Just came through Atlanta, long line picking up firearms and long line going through customs. At both places people who had Global Entry went to the front of the line. It would have saved me one hour plus, I didn't have a connecting flight but if I did it could of kept me from missing that flight. Talked to an officer and it is a one time fee of $100 but there is an application and a interview that I understand is quite intense. By the way, I found the officers in Atlanta friendly and helpful.

I use it. It is worth its weight in gold to me. It saves a lot of time.

Yes, there was an interview. It was not a big deal to me.

The most time saved is in passport control. In Atlanta, that can be significant. There is also some time saved in customs. However, that is relatively small compared to passport control.

It saves zero time retrieving your bags including guns.

The wife and I both have global entry. Filled out an application, went through a background check, and interviewed with a customs/ DHS agent. Very casual interview for both of us. Must renew every 5 years. The first time you come back into the country after a very long flight and skip the hour(s) long customs line, it will be the best money you ever spent.

The process is really easy. Just time-consuming if you don't have a Customs Agency in your community. I had to travel to San Antonio for the interview process but it was on schedule and I was finished in 20 minutes. Well worth it and if you have AmEx Platinum, they will pay your $100 fee!

The beauty of it is I have never had to wait for a kiosk... I just whip through and arrive at the carousel before my baggage!

I put in the application, paid the fees and was approved in about a week. Went to Albuquerque for a 5 minute interview and they sent me my card. WELL WORTH IT! Going through the FAST lane at the airport, checking myself back into the country in Chicago. Customs just waved me on, never bothered to check my firearms, didn't bother me at all. Best 100 bucks I ever spent.

What really rocks is that you can get a Trusted Traveler pass linked to the GOES card. With all the domestic travel I do that one thing is priceless.

I use it and love it. It's worth whatever time and trouble it takes to go through the interview process. I just got an offer from American Express to reimburse the application fee (I already paid it some time ago) so if you have an Amex Platinum Card it doesn't even cost you anything.

One of the few government programs that is worth a shit. I highly recommend it. It is a real time and aggravation saver.

Well worth it. Interview was not a big deal

All the ar member endorsements on this thread convinced me to get of my butt and do the on line application.

Now wait to go to orlando international airport for the interview. Application online took 30 minutes.

Mike

I did the same as Beretta. Got the application in and approved, have and interview in Albuquerque on the 25th of August. A great program it seems.

There is no downside to having Global Entry and many positives. Depending on the nearest processing center, it may require some travel to complete the interview, photo and fingerprinting, but it is well worth the effort.

Only thing stopping me is the four hour one way drive to the nearest interview site.

quote:

One of the few government programs that is worth a shit. I highly recommend it. It is a real time and aggravation saver.

Mike

Its worth every penny.

After sumbiting your application and info, how long till you are notified to schedule an interview?

Doesn't take long as I recall. I matter of a few days to a week.

Was three to four weeks for us. I know my wife was notified a week or two before me.

Applied Saturday night. Approved this morning. Interview tomorrow afternoon.

Damn I wish the IRS worked 1/10 as fast and sent me my refund for 2012.

Mike

Wow, that was fast. I applied for mine Friday and it's still pending review. Maybe it has something to do with all of the countries that I have visited, since many of them have subsequently litterally become the hot spots of the world!

Excellent program.

Done am a member.

Interview took 10 minutes. Chatted about hunting - figure prints. Done - active as soon as finger prints approved - which was within 1 min.

Also took me in 20 minutes before appointment time as I got there early.

Pretty damn cool.

Mike

I have basically traveled globally for a living for the past 30 years. GE is the best money you will ever spend as others have noted. Smart to get your whole family enrolled for vacations, etc. otherwise you will spend a lot of time waiting outside of customs for everyone else.

Also, your trusted traveler number should be linked with your frequent flyer profiles so you get TSA PRE for US domestic flights as well... PRE is another good program (although experimentation to allow pre for random non-registered travelers has caused a little more congestion in pre lines in some airports lately) and extra nice around holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. when lines are extra long and filled with less experienced travelers. And always nice year round for the big airports, JFK, LAX, DFW, MIA,ATL, etc.

I am sure enrollment protocol has changed since I was invited to be a PRE pilot member by American Airlines at the beginning, so not sure of the exact process now but it should be simple via the HS/TSA .gov website as well even if you do not have GE.

This reply generally assumes you are a US Citizen but both programs allow some non-US participation as I understand but I have not looked into this.

Good luck and safe travels, mark

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
Only thing stopping me is the four hour one way drive to the nearest interview site.

same here. Although I do have a 5 hour layover in Dallas coming up. Maybe I could schedule the interview while I'm there?

after you complete the online piece successfully you can check for appointment days and times at many airports including DFW on the global entry website...

how long does the interview take?

I have a trip to Orlando coming up and may be able to get to the airport early on the outbound day.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
how long does the interview take?

I have a trip to Orlando coming up and may be able to get to the airport early on the outbound day.

10-15 minutes

The TSA official checked my passport - asked me to state my address and took my finger prints and picture. We chatted about hunting for like 5 minutes and financial markets for a few minutes as finger prints were being taken and uploaded.

