TSA Pre-check and Global Entry are federal programs that those living in the US can sign up for and take advantage of.
The first thing you have to do is decide if TSA Pre-check and/or Global Entry is for you. In order to make that decision, you have to understand what it is and how it could benefit you while traveling. For those who Journey Moore Often, it can be a huge benefit, particularly in line skipping. Plus, if you apply for both simultaneously there is a cost savings!
TSA Precheck – theorectically, this allows you to move faster through the security section of the airport. In most airports, it works well to help you avoid longer lines, as well as allowing you to leave your shoes on, and keep your laptop in your bag. For the most part, we have had good experiences in that it has allowed us to skip some fairly large lines, in addition to not having to do all the prep and regroup.
It doesn’t always work that way however, as airports like Philadelphia have 6 gates, but only one has TSA security access. They’ve gotten better at steering people through though as the last time we flew across country, they diverted us from the gate we were flying out of to the TSA gate. A little more walk, but it definitely saved time.
All in all, we have had good experiences, especially when coupled with Global Entry.
Global Entry – this program can make your entrance back into the US significantly easier, it has for us. The form you normally have to fill out when returning is digital at a kiosk and the lines…pretty much non-existent.
Both require a background check, and if you already clicked on the link above, you’ve discovered that you can apply for TSA Pre-check at the same time you apply for Global Entry. It’s a fairly easy process and if you don’t mind giving up your fingerprints every time you come back to the country through US Customs, it can save a ton of time. Our guess is that it’s a minimum of half an hour faster, sometimes easily over an hour.
I was once flying back into the US from the Dominican Republic on business once, where I needed to go through US Customs (see traveling in other countries for Global Entry), then through security again. In this airport, TSA had a specific route, and I was through both in less than 20 minutes. Admittedly I had no checked baggage to pick up before going to customs, however, we both had to go through customs and security. As she went through he normal customs and security, and I went through Global Entry and TSA, I noted some 2 hours later the same woman coming to the same gate I was, as it had taken her that much longer to go through the regular channels.
It can also help in the US as well, as the security lines can be quite long at times (sometimes even a half hour or more), and in many airports the TSA Pre-check is long if it’s more than 10 minutes.
TSA pre-check clearance requires an application, fee, background check, and a personal interview at their office (typically located inside your nearest major airport). The setup is fairly easy and can be done online, but the interview definitely has to occur in their office.
The interview is really quick and most of the questions they ask are basic, unless you’re like me, who had been to some pretty obscure places as noted by stamps in my passport. They did ask me what I was doing in those countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti (right after the earthquake), South Sudan (just after it became a country), and of course the Afghanistan visa with no entry stamp was worth a question.
In today’s climate, you will also need to deliberate the TSA process logically as to how it will benefit or affect you based on your individual profile. Sad but true, if you are US citizen, but are originally from a country that has been deemed unstable by the State Department, you may unfortunately undergo an increased scrutiny and may not derive the complete benefits of the TSA program.