That's basically what I said for mine; "I go to Canada at least once a year, and I'd like to increase that." No problems.

This was at the Detroit enrollment center; a few months later I had a trip to Toronto, so I got my iris scan done at YYZ. Since then I've crossed the border by land several times, and have an upcoming flight to YTZ (thanks, Porter, for having a fare sale) which will finally let me try using the scan.

(Coming back through YYZ, the NEXUS kiosks were in use but the Global Entry kiosks were open, so I just used that instead.)

I think the purpose of that question is to establish the individual default for the visa classification, e.g. business, leisure, etc. That way, when you complete the interview on the screen, it can say "same old same old" or "different from default".

My point was that they will ask you why and you should have considered what you will say. My interview was more than five years ago and I recall at that time they wanted to know that I was currently a frequent traveler and the reasons why I needed to use NEXUS. Recently, I've used it mainly for land borders (frequently use BUF) and the value of the Whirlpool Bridge border is worth it alone. Last week I crossed at Fort Erie and US side of NEXUS was inspecting every car and asking detailed questions - leading to a line nearly as long as the regular lines.
One answer that would make sense to me but not to them is "It's a way to get Global Entry at half price."

While we were talking recently upthread about NEXUS and Precheck privileges not yet extending to AC, this morning I arrived at TSA checkpoint in PHX for AC flight, they scanned my BP and the iPad display pointed to the right, so I followed the maze in that direction, and it led to a Precheck process: coat on, bags not unpacked, shoes on. They just swabbed my hands, both immediately after entering this line and after going through the metal detector. I am not wearing any metal other than the pin in my poppy and the button on my jeans, so not sure what that is about. Very fast process.
I used my NEXUS as ID when checking in with AC, so that assured my Trusted Traveller status was linked to my BP, so perhaps that helped.
As I entered the special maze, the officer with the swab made conversation over the poppy and how she knew I was Canadian because of it. She looked like she might have been a veteran herself. A lot of veterans in TSA, I suspect.

During my interview I asked the CBP officer to clarify that question - I said do you mean do I want it to make things faster or something else?

He said they just want to know if it's primarily business or pleasure. I did not ask why it mattered.

It matters because the default would be B1 or B2 visa-equivalent, whichever corresponds to your primary purpose of travel. I think either of those answers are acceptable. "I plan to engage in human trafficking" or something like that is likely to be unacceptable but I can't imagine that would be a NEXUS applicant's honest response. Both "I hate standing in line on the way to my annual vacation" or "I travel twice a week on business" are perfectly valid reasons. Even "I am an impatient SOB and I hate talking to law enforcement officers when there's beer waiting in the lounge" is rude but probably not unacceptable.

AC still doesn't participate - perhaps Nexus helped here, but maybe not. Probably linked to the what appears to be TSA experimenting with selecting seemingly random folks for the three beeps/pre-check, including folks without FF status, trusted traveler status, etc. Presumably they are using some the secure flight data they get to choose them. Then again, maybe its just completely random.

You can definitely flip through the last few pages of the UA forum pre-check thread (or probably the pre-check threads in the forums of the other airlines participating) to see how folks are ranting about how there is now more than 1, 2 or 5 people ahead of them, and they aren't familiar with the process.

Someone mentioned they had a TSA source saying that those qualifying through their elite status/airline invitations in the past would lose the privilege of pre-check unless they signed up for the soon to be public program where you can pay $85 to sign up to be eligible, while trusted travelers would continue to be eligible without an additional fee through Nexus/GE. Some think this is essentially a free trial for the non-FF folks - getting a taste so that they'll pay up to be part of the program in the future. Truthfully - who knows?

This is stupid. So a program that relaxes security checks for vetted travelers is now being opened at random to other people?

I hope that it was actually the secure flight data that showed she was a trusted traveler.

The only reason to even involve airlines is if the TSA system can't look you up in their own database when they scan your boarding pass. It should be between you and TSA, regardless of your airline.

Hi,

Wondering if anyone has experience this. Every time I try to use a Global Entry kiosk at YYZ, it says I am not enrolled. If I use the Nexus kiosk, it works fine. Any ideas? My GOES profile says I am enrolled to both and there is no other option. Thoughts/comments?

Thanks,
JAG

Came through YYZ yesterday, GE/Nexus in hand asking about TSA Pre. Surprised to hear YYZ should see it mid November. Ms. TSA warned it might not be the whole package but very close. Shoes on, no unpacking, fluids and laptops in. I'll take it!

Are you a dual citizen trying to use a nonUS passport? Curious about that hypothesis.

Did they capture your fingerprints when you had your interview (or at another time since then)? If you only have an iris scan in the system then GE won't work. (Conversely, if you only have fingerprints then NEXUS kiosks won't work.)

Very interesting and good to hear. I wonder if that means AC might be joining :)

There's a checkbox in your profile they have to tick for GE to work. Wander into the office and ask them if they can double check the configuration is OK and your fingerprints are properly enrolled.

That's basically what I told them, and they were happy with it. They supposedly hear that a lot, since the border crossings here (NH and VT) aren't terribly busy.

The Canadian folks did ask a lot of question about my job, and whether I travel to Canada for work purposes (I don't, and probably won't), warning me not to bring anything but business cards and a laptop, leaving all other commercial materials behind.