This. Twice now I've caught earlier flights because of GE, and I would have (and should have...) last week but I didn't want a middle seat in back (in the end, my flight terminated at IAD instead of DCA so I would have been better off in the middle).

At ATL in Dec. with the kiosks down we made it through in 15 minutes because there were a couple of GE folks ahead of us. The regular line was 45 minutes+ because it's Atlanta. Mrs GHF is sold on having it.

I really appreciate everyone answering. Yes, we have had some pretty good luck with Immigration though even when the lines are short/moving fast, the kiosks are still faster.

As for Customs if there is no GE line, well, OK...I will give it a try (jumping to the head of the line). I can only imagine the reaction of those waiting in the long lines, and I hope the Customs people don't give me holy hell for it. I have terrible luck with those Customs guys. They always single me out! The last time was the worst. I was rushing home from Colombia due to a family emergency. Now granted, aging hippie w/ backpack...coming from Colombia...but I am a birder and I had the binoculars, bird books, etc. in the backpack. Even then, I got the third degree. He wanted to know why I was traveling alone (um, didn't want to ruin my husband's vacation because of an issue with my crazy mother), what kind of emergency (try explaining the crazy mother thing to a Customs agent)....I figured I was in for x-rays and laxatives...but fortunately, he let me go. Anyway, the point is that I somehow trigger suspicion even when I am dressed in business clothing. I always get pulled for secondary screening. So cutting the line is probably not going to work for me. But I will give it a try. My husband is going to Argentina today. We'll see how he makes out when he returns via MIA.

If you get that at customs, imagine also getting that with immigration.

If nothing else, GE cuts down on unpleasant interactions with people.

I have found the biggest delay is the wait for checked luggage.

I think the only "problem" (not much of a problem really) is explaining to flight attendants that I don't need any of the forms they are passing out to the passengers. Many don't appear to know what global entry is, then I point to the advertisement inside the airline's magazine or to save myself the time of explaining, I sometimes just say "I already have it taken care of".

Another time I got off a flight and was walking to the Global Entry kiosk, an airline employee was at the front of the entrance into the immigration hall stopping passengers to check their passports/status to see which line to direct the into, I proceeded to walk around her since she was blocking the way into the global entry lane, I was pointing at the global entry sign and she said "ah ok you have that global thingy".

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I have started taking the forms and filling them out in case the kiosks are down. You can go to the front of the line in that case in my limited (n=1) experience with kiosk problems.

We recently used our GE for the very first time and I ended up throwing the form away after we'd exited, but your advice seems very practicable. Better to have it and not need it than not to have it...

Yeah, I don't bother explaining to the FA. Either I don't take one (often they're not pushy), use it as a bookmark, or leave it in the seat pocket. Already have one filled out from previous flights (although you can't fill out a lot of it since much of the info is flight specific). If I were more environmentally conscious I'd go stick it back on the stack that most flights have in the magazine racks near the lavs.

This:

That said, I mentioned to a FA on a DL flight over Thanksgiving that I was GE and she tried to take the form back because GE folks didn't need them. I told her to leave it with me - just in case the kiosks weren't working. She was a bit taken aback, but agreed to let me have the form.

Wouldn't you know - we pulled into the gate and the GA made an announcement that all GE participants had to fill out a blue form because the kiosks were down. We did get to skip the regular line, but there were several GE folks waiting in line for the nearest Immigration Man. The crew line was severely backed up because not only were the kiosks down but the fingerprint scanners at the booths were down, too.

Still took half the time that a regular line would take.

Updated GE link anyone?

http://www.globalentry.gov/

How long have you waited between filling out the form online and getting the invite for an interview? I have a trip planned in a couple of weeks and its already been two weeks.

Based on all the good advice offered here, I urged Husband to try jumping the customs line with his GE print-out when he came back through MIA yesterday. He wimped out and didn't try it. His excuse was that the line was very short. He's platinum/permanent gold, so his luggage is priority and he never has to wait for it. Which means that he generally gets to Customs fast.

Plus he had two hours to make his connection, so no reason to rush.

Though of course he's claiming that he suddenly developed patience...

We will be coming back from Africa via ORD in a few weeks. Wait until he has to wait with me for my luggage and then the line is long...then we'll see just how much patience he has developed.

See this thread for a lot of reports:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/pract...sing-time.html

Times vary from a few hours to a few days. There are plenty of reports posted. Keep in mind that all data points are independent events with its own characteristics. There are too many loose variables to create a trend or forecast.

--J

I had an email inviting me to schedule an interview within a couple of days. I scheduled my interview the day before my appointment! YMMV