendly agent
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Old May 9, 2019, 10:09 am
  #216  
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Global Entry is Amazing

We’ve all seen those late night commercials offering a 30 pound weight loss in 30 days, lotions to remove wrinkles or stunning hair growth with the application of a few drops of a lotion containing “FDA Approved” compounds (probably water): the Trusted Traveler Program is the only thing that can claim a miracle cure.

At SFO today, I left seat 24L on a United B787-9, parked at gate 100, was through immigration, TSA-pre in the international terminal and comfortably ensconced in the Centurion Lounge in 22 minutes. It’s a huge improvement from the 90 minutes or so that it usually took me. It gets better, I got to switch to an earlier flight! 😀 Life is good.

(For the record, I’m fat, badly shriveled, bald and broke. TTP is the only thing that has worked!)
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Old May 9, 2019, 12:36 pm
  #217  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
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Updated SFO to reflect that there is no separate customs inspection. As with many other airports, agents at the exit from the GE area will take your slip and ask any questions they deem appropriate.

(Oddly, agent asked no question despite the "O" for food (prepackaged snacks, candy) on my slip on my most recent transit.)
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Old May 9, 2019, 12:56 pm
  #218  
 
Join Date: May 2018
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I'm surprised Toronto-Pearson Airport wasn't included in the Wiki.

I was just there last August, and I'll try to remember the experience to the best of my ability:

After CATSA (Canadian TSA) let us through the trusted-travel security lane and through to US preclearance, there were different machines, with GE/NEXUS machines on the left wall. After going through the motions and getting a print-out, we went to the dedicated GE/NEXUS lane where the officer scanned our passports and asked a couple of questions. Can't remember what he asked exactly, but I think he asked how long we'd been in Canada or something. Then we went through to the gates.

I'm always surprised that they don't have us take our checked-in luggage through US preclearance, but I guess they trust CATSA officers and probably have TSA personnel even checking bags somewhere.
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Old Oct 7, 2019, 1:10 am
  #219  
 
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IAH is amazing. I don’t have to fill out anything and get the receipt.
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Old Jul 9, 2021, 6:55 am
  #220  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Is Global Entry no longer an option at IAH?

Hello all,

Just flew back yesterday FRA-IAH and was surprised to see that in D arrivals GE was NOT an option. No kiosks, and all signs directed travelers to the standard immigration queue. There were still signs encouraging enrollment, but no option to use it. I asked the CBP agent what happened to the kiosks and he very rudely screamed (yes, screamed), "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Welcome home in the most courteous fashion. Any insights from the crowd?
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Old Jul 16, 2021, 6:30 pm
  #221  
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Just had same at IAH again. Agent said "it's nationwide for flights from Europe." Didnt feel like calling his BS. Anyone know what's going on,

Last edited by flyerCO; Jul 16, 2021 at 7:22 pm
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Old Jul 18, 2021, 8:32 pm
  #222  
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
Just had same at IAH again. Agent said "it's nationwide for flights from Europe." Didnt feel like calling his BS. Anyone know what's going on,
While you were hoping to use GE at IAH on arrival at IAH, was your entry processed under the "Simplified (biometric) Arrival" procedure at IAH at the time?
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Old Jul 19, 2021, 8:33 am
  #223  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
While you were hoping to use GE at IAH on arrival at IAH, was your entry processed under the "Simplified (biometric) Arrival" procedure at IAH at the time?
We were all funnelled into lines to see agents. As I have GE I cant tell you. Even when cant use machines, agents normally see I'm GE, scan passport and waive you on. More an issue that even with front of line privileges, front of line can have 20 GE users from the flight.
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Old Jul 21, 2021, 4:43 am
  #224  
 
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Is it worth contacting IAH via Facebook/Twitter to get a definitive answer?
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Old Jul 21, 2021, 4:58 am
  #225  
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Originally Posted by AlanA
Is it worth contacting IAH via Facebook/Twitter to get a definitive answer?
I sent an email to CBP media relations and CS. (Didnt realize were different accounts and sent to media relations 1st). I'm still waiting for an answer. If I dont hear back by end of week I'll try IAH airport itself.
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