According to a briefing yesterday by the Houston Airport System, a Remote Global Entry Enrollment Center opens at City Hall in downtown Houston this month (February).

http://www.fly2houston.com/HobbyExpansion

click to open briefing, see page 21 of 22

I had my first flight a few weeks ago from PVG to ORD. The kiosk worked great to get through the first customs checkpoint. However, there was a very long line for the luggage check point.

I thought since I was GE I had front of the line privileges through the checkpoints. I skipped to the front and was yelled at by the customs agent. I mentioned that I was GE and had front of the line privileges. He snarked back "No you don't. I work here, and I would know if you had front of the line privileges. Go to to the very end of the line and wait like everyone else." It took 45 minuets to reach the front of the line again.

Does Global Entry give me front of the line privileges for the luggage customs check?

Hi Snigle,

Welcome to FT!

Many of the GE locations have a special line at the luggage check for GE. However, I can't seem to remember one at ORD. The front of the line privilege as I read it mostly applies to the immigration check, in case of kiosk failure.

Edit: as per the program guide, found at http://www.globalentry.gov/info_guide.pdf, the front of the line privilege only applies to the immigration control, not the customs control.

But I'm sure that ORD-based flyers will be able to add to this.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Thanks! I'm curious what others have to say in regards to ORD.

I have more international flights planned over the next few months and it would be great to skip the lines if I can. I live in Milwaukee and almost always fly in through ORD.

At LAX, GE was in a special line same as crew/handicapped. You may get questioned but the slip in your hand should get the nod of line monitors (airport/airline or USG employees). Your ORD encounter was probably the result of being in a regular line.

IIRC, ORD did have a line marked for crew and GE, but I don't recall the specifics. The last time I came through ORD it was very early and the place was empty.

In my couple of international arrivals at ORD, the immigration part was the zoo (long, long, long lines) and so customs was pretty quiet.

GenevaFlyer

This is what I'm always going through in ORD. Immigration has priority processing. Customs like all other travelers.

Are there any locations near Tampa? Closest I could find is Orlando (1.5 hr drive away).

I just signed up... If I cant get it, I will try to visit one during my next travels.

No such thing exists at ORD. Seems like the mantra at ORD is "nothing except the single line" including premium security lines to get into T5 or get through the final exit from the customs/immigration hall in T5.

Also, for anyone interested in walk-ins at ORD for the final GE interview, be warned that there are a LOT of scheduled interviews (agent said 200 of them today alone) and that walk-ins are not allowed and if you come early for a scheduled appointment you will slot behind everyone who comes in with a time earlier than you. I got lucky this morning after arriving at 9am with a 13:20 appointment (after being told I could come early). As each new appointment block came in they took those people and it was not until they got to an unusual point that the waiting area was empty that they let me come back. The interview was straightforward and friendly, but the uncertainty if I would get in quickly was present until the moment I went to the back for the interview.

Bottom line, don't plan to go very early and get taken care before your scheduled time at ORD.

Dan

JFK terminal 8 has priority customs lane as well. There were two customs lanes. The booth on the left lane has a GE sign (right next to the booth) which you are not going to see unless you walk right up to it.

I've gone through customs at JFK T8 about 30 times (many pre-GE), and I've never had to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes [the long lines (before GE) were getting through pp control].
Yesterday, my arrival from ZRH, had me at the tail end of a flight from SA, there were two customs agents, and the line at the left was longer than for the agent at the right (I didn't know about GE sign), after a family of 4 and then a solo pax went through the right lane, I was next--my wait was about 2 minutes...
Thanks for the info re GE customs lane.
Could GE's also use the crew lane?

We came into LAX T4 yesterday. First, had to wait 5 minutes on the plane for Customs to open (we were early, and this is better than going to TBIT). Then we got there and there were about 10 people on line for GE...and only two machines. Then one broke. There were some folks unclear on how to use GE, so that added delay. mrs. brp and I got separated by one person. I went through in about a minute. Well, the person after me was having major issues. Seems that she was not able to read/understand the questions (this is not a rant about non-English speakers, so relax ). My wife and the woman behind her repeatedly tried to help, to no avail.

I was waiting past the desk with another guys. Turns out he was the husband of the woman having the issues. Didn't know that when I commented about people "unclear on the concept." He mentioned that the kiosks were having issues, and I commented that that one hadn't.

Finally, she was done maybe 10 minutes later. When my wife came through, we talked about it some more...and the guy got bent out of shape.

I just don't understand why, if he knew that his wife would have issues with the questions, he didn't wait with her to help her fill it out, instead of getting annoyed when we were talking about the woman who was holding up a line of people.

I realize now that mrs. brp should have had a filled out regular form and just gone to the special assistance desk right there since one machine was broken and one was, shall we say, blocked.

All-in-all we missed a chance at possible standby on a 3-hours-earlier flight, so the inconsiderate (IMO) behavior was annoying.

Cheers.

Some recommend filling out the blue form just in case. I prefer to take my chances personally, and I would say in the times I've come into LAX - all TBIT though - that GE has been a huge win over the standard lanes, especially with the exit line for customs. Also, you reduce the chances of encountering a surly CBP officer at passport control. The GE kiosk doesn't have a bad day.

And that's probably the essence of the whole GE entry process