TSA PreCheck vs. Global Entry vs. CLEAR: Cost and benefits of each

[HamOp]

An Article of Interest:

 

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/tsa-precheck-vs-global-entry-vs-clear-cost-and-benefits-of-each/

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for posting. I've read comparisons between TSA and Global Entry (clearly GE wins if you travel internationally because TSA is included in the cost) but wasn't sure about CLEAR.  Just a few days ago I was waiting in line for TSA check-in and watched CLEAR passengers zooming by....  Still, most of the time TSA is fast enough.

[palolake]

We live in the 2nd largest city in Iowa and we are unable to apply for Global Entry here.  We'd have to travel 4 hours to get to a place it was available.

[cat shepard]

Thank you for this link. GE pays for itself in the time saved in one trip through JFK. 

[*Miss G*]

20 minutes ago, palolake said:

We live in the 2nd largest city in Iowa and we are unable to apply for Global Entry here.  We'd have to travel 4 hours to get to a place it was available.

 

You can do Enrollment on Arrival when returning to the US from your next trip.

[Randyk47]

We enrolled in GE four plus years ago and just a week or so ago started the renewal process.   Love it, especially love it with our International travel of the past few years and it’s only $15 more than TSA PreCheck alone.  Like Cat Shepard one trip through in our case PHL more than made it worthwhile though we’ve had four or five other equally easy reentries.   Luckily San Antonio International Airport, 9 miles from our house,  has a GE enrollment interview office.   Some people are reporting they’re getting renewed without an interview so we’ll see if we get lucky.   

[wyobean]

I got my GE by doing enrollment on arrival. It was incredibly easy. DH hadn’t been approved yet. We have an appointment set up for him when we fly through MSP on Monday. We are 6 hours from an airport that takes GE appointments....so working on the next best thing. And our United mileage card refunded the app fee. 

[cowmilker]

Do you have to be arriving at an airport that does GE interviews FROM overseas?  We're flying to FLL in a few months, domestically, and I thought we could do the interview upon arrival there. 

[ger_77]

1 hour ago, palolake said:

We live in the 2nd largest city in Iowa and we are unable to apply for Global Entry here.  We'd have to travel 4 hours to get to a place it was available.

We live in our province's largest city, yet we had to drive 7 hours to a US border crossing in another province for the interview.  We included an overnight in a hotel, which brought up the cost of Global Entry considerably, but it's been worth every penny.  We travel a bit, and even coming back from SE Asia, we were able to zip through the GE line in less than 5 minutes, while there was easily an hour's wait ahead of the rest of the plane load of passengers.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[Randyk47]

21 minutes ago, cowmilker said:

Do you have to be arriving at an airport that does GE interviews FROM overseas?  We're flying to FLL in a few months, domestically, and I thought we could do the interview upon arrival there. 

 

The way I read the website you have to be in the International arrivals terminal.  That said there is a phone number for the GE office at FLL so you could always give them a call to check.  

[teacherman]

My wife and I each applied for GE at the same time.  She received an application approval in about 3 weeks.  I am still waiting for mine after 2 months.  There seems to be no "logical" way in which applications are reviewed and approved.  When, and if, I ever receive approval we will try and schedule our interviews at the same time so we don't have to make 2 trips to the airport.  There is a "warning" on the site that the "recent extended government shutdown" has slowed the process.  Golly, who knew that a government shutdown could affect so many things?

[cat shepard]

24 minutes ago, cowmilker said:

Do you have to be arriving at an airport that does GE interviews FROM overseas?  We're flying to FLL in a few months, domestically, and I thought we could do the interview upon arrival there. 

you may need to schedule an interview, since at my FL airports only travelers arriving on international flights have the interview upon arrival option.

 

But check to see if FLL is different.  BTW - You can schedule an interview online.

[Essiesmom]

I made a day of it.  Closest interview would have been Atlanta, but no appts available.  So I drove 2 hours to JAX, flew to MI, had my interview and approval, and flew back home the same day.  EM

[sppunk]

GE is the best travel invention since the airplane. 

 

But if you live near the Canadian border, Nexus is the best option. Cheaper and allows more expedited access. 

[sparkymom]

2 hours ago, palolake said:

We live in the 2nd largest city in Iowa and we are unable to apply for Global Entry here.  We'd have to travel 4 hours to get to a place it was available.

That is exactly what I had to do! 

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, ger_77 said:

We live in our province's largest city, yet we had to drive 7 hours to a US border crossing in another province for the interview.  We included an overnight in a hotel, which brought up the cost of Global Entry considerably, but it's been worth every penny.  We travel a bit, and even coming back from SE Asia, we were able to zip through the GE line in less than 5 minutes, while there was easily an hour's wait ahead of the rest of the plane load of passengers.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Why GE instead of NEXUS.  All the same benefits as GE and less expensive.

