Earlier today, I flew out to San Francisco and had an overall very smooth trip, particularly going through security at the beginning of the trip.  Say whaaaat??  No, I’m not being facetious; security was a breeze, and here’s why.  To start, there are 2 main program that I think all travelers should know about:

1)  Global Entry – offers expedited customs clearance when re-entering the US form a foreign country.
2)  TSA PreCheck – offers expedited security screening when flying (mostly on domestic flights, but the program is expanding to international itineraries as well).  In particular, you no longer have to take off your shoes, jacket, or belt, and you also do not have to remove liquids or laptops from your carry-on.  This makes a HUGE difference in going through security.

I’ve been flying a good amount for work lately – mostly domestically – but the Mrs. Guru and I also have a few international trips coming up, including one to Greece and one to South America.  It costs $80 to sign up for PreCheck alone, while signing up for Global Entry (which includes membership in the PreCheck program) is $100.  Both memberships are valid for 5 years, so for only $20 extra, I could have 5 years of Global Entry in addition to just PreCheck.  Unless you never, ever, ever, ever, ever travel internationally, I think the $20 is absolutely worth it to have expedited re-entry into the US from an international trip.  Clearing customs can often take 30-60 minutes or longer at many airports, so if Global Entry can save me an hour of time on just one trip, I’d consider that worth $20 right there.

Application Process: Online

The Global Entry application process occurs in 2 stages:  1) An online application, and 2) An in-person interview.  The online application was a bit lengthy, but not too bad.  There was no separate application for PreCheck – by applying for Global ENtry, I was automatically enrolled in PreCheck as well.  The application requires some relatively detailed information, including:

– All addresses where you’ve lived for the past 5 years
– All employment for the past 5 years
– All countries you have visited in the past 5 years.

So it did take me a bit of time to get all that information typed in, but the entire application took less than 30 minutes.  If you have a simpler list for the 3 items above than I did, you could finish the application in about 15 minutes.

Once you have filled out the application, you are required to pay the application fee ($80 or $100).  One caveat here is that this fee is for the application, and will not be refunded if you are denied for some reason.  But unless you have a substantial criminal history, or lots of suspicious trips to Mexico and Colombia, I think the vast majority of people pass the initial screening.

Application Process: Interview

Within about a week, my initial application was approved, and I was ready to schedule an in-person interview.  This was a little tricky, because there is a limited list of interview centers.  The only one in North Carolina is in Charlotte, but most big cities have one.  You can view the list of interview centers here.

Depending on the location, some are easier to get an interview at than others.  Charlotte was very difficult to find an open application (sometimes, when checking availability, there would be no open interviews at all; sometimes, there would be a handful of dates 3+ months out).  San Francisco also has a wait of about 2 months.  Chicago, on the other hand, seems to have plenty of appointments within the next 2-3 weeks.  People do cancel/reschedule their appointments though, and this most frequently seems to happen at the last minute.  I had been eyeing an interview in San Francisco, and although most of the time, nothing was available for 2-3 months, every once in a while, I’d see a single appointment pop up within the next 10 days. Sometimes it’d be for that same afternoon.  I was lucky enough to snag an appointment in San Francisco about 2 weeks in advance, which fit perfectly with my travel schedule.

So be warned that securing an interview can be a little of a pain, but if you can, the interview itself is a piece of cake.  They typically only last about 5-15 minutes, and really just clarify why you’re applying for the program and where you’ve traveled.  Mine lasted about 15 minutes, and I was told that I would receive an email within 24-48 hours with a decision.  About 45 minutes later, I received an email telling me I was approved.

My Experience

Once you are approved for PreCheck (and Global Entry, if you decide to apply for both), you are eligible for PreCheck on all domestic flights – although you should note that while you’re eligible on every flights, it’s not guaranteed (I like to think that there’s a secret lair of baboons somewhere in Kansas that approve or deny your eligibility for a particular flight).  Over the past couple months, I’ve checked in (and gone through security) for about 12 flights, and I’ve been cleared for PreCheck on every single one.  So while it’s not guaranteed on every trip, I haven’t missed one yet.

You’ll know whether you’re “cleared” for particular flight when you check in.  If you’re cleared, you’ll see a green Check Mark on your boarding pass, and that’s your ticket to breeze through security.  As I mentioned above, when you’re cleared for PreCheck, the normal restrictions do not apply to you.  You can leave your shoes, belt, and light jacket on, and you can leave your laptop and liquids in your carry on (although you are still limited to 1 quart-sized bag of 3 oz. or less bottles).

Going through security with PreCheck is the best thing since…..well, since security used to be exactly like it.  Now, all I have to do is take my cell phone out of my pocket, and take my watch off, and pass through a metal detector.  While I know I’ve read some complaints of the PreCheck program (with increasing membership, the PreCheck line isn’t as short as it used to be), I haven’t had any problems at all.  The approximate time it has taken me to clear security that the various airports are:

– Greensboro: 45 seconds
– Charlotte: 90 seconds
– Austin: 2 minutes
– San Francisco: 3 minutes
– Atlanta: 3 minutes
– Chicago (O’Hare): 4 minutes

While these times are unofficial (until we go to Mo with the leaderboard – MO!), I’ve been extremely please with the program thus far.  Even though my home airport of Greensboro is a tiny airport, and there are rarely more than 8 people in line at security at any given time, I still find that I get a huge benefit from the program.  Even if there is literally no one in line at security (which happens often), removing my shoes, belt, jacket, liquids, and laptop is still a hassle.  So while it doesn’t save me hours of time, it’s just so darn easy that I felt like I got my money’s worth almost right away.

Since the $100 membership cost is valid for 5 years, I feel like I can get my $20 per-year value if I take even 1 trip.  Overall, I’d highly recommend the program to anyone who travels even a couple times a year.  I haven’t even had a chance to test out the Global Entry part of it yet, but when we travel to Greece in August, I’ll be able to report on that process as well.

If I can clarify any questions – or if you have any feedback from your experiences – feel free to post a comment below!