help on question about Global Entry appt in Atlanta (no answer on other boards)

[creel5857]

We are trying to decide between TSA precheck and the Global Entry. I have researched the pros and cons and costs. But my question is an "approximate" time it might take to get an appointment for the interview. We have a trip last week in Nov and we have heard from several on various travel boards and websites that you can not get any idea of how long it might be for an apt before you submit your money and that Global Entry can take many many months. Atlanta is our closest office and I need any update from anyone who has knowledge if it is reasonable to expect an apt within a couple of months to get all this process by Nov or if I need to forego the Global Entry and just get TSA precheck. I don't necessary anticpate going in and out of country that many times but realized it was only 15.00 more. Any help appreciated.

[Kingsbridge]

We are trying to decide between TSA precheck and the Global Entry. I have researched the pros and cons and costs. But my question is an "approximate" time it might take to get an appointment for the interview. We have a trip last week in Nov and we have heard from several on various travel boards and websites that you can not get any idea of how long it might be for an apt before you submit your money and that Global Entry can take many many months. Atlanta is our closest office and I need any update from anyone who has knowledge if it is reasonable to expect an apt within a couple of months to get all this process by Nov or if I need to forego the Global Entry and just get TSA precheck. I don't necessary anticpate going in and out of country that many times but realized it was only 15.00 more. Any help appreciated.

 

I just had my appointment for Global Entry here in San Diego. I applied in mid February. I accepted the April 5th appointment becuas I wasn't in a hurry but the website said that you could check back for cancellations.

[Crew News]

We are trying to decide between TSA precheck and the Global Entry. I have researched the pros and cons and costs. But my question is an "approximate" time it might take to get an appointment for the interview. We have a trip last week in Nov and we have heard from several on various travel boards and websites that you can not get any idea of how long it might be for an apt before you submit your money and that Global Entry can take many many months. Atlanta is our closest office and I need any update from anyone who has knowledge if it is reasonable to expect an apt within a couple of months to get all this process by Nov or if I need to forego the Global Entry and just get TSA precheck. I don't necessary anticpate going in and out of country that many times but realized it was only 15.00 more. Any help appreciated.

 

I was approved for Global Entry two weeks after applying and was given a calendar starting two weeks later from which to choose my appointment. Appointment was drivers license check, electronic fingerprints, and photo covering a total of 10 minutes.

[bra1nchild]

We applied for Global Entry on line about 3 weeks ago. The preliminary acceptance letter arrived within 2 weeks. After completing the next phase on line, we discovered that the first available appointment for our nearest CBP office was May 24, not an option since we are leaving May 6. However, a call to the office verified that walk-ins were accepted every day from 3 -4 pm. The only condition as a walk-in was that we had to first schedule an appointment. We signed up for May 24 and walked in April 3. Although we arrived at 2:45 -- the time we were told the put out the sign-in sheet -- we were perhaps numbers 20 and 21. Even so, we were out of the office by 4:00. It was worth the hour in the waiting room to get it done. The irony of getting the GE pass is that the airline we are flying back to the States does not participate!

[cabinluvn]

I think it depends where you live and how many offices are in your area. We live in Wisconsin on the border of Minnesota. Our choices were Milwaukee, 3 1/2 hours away, or Minneapolis, 2 1/2 hours away. There were NO available appointment for Milwaukee, so we took the first available in Minneapolis. Mind you, I applied in August and our appointments were in January. PIA for sure, but since we travel quite a bit, it will be a time saver. Wish someone had told us about the walk in!

 

 

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[Tampa Girl]

It totally depends on the area in which you live. You can find out by Googling Global Entry and filling out the necessary forms. I don't have the exact website, but another poster will probably provide it. Once you have been approved preliminarily, you can enter the website to see the schedule for interviews. If I recall correctly, you can't get the schedule until you have received a preliminary approval. However,you can find out the address and telephone number of the nearest office and call to see what the time frame is. We discovered that our Tampa office was three to four months out, so we decided to drive 80 miles to Orlando, where we got an appointment in two weeks.

[Anexnyer]

My husband and I both applied for Global Entry the first week of March, got the preliminary acceptance within two weeks. The earliest appointment in Atlanta was May 24th. Only 6 AM appointments were available for that week. Hope that helps,

[BigGreenFan]

First of all, you should definitely get Global Entry.

 

I believe there are two interview locations in Atlanta - one in the airport and one near the airport, off I-75. We went the the off airport location and it was deserted. If you had to use the walk-in option I think it would go very quickly.

