I use it regularly in Boston, but have also used it in EWR and JFK and either SFO or LAX. I haven't been to South America lately but I will be delighted when I have to use it in Miami to avoid the steamy unpleasant immigration lines.

GE is for me, the greatest thing since sliced bread. Especially when I enter the US through MIA (madness) or LAX behind a China Air 747 and see those lines at immigration. I'm out in 3-5 minutes w/carry-on! Best money you can spend!

Absolutely
 

Arrived yesterday in ATL from LIR. There appeared to be a good 30 minute wait for immigration. My wife and I went to the GE kiosk and whisked through in seconds. What a great program!

I also want to echo that it was very useful in IAD. This past week I arrived in IAD with a 1 hour connection and easily made it because I had Global Entry. Instead of waiting in the really long lines, I was through in probably <2 minutes. I even had time to relax in the lounge before boarding my connecting flight. :)

I have used it dozens of times. If I had to rank my personal order of time saved: MIA IAD-Transit IAH ORD DFW ATL SFO IAD-Arrival LAX(5) .

But it is really a matter of the circumstances/timing of when you arrive. For example, if you're the first widebody to arrive at IAD in the afternoon flight bank, it's not going to matter much. If you're the 10th to arrive within a 15 minute period, it's going to make a huge difference. Arrive on an Aeromexico RJ at LAX T5... nada; Arrive at TBIT in the midst of a bank of Asia flights... So this is a question that requires a giant "YMMV" in any answer. Like any good insurance policy, you pay up front for a benefit that may be priceless when the time comes that you need it :).

I think the best benefit of GE is you can consistently get through Immigration and Customs in less than 5 minutes. I use it most often at SFO and usually it's not too bad. However, a couple of weeks ago, I arrived on UA 862 and it was really crowded. Even the Crew Line had 20 people in it. With only carryon, I was through and on my way to the Domestic terminal in minutes. The CBP officers were also questioning people at the exit but when I handed over my GE receipt, the officer just took it and said "Welcome Home". What a fantastic program!

I would have to agree with GoingAway. Your post states your frustration that they would not "break their rules" for you. If you did not think they should break them for you, you would not have posted

As an aside, I know from experiance that both JFK and Atlanta will break the rules if you offer to sit and wait until they can fit you in. All depends on the way you ask perhaps.

I think it's marginally worth the money.

I almost always enter via JFK or LAX where I rarely find lines that long. If I'm checking a bag, it usually nets out about even - I wait for the bag long enough I could have cleared the border through the normal line. Without bags it's a clear win as I'm consistently the first one through.

For the fee (effectively $20/year) I find it worthwhile even if I only get material benefit once or twice a year.

Approval Time at SFO for Permanent Resident
 

Applied online 6/6/10
Conditional approval 6/14/10
Interviewed and approved 6/15/10

US Citizen, living outside the USA
 

Applied online May 9. Conditional approval May 18. Interview and approval at IAH June 13, scheduled during a visit to the US. Look forward to trying GE out for the first time next month, probably at LAX (I'll be on one of those multitude of flights arriving simultaneously from Asia). :)

Be ready for the death ray stares from pax stuck in the regular lines!!;)

No problem! I'm prepared to take one for the Team. :D

You may have to take two stares and some verbiage.

#1 @ passport control
Used GE about 3 weeks ago at LAX. It worked great at passport control.


#2 @ customs/exit
My bags were delivered before I got there (thanks, UA, for Priority tags & handling). Had nothing to declare, saw a GE sign at far right side of the line in corridor leading to customs/exit and went for it.

At the modest customs exit line a UA FA was unhappy and said "oh sir..." at my going to the (Global Entry) front of the line. I replied Global Entry..
(have to remember to take off my "I'm 1K" tee shirt, and put on my "I'm Global Entry" when getting off the plane)

Was taken, or walked thru next. Normally customs has gone quickly at other locations (IAD), but it's still nice not to wait in line.

It took about a minute to get thru passport control, then less than a minute to get thru customs. Altho better signs and lines would help, and apparently are the case at several airports, this is a great program.

Does this work for family travel? Or do you need to purchase for every passport?

I had arrived on a flight from zrh to jfk, I was on aa in business class, and one of the first pax to exit the plane, One of the flight crew (probably the relief pilot) had exited early and was walking faster than I was, and so was way ahead of me. After using the GE terminal (I had NO checked luggage), I was through all of the CBP process in less than a minute or two, I stopped to go the toilet--I "met" up with the relief pilot on my way out of the terminal.

I got a new passport and needed a new CBP sticker. You should update your new passport number and expiration date, by logging onto your GE account* on the internet; bring your account number (the one that appears on your "interview" letter), it will save time when they re-check your info.
I called ahead to verify that I did NOT need an appointment to get a new sticker.
*To log-on to your account you need your user id (not the same as your account number) and password--easily forgotten months (or years) later.:)