Global Entry: And Now We Wait

[canyonwalker]

Last Friday our renewed passports arrived— by Priority Mail, no less. It only took 4 weeks including mailing both ways. That weekend we used our new passport numbers (yes, the government changes your number every time you renew 🙄) to apply for renewing our Global Entry memberships.

Global Entry is important because it includes TSA PreCheck, which speeds us through security checks at airports. That saves me 10, 15, even 20+ minutes each time I enter an airport. I fly often enough to make it well worth it. On top of that Global Entry adds simpler processing through border control when returning to the US from overseas. I don't travel internationally as much as I used to 10-15 years ago, when I flew overseas almost once a month, but the cost premium is small so I figured it's worth it, too.

There was good news/bad news on Global Entry. The good news was that DHS responded to our applications quickly. By Monday, next business day, we had conditional approval. Conditional approval means that an interview is required to complete full approval. And that's where the bad news comes in: Global Entry interview appointments are ridiculously unavailable.

• First, there's the option for a Zoom interview. I checked the schedule.... None available for the next 52+ weeks!

• Next I checked in-person interviews at SFO airport, a 40 minute drive away. Also none available for 52+ weeks. I mention 52 weeks because this has to be completed within a year of applying or the whole application is lost and must be restarted from scratch.

This is even more of a farce than when we originally enrolled in Global Entry 5 years ago. Back then I could at least schedule an interview at SFO 7 months out.

What about flying to another airport for an interview? Yes, we did that 5 years ago! We flew to Albuquerque, 1,000 miles away, for our interviews. I started with airports that are easy (less expensive/lots of direct flights) to get to:

• Los Angeles: no availability for 52+ weeks
• Las Vegas: no availability for 52+ weeks
• Portland, OR: no availability for 52+ weeks
• Phoenix: no availability for 52+ weeks
• Seattle: no availability for 52+ weeks

Are you sensing a pattern here? 😡

Comments

[ckd]

The current consensus on FlyerTalk is that Enrollment on Arrival is the best fast interview option for GE--if you have the time and money for an international flight.

Yes, it's ridiculous.

It's less ridiculous than the current NEXUS situation, though, since that has neither EoA or Zoom interview options...

...and of the already very limited interview sites, only the ones on the US side of the border are open due to a CBP dispute over being armed and/or having more immunity from Canadian law while on duty.

[canyonwalker]

OMG, I find it so amusing that someone cites FlyerTalk to me, here. I've been a regular on that site for... *does arithmetic*... 15 years! Well, maybe less regular now than back when I was following multiple forums and posting 10 or 15 times a week. How active are you there?

And yes, I do know about the EoA option. I omitted it from *this* blog in the interest of length and clarity, intending to address it in another entry soon. Also, you'll see on FT that I've already gotten the same advice there. 😂

[ckd]

Mostly a reader of late, but (like you) more active in the past and (also like you) with a fairly long history there. (In fact, now that I've looked it turns out that my 22nd anniversary on the site was only a couple of weeks ago!)

To add to your amusement, most of my recent posts have been on the Trusted Travelers forum. :-D

[canyonwalker]

I use the handle darthbimmer over at FlyerTalk. It's ironic how I've held onto that handle more than twice as long as I held onto the namesake car I owned when I chose it (see userpic).