[*Miss G*]

The irony of getting the GE pass is that the airline we are flying back to the States does not participate!

 

Some airlines are not yet available for TSA Pre, but GE will still allow you to re-enter using the kiosks.

[alwaysfrantic]

Mine wasn't terribly long. You can set your appointment, then check regularly to see what has opened up in the next several days. You do not lose your appointment time by selecting to look for a different appointment.

[Randyk47]

If you're going to do any travel outside of the US then definitely get Global Entry. We've probably reentered some six times now since we got Global Entry and just one return trip through Philadelphia with a few hundred other passengers in the regular lines made it well worth it. The process is slightly more complicated and the review is stricter than just PreCheck so even a relatively minor blemish on your record can get you denied. The other issue, as pointed out by others, is the availability of interview offices and times. Luckily we had a CBP office just nine miles away so it was just was a matter of finding an open time slot.

[RuthC]

I applied for TSA pre-check, and found the waiting time for an interview to be very short. IIRC, it was about 2 weeks, or so, from the time I applied on-line until I was seen. I had my approval within another couple of weeks.

It seems that there are a lot more places where you can have the TSA pre-check interview, making it quicker to get one. Mine was right in my own home town, and not at the local airport, either!

If you are not planning to do a lot of international flying, then this may be the better choice for you.

[Essiesmom]

I did TSA Precheck and went to an office in Savannah, 40 miles away. When we decided to do Global Entry, Atlanta had no appts that were within a couple of months, and I hate the 240 mile drive and the traffic. I decided to try for a r/t flight to an office. charlotte was a no go. You can't get anywhere in one day from Sav. I ended up driving to JAX (100+ miles) and taking an AA flight to Miami, getting the interview, and flying back the same day. EM

[Hlitner]

We applied for Global Entry on line about 3 weeks ago. The preliminary acceptance letter arrived within 2 weeks. After completing the next phase on line, we discovered that the first available appointment for our nearest CBP office was May 24, not an option since we are leaving May 6. However, a call to the office verified that walk-ins were accepted every day from 3 -4 pm. The only condition as a walk-in was that we had to first schedule an appointment. We signed up for May 24 and walked in April 3. Although we arrived at 2:45 -- the time we were told the put out the sign-in sheet -- we were perhaps numbers 20 and 21. Even so, we were out of the office by 4:00. It was worth the hour in the waiting room to get it done. The irony of getting the GE pass is that the airline we are flying back to the States does not participate!

 

Your post is interesting. We have had GE for a few years (used it quite a few times) and never heard of any airline-related eligibility issue. TSA Pre-check is only available with certain airlines (most of them domestic) but GE has nothing to do with your airline. You simply walk over to a GE terminal, scan your Passport, scan your fingerprints, answer a few questions and you are done. The machine then spits out a form which you use to go through the expedited GE immigration station. Many folks are confused between GE (Global Entry) and TSA-Precheck. GE is a system operated by the US Customs and Border Protection. TSA-Precheck is operated by TSA (a different agency). You can use your GE number as the KTN (Known Traveler Number) when booking reservations with TSA certified airlines (although this does not guarantee you will get TSA Pre Check). But not being able to get TSA Pre-check does stop you from using the GE kiosk (and quick lines) when you return to the USA. TSA-Precheck only gets you into a shorter TSA shorter line (where TSA operates those lines). GE is used to get you through Immigration when you return to the USA.

 

Hank

[denatravels]

Your post is interesting. We have had GE for a few years (used it quite a few times) and never heard of any airline-related eligibility issue. TSA Pre-check is only available with certain airlines (most of them domestic) but GE has nothing to do with your airline. You simply walk over to a GE terminal, scan your Passport, scan your fingerprints, answer a few questions and you are done. The machine then spits out a form which you use to go through the expedited GE immigration station. Many folks are confused between GE (Global Entry) and TSA-Precheck. GE is a system operated by the US Customs and Border Protection. TSA-Precheck is operated by TSA (a different agency). You can use your GE number as the KTN (Known Traveler Number) when booking reservations with TSA certified airlines (although this does not guarantee you will get TSA Pre Check). But not being able to get TSA Pre-check does stop you from using the GE kiosk (and quick lines) when you return to the USA. TSA-Precheck only gets you into a shorter TSA shorter line (where TSA operates those lines). GE is used to get you through Immigration when you return to the USA.