 

Roy

[DougandEric]

We got GE about 3 years ago.  It's the best $100 we each spent.  We filled out our application on line, were accepted for the interview within a couple of weeks.  Our appt for the interview was about 6 weeks out.  We got our GE cards after the interview.  No muss, no fuss.  Luckily for us the CPB has an office at TPA airport so 15 minute drive.

 

This has paid for itself numerous times, especially when returning at FLL cruise port.  There is a line on the far right for GE.  Make sure to tell your porter (if you use one) that you have it and the card in hand (you supposedly have to have the card but the agents tell you to put it away since everything is tied into your passport - or at least that has been our experience).  The GE line each time has been under 10 people while the general customs lines have been hundreds deep.  In and out in under 5 minutes.

[Skipper's Mom]

Agree, GE is the best!  Breezed through in JFK and Tampa and entry into FLL port is easy-peasy if you can ignore the dirty looks and knives being thrown, lol.

 

We had our interview in FLL because it was faster to get appointment than Tampa.  Had a 2PM appointment, drove over from west coast, arrived at Noon.  Stopped into the office, just before entry to piers, to be sure we were in the right place.  The person said to wait a few minutes, we had our interview and were out by 12:15 and home by 2:30!  What a nice surprise! 

 

That being said, somehow the system did not like the fact that we use a PO Box for our mail.  Our interview was in September but they stalled around until February to send our cards -- to our home address after reaching my husband on the phone.  Crazy!

[kaell116]

Clear in my experience just is not worth it at all.  Unless you are someone who doesn't want to wait in lines or carry and ID (because who does that) it is not worth the time saving of a few extra minutes in most cases (sometimes it does pay off, but is $100-200 a year worth a few extra minutes to everyone?).
 

Nexus is by far the best deal out of all of the options and not listed above. You need to be close to the canadian border for appointments but it gets you in and out of Canada road borders "quicker".  Gets you access to Global Entry as well and TSA Pre Check and only for $50, not $100. 

[DougandEric]

Just to be clear, GE is $100 for 5 years, not every year.

[highland cruiser]

6 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

We enrolled in GE four plus years ago and just a week or so ago started the renewal process.   Love it, especially love it with our International travel of the past few years and it’s only $15 more than TSA PreCheck alone.  Like Cat Shepard one trip through in our case PHL more than made it worthwhile though we’ve had four or five other equally easy reentries.   Luckily San Antonio International Airport, 9 miles from our house,  has a GE enrollment interview office.   Some people are reporting they’re getting renewed without an interview so we’ll see if we get lucky.   

We also think that GE is the way to go.  Ours needs to be renewed by Sept. 2020 but we will start the process much earlier.  We had our first interviews  4 + years ago scheduled in Portland but at different times.  As we were flying to Ireland through Chicago and had a long layover, we were able to change our interviews to a time that we were in Chicago.  Was quick and easy and very little wait time. As we were already pre checked, it didn't take time to return back through security before our flight.  We were approved for Global entry within a few days  while in Ireland and were able to use it for the first time when we returned.  Hope the renewal process is as easy.  Randyk47, let us know how yours goes.  Thank you.  

[Randyk47]

21 minutes ago, highland cruiser said:

We also think that GE is the way to go.  Ours needs to be renewed by Sept. 2020 but we will start the process much earlier.  We had our first interviews  4 + years ago scheduled in Portland but at different times.  As we were flying to Ireland through Chicago and had a long layover, we were able to change our interviews to a time that we were in Chicago.  Was quick and easy and very little wait time. As we were already pre checked, it didn't take time to return back through security before our flight.  We were approved for Global entry within a few days  while in Ireland and were able to use it for the first time when we returned.  Hope the renewal process is as easy.  Randyk47, let us know how yours goes.  Thank you.  

 

We applied for renewal two weeks ago tomorrow (2 June).  Per the feedback that’s been posted on another travel forum the average renewal process seems to be taking about 90 days.  Our GE expirations are February and March of next year and initially we were going to wait until later in the year around September.   After seeing it was taking 90 days and that you may or may not have to be reinterviewed we decided to apply.   I will keep you posted.  

[ger_77]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Why GE instead of NEXUS.  All the same benefits as GE and less expensive.

 

Roy

I'm using the wrong title - we have NEXUS cards; they cost $50 US 4 years ago.  We will renew next year.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[rafinmd]

With regard to renewal I was late renewing my NEXUS card.  When I went for my interview I was told that once the conditional approval was given the card remained valid until the appointment, even if the expiration date had passed.  I would assume GE works the same way.

 

Roy

[Rosmerta]

We’re 2.5 hours  from our crowded, overbooked interview office too, but we interviewed at JFK on our way to Europe. It was on the public side of one of the terminals and a lot of appointments were available. We had plenty of time to go to our terminal and have dinner before flying.