It located right by the food court before security.

Mike

I have used it for several years - really good program and the interview is no big deal at all. a "no brainer" in my book. Cheers

Well worth it. Trusted Traveler and Global were free with Sentri.

For everyone's information, I applied recently and surprisingly received a DENIAL. It was apparently based upon the failure of my customs broker-Hunter International Brokerage Services, Inc., located in Pleasanton, California,(as used by Safari Air Cargo in 2013 in connection with a trophy shipment from Life Form Taxidermy) to timely pay a customs bond in relation to my shipment. This was all unbnownest to me, until I received a notice of penalty from Customs two months after my shipment arrived. Suffice it to say, Hunter International paid the penalty and apologized profusely, but now their dumb assed mistake in 2013 has caused me further problems. I will be appealing the decision of Customs on the Global Entry, but what a pain in the ass this has been!

Use Enough Gun,

I always was a bit wary of you.

Yeah, well now. . . . . . . look out! LOL! This is so utterly ridiculous. Believe me, I have the attention of the people at Hunter International.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
For everyone's information, I applied recently and surprisingly received a DENIAL. It was apparently based upon the failure of my customs broker-Hunter International Brokerage Services, Inc., located in Pleasanton, California,(as used by Safari Air Cargo in 2013 in connection with a trophy shipment from Life Form Taxidermy) to timely pay a customs bond in relation to my shipment. This was all unbnownest to me, until I received a notice of penalty from Customs two months after my shipment arrived. Suffice it to say, Hunter International paid the penalty and apologized profusely, but now their dumb assed mistake in 2013 has caused me further problems. I will be appealing the decision of Customs on the Global Entry, but what a pain in the ass this has been!

Wow

Interesting the customs guy after he approved me told me Global Entry is a zero tolerance program. If I ever had any issues with customs on not declaring stuff when returning I would lose this privilege.

Best of luck getting the denial changed.

Mike

It's a sad day when the mistakes of others end up penalizing you, especially when you pay for their services and are unaware of their incompetence or mistakes until you've been penalized. It wasn't my fault in any way, shape or form, and theirs was a mistake in simply not timely paying the bond with customs on the shipment. Their excuse was: Well, we simply overlooked it and it was a mistake,sorry. They ultimately paid the bond and the additional penalty of $102.00 out of their pocket and I thought that was the end of it. Not some gigantic mistake connected with smuggling or not declaring things in the shipment, or anything of any significant magnitude. As irritating as all hell. I still plan on appealing it. What are they going to tell me? No again? If so, it doesn't preclude me from my domestic or international travels-I just won't be part of the preferred traveling group. I haven't been up to now anyway.

Crazy that an agent's mistake can bind you.

My big fear in living in this highly data centric world - one irrelevant data point that was generated by error by an agent matters.

Glad we don't apply this highly rigid structure to taxes. Anyone with a moderately complicated tax return will have errors greater than $103.

Mike

No shit! Be vigilant. There's more than a fair share of incompetents out there in the business and recreational world and their mistakes could affect you, and cost you, right or wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:
What really rocks is that you can get a Trusted Traveler pass linked to the GOES card. With all the domestic travel I do that one thing is priceless.

I have had Global Entry for a few years now and as all the other AR members have said its a great program.
How do you get a "Trusted Traveller Pass"?

Thanks

Jas

Hi Jas,

Apologies as I used the term 'trusted traveler" also in my reply mail. In the American Airlines Advantage frequent flyer program, they assigned me a "Known Traveler" id # which flags me for being TSA pre eligible when I make a reservation. Have not checked to see if it is the same number as my GE # but this number was assigned when I was part of the PRE domestic program pilot which was before I joined Global Entry........in my mail I should have said "known traveler" and it only relates to TSA PRE at least in my case although there are a couple of other programs for Canada and Mexico that might use the "trusted traveler" terminology.

best regards, mark

Great program and it is easy to input your number into the frequent flyer programs so the PRE works as well. As someone said though it is zero tolerance. Have a pilot buddy whose co-pilot was picked for a random search (never had that happen to me so far) and he had a couple of apples from the hotel in Europe in his bag when they came into Newark. No more Global Entry. They are serious about the zero tolerance.

Don

Got my card in the mail yesterday. Impressed with the whole operation - under 10 days from application.

Mike

just a quick FYI. Global Entry saved my ass yesterday. And it was my first time travelling as a member, so that $100 already paid for itself after the first trip.

After a late flight, screw up with the luggage carousel, and a huge line for customs, I was able to cut right to the front. Make sure you ask more than one person, because the idiot in charge of keeping people in line said GLobal Entry didn't matter. Then a nice lady from American Airlines started shouting "Global Entry over here!!!"
If it wasn't for that I'd still be in Dallas.

oh and on another note. If setting up an appt with Fish and Widlife during "off hours" get a name and call them 2-3 times right before you arrive. showed up in customs with hide and horns, all my paperwork, and the 3 fellas in the Ag inspection area didn't have a damn clue... And of course no one from FWS was there or had notified anyone. Had a 3 hour layover and got the gate as they were boarding... All worked out in the end. barely...