Global Entry Program/Pre-Check [Split from screaming woman thread]

[Blues]

Luane, thanks for your help and your posts. It's maddening, how incompetent and unresponsive our government agencies can be.

In my case, I sent email (no response), and have been calling 3-5 times per day ever since, getting the "can't connect, try later" message each time, until after business hours, when it would finally go through and I'd get a canned message to try again during business hours. Argh!

So, out of the blue, today I got a canned email stating my application status had changed. I logged in, and lo and behold, my approval came through! 2 1/2 weeks later, on a Sunday of all days! No indication what the problem was, what took so long. But I'll take it.

 

[DaveNV]

Update on my previous update

We interviewed at the GOES office on November 4. Received our Nexus cards in the mail on November 12, so basically a week after the interview. We're all done.

Dave

 

[Luanne]

Luane, thanks for your help and your posts. It's maddening, how incompetent and unresponsive our government agencies can be.

In my case, I sent email (no response), and have been calling 3-5 times per day ever since, getting the "can't connect, try later" message each time, until after business hours, when it would finally go through and I'd get a canned message to try again during business hours. Argh!

So, out of the blue, today I got a canned email stating my application status had changed. I logged in, and lo and behold, my approval came through! 2 1/2 weeks later, on a Sunday of all days! No indication what the problem was, what took so long. But I'll take it.

What a pain! But at least you got approval and didn't have to go back to the center where you had your interview.

 

[Blues]

“The confusion lies in the fact that we ended Managed Inclusion 2, but have left Managed Inclusion 1 in place,” TSA spokesman Mike Englund tells TravelSkills. (See full statement below)

In Managed Inclusion 1 — which remains in effect — PreCheck screening is available for “certain travelers who have been pre-screened by TSA canines,” Englund said. In other words, if a dog’s nose finds you acceptable, you might be selected for the fast inspection even if you are not an enrolled member of PreCheck and don’t have a known traveler number. (It only applies, obviously, in airports where TSA dogs are on duty.)

So, another amusing factoid about our trip. In fact, our KTN's didn't come through until well after our return trip (today, for mine). When we both got sick in Chicago, we cancelled our SWA flight, and the SWA flights for 2 days later were ridiculously expensive. So I booked us on Virgin America, an airline we had only used once before, many years ago. The amusing part? We got TSA PreCheck on Virgin anyway. No, not at the airport after being sniffed by dogs (we didn't see any at O'Hare). It was on our boarding passes when we checked in online, 24 hours in advance.

So not only can't TSA and Customs manage their respective programs, clearly they don't even know what's going on with their programs. PreCheck is apparently still possible as a random benefit.

(Sorry, feeling surly and skeptical about government agencies today).

 

[Blues]

What a pain! But at least you got approval and didn't have to go back to the center where you had your interview.

Thank you again, Luanne. Dave, I'm glad it worked well for you. But I won't be recommending it to any of my friends or acquaintances.

 

[Luanne]

Thank you again, Luanne. Dave, I'm glad it worked well for you. But I won't be recommending it to any of my friends or acquaintances.

I think you, and the other person I know who had this problem, are in the minority. I still recommend Global Entry. It's probably one of the best $100 I've spent. We've gotten TSA PreCheck every time we've flown, it really does expedite entry back into the US. from Canada. I haven't used it anywhere else so can't speak to that. Random TSA PreCheck was not working for us any more so we were willing to go the Global Entry route.

 

[DaveNV]

Thank you again, Luanne. Dave, I'm glad it worked well for you. But I won't be recommending it to any of my friends or acquaintances.

I feel your pain. Happy it worked out for us, and glad to hear you finally got yours sorted out. Bureaucracy in motion...

Dave

 

[Blues]

Further Update

Wow, today I actually got a response to my email. Other than the boilerplate, it just says "Our records show your account is now approved. Please allow 10 to 15 business days for delivery of your GES card."

I'm guessing that my original email triggered someone to look at it, fix it, and then send a response saying that it's approved. I am kind of impressed that it took only 9 days for that (from my email; almost 3 weeks from my interview). Sad, that 9 days seems fast for a response from a government agency, but that's how it is. Anyway, thanks again Luanne and Dave for the followups -- I also am very glad that it all worked out.

In my case, I sent email (no response), and have been calling 3-5 times per day ever since, getting the "can't connect, try later" message each time, until after business hours, when it would finally go through and I'd get a canned message to try again during business hours. Argh!

So, out of the blue, today I got a canned email stating my application status had changed. I logged in, and lo and behold, my approval came through! 2 1/2 weeks later, on a Sunday of all days! No indication what the problem was, what took so long. But I'll take it.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Holy Moly! In SF Bay Area (w/ population of over 3.5 million), the only GE center is at SFO.
Just scheduled an interview... MARCH 2017!!!

UPDATE: Well... a long wait for appointment - SFO; 8:30PM, but relatively easy for the both of us. ~10 mins. If anyone is looking for a quicker turnaround - consider walk-in during evening hours. SFO International Term, park in Garage G (3rd floor) - easy access. Bring GEOS paperwork, Passport and Drivers License (or similar).

 

[mdurette]

We applied for GE about a month ago (paid for by Chase, thank you). I received the initial email to set the appointment for the interview. Great....went into the system to schedule.

Closest center 1/2 hour away - booking in August!!!
Two centers about 1 hour away - 1 states full, no booking...the other states September
Center 2 hours away, booking in May.
Center 4 hours away, booking next week.

I then checked all airports we were hitting over the next few months - nada.