 

Hank

 

 

AND global entry entities you to precheck also, which is why people suggest that you do GE.

 

 

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[Wehwalt]

I could not get an appointment near where I live in the timeframe I needed, so I interviewed for my renewal of Global Entry at the Vancouver airport the morning I boarded the Volendam! It is very worthwhile to get.

 

Note that my last time through Port Everglades, the mobile passport was down, so there was a lengthy line. They actually wanted to see the new Global Entry card to use that line. I didn't have my physical card with me, but I talked my way in. I am in future always carrying it with me on international travel.

[bra1nchild]

Your post is interesting. We have had GE for a few years (used it quite a few times) and never heard of any airline-related eligibility issue. TSA Pre-check is only available with certain airlines (most of them domestic) but GE has nothing to do with your airline. You simply walk over to a GE terminal, scan your Passport, scan your fingerprints, answer a few questions and you are done. The machine then spits out a form which you use to go through the expedited GE immigration station.

 

If I understood the video loop we sat in front of for an hour, the GE terminal will automatically display your flight information when you sign in. If it does not, you have to enter it manually. Since the airline in question does not yet participate, GE will not have that information until we input it. A minor inconvenience but well worth it, especially at Dulles [our next point of entry] or Port Everglades.

[*Miss G*]

I have never had my flight pop up automatically, and I use GE a minimum of once a month (for the past 8 years.) I do get a drop-down list, however. From the looks of the list I believe it shows all the flights which have landed within a certain time period.

[Randyk47]

I have never had my flight pop up automatically, and I use GE a minimum of once a month (for the past 8 years.) I do get a drop-down list, however. From the looks of the list I believe it shows all the flights which have landed within a certain time period.

 

We've had Global Entry for a little over two years and I can think of only once where our flight information was automatically displayed. Other than that we've gotten a list to pick from or had to enter the information ourselves. We fly domestically and internationally almost exclusively on American Airlines which is a participating airline for TSA PreCheck so CBP and TSA have a pretty good handle on our travel information.

[Wehwalt]

I've had Global Entry for I think five years, and the flight information has always shown up on the screen for me. I almost always fly United internationally, and usually into Dulles. Not sure that makes a difference.

 

I do not know if it will let you enter a nonparticipating airline. But CBP must have dealt with that problem before. I would log out of the terminal and go to see the nearest agent. At worst, he'll have you fill out a declaration. I had to once when the terminal wouldn't read my old passport. He didn't have me wait in the line.

[slidergirl]

To me, just getting PreCheck is a waste. Pay the extra $15 and get GE. You may be able to use it on a cruise, or even one flight, in the next 10 years to get through Immigration & Customs. It has been so nice to just walk up to a kiosk, swipe, do the fingerprints, click some boxes and be done. Worth that. Plus, you get an additional piece of "government issued ID" that has no PII on it that you may use as your ID when traveling or are asked for ID anywhere (you may have to remind the TSA clerk that it is valid and is on the top 8 IDs on their own list of valid IDs). Maybe I've been lucky, using only SkyTeam partner airlines (Delta, Air France, Alitalia), but I have never had to manually enter my flight info.

 

When I first got my GE way back when it first started, the closest interview location was Las Vegas, a 6+ hour drive (or 1 hour flight) away. Made it a weekend trip, planned other things to do since the interview only takes about 15 minutes. Ended up winning enough money at craps to pay for the trip!!!

 

My suggestion: find a location that you'd also like to do a weekend trip and go have fun!!!

[*Miss G*]

OP, don't forget to keep checking the GOES site for cancellations. Often a slot will open up earlier as those who are waiting for an interview will typically have changes to their schedules on an ongoing basis.

[RJ2002]

Agree with others' recommendations about getting Global Entry rather than just TSA Pre.

 

Also, last minute interview spots tend to open up, so if your schedule if flexible, just keep checking the online appointment system.

 

edit: posted while *Miss G* was posting... not to be repetitive, but do check for cancellations

[creel5857]

could I please clarify one thing......besides serving the same purpose of TSA pre-check within the US, does the global entry primarily help with customs coming back into US or does it help with travel going in/out all other countries. I know about Canada and mexico also having their own program so just wondering if it is honored there as well.

[*Miss G*]

Global Entry is a US CBP program for expedited entry into the US. This means you can also use it at international airports where they have US Customs pre-clearance centers (Canada, Ireland, UAE). It does not gain you expedited entry to any other country but the US.