So...I'm waiting until August for the appointment and subsequent research states with GE, you are not guaranteed PreCheck. If I would have known, I would have just done PreCheck and been done.

Also - on the same line.
As a family of 5 we booked last minute travel last week on Delta. My brother (who was not flying) has status with them and made a call to get better seat assignments. (I just wanted to ensure one of us sat with our child). All 5 of us got PreCheck, he said it was because our reservations were now associated with his travel profile. Not sure if accurate, but made sense.

On the return home with SW, no precheck for anyone. But, as we entered security area - they instructed my parents to hit the precheck line. We ended up in it after the dog sniff.

 

[PigsDad]

We applied for GE about a month ago (paid for by Chase, thank you). I received the initial email to set the appointment for the interview. Great....went into the system to schedule.

Closest center 1/2 hour away - booking in August!!!
Two centers about 1 hour away - 1 states full, no booking...the other states September
Center 2 hours away, booking in May.
Center 4 hours away, booking next week.

You're lucky. I have one location at hour away, and the next closest is 5+ hours away. One tip I heard was to just show up to one of the locations, and they may be able to fit you in w/o an appointment.

So...I'm waiting until August for the appointment and subsequent research states with GE, you are not guaranteed PreCheck. If I would have known, I would have just done PreCheck and been done.

You are not guaranteed PreCheck with either program -- it is the same if you have GE or just PreCheck. That is stated in the documentation.

Kurt

 

[canesfan]

I've never not gotten it if my information is on my reservation. Southwest has issues sometimes. I've had RR# on ressie but not my trusted traveler # reservation, although all info is in my RR profile. I just manually enter it.

Also seniors and kids are more than likely to get random TSA pre check given to them or if you travel with someone that has pre check. My kids would consistently get it while traveling with my husband and I when they were minors. Once they turned 18, we had them apply for GE themselves.

If you ever travel out of the country you will be thankful for the GE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hvsteve1]

I don't have time to read eleven pages of posts so am just going to add my two cents. We applied for Global Entry last July. We were given interview dates in March, at Nashville International, about two hours away. As we were not leaving the country until later this year, we did not try to get an earlier date and simply combined the interview with a shopping trip to "the big city". The interview was short and easy. The agent checked our ID and passport, took a photo and fingerprints, all while sitting at a desk. He was pretty happy-go-lucky so it was a nice experience. We showed up on time and waited 10 minutes. There was a lady at the same time we were there who showed up on the wrong date. They took her anyway as it was not that busy. If I lived closer to a center, or was flying in or out of one during their office hours, I might have popped in without an appointed to see if they could take me. Nothing lost except a few minutes to check it out. The Nashville office is open only three afternoons a week with two agents so I don't expect to see a lot of people competing for the Global Entry kiosks at that rate.

 

[hvsteve1]

We got our cards in the mail the week after our interview.

 

[WalnutBaron]

UPDATE: Well... a long wait for appointment - SFO; 8:30PM, but relatively easy for the both of us. ~10 mins. If anyone is looking for a quicker turnaround - consider walk-in during evening hours. SFO International Term, park in Garage G (3rd floor) - easy access. Bring GEOS paperwork, Passport and Drivers License (or similar).

Thanks so much for the tip. I booked my interview reservation last January for August 31! at SFO. Amazing. Glad to hear it's a straightforward process and not a long wait afterward to get my card.

 

[Luanne]

Thanks so much for the tip. I booked my interview reservation last January for August 31! at SFO. Amazing. Glad to hear it's a straightforward process and not a long wait afterward to get my card.

Even without the card you can still use your KTN. It will be printed on the letter you get and take with you to your interview (you need to print it out from your computer). I received email notification of approval within an hour after I'd had the interview and I was able to go in online and add my KTN to an upcoming flight. The only time you actually need the card is when you travel internationally, at least that's been my experience. I've had to show it when entering the US from Canada.

 

[BocaBoy]

Thanks so much for the tip. I booked my interview reservation last January for August 31! at SFO. Amazing.

We had a many month backlog locally so we just looked for a center near where we would be traveling and found one with no backlog in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border. They "interviewed" my wife and me together and it was really low key. We were approved on the spot and the cards came a week or so later in the mail.

 

[LisaRex]

Husband and I were interviewed back in January. Took us over 6 months to get an appointment, so there was no way I was going to not keep it. My husband had a DUI when he was 21, so we were kind of worried that this would disqualify him. The agent said that since it was over 30 years ago, that it was okay. Had it been in the last 10 years, it would have been a problem.

The agent said that they do accept walk-ins, but people with an appointment get first priority, of course. So you might want to call and ask if you can do that in your area if you cannot get an appointment within a reasonable time.

Used GOES for the first time this past weekend in Charlotte, NC returning home from Grand Cayman. It was a BREEZE. We bypassed at least 3 long lines and got to our gate within 30 minutes, one for Immigration, one to hand in our Disclosure Form, and then the 2nd TSA. And we didn't have to take off our shoes, etc so that was very nice.

 

[dsmrp]

Used GOES for the first time this past weekend in Charlotte, NC returning home from Grand Cayman. It was a BREEZE. We bypassed at least 3 long lines and got to our gate within 30 minutes, one for Immigration, one to hand in our Disclosure Form, and then the 2nd TSA. And we didn't have to take off our shoes, etc so that was very nice.

Yup we used ours for 1st time a few weeks ago in Miami, and was a breeze too! The only hiccup was scanner didn't recognize DH's passport, so he had to enter the passport number. Just had to go thru one TSA checkpoint with no line.