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Global Entry


whitsmom

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Hubby & I just completed our forms and have our interview appointments set up for next Friday.  Not sure what we have to do at the interview.  Have any of you done the interview and can tell me what to expect?  We will be flying internationally twice next year so we decided to go on and get it.  Having Pre-check is also a perk and our American Express reimbursed us 100% so the cost was FREE!  I really like FREE! 😆

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I pretty much live on the road and have had Global Entry to many years now. It's great, you'll love it.

The interview is really pretty easy. They'll usually just confirm you are who you say you are, maybe ask you a question or two to make sure your answers match your application, do your fingerprints. Sometimes they'll show you how to use the kiosk, but not always (they showed my wife, but basically told me to figure it out myself). That's it. When I did mine, it took less that 5 minutes at DFW. My wife did hers at ORD and it took maybe 10. Both done on layovers while we were passing through said airport (with appointments, of course). 

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3 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

I pretty much live on the road and have had Global Entry to many years now. It's great, you'll love it.

The interview is really pretty easy. They'll usually just confirm you are who you say you are, maybe ask you a question or two to make sure your answers match your application, do your fingerprints. Sometimes they'll show you how to use the kiosk, but not always (they showed my wife, but basically told me to figure it out myself). That's it. When I did mine, it took less that 5 minutes at DFW. My wife did hers at ORD and it took maybe 10. Both done on layovers while we were passing through said airport (with appointments, of course). 

Well that doesn't sound too back then.  We will have to drive to the airport SDF (about 40-45 mins away).  Not sure where we go at the airport though so I may have to call the airport and ask ahead of time.

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13 minutes ago, whitsmom said:

Well that doesn't sound too back then.  We will have to drive to the airport SDF (about 40-45 mins away).  Not sure where we go at the airport though so I may have to call the airport and ask ahead of time.

I did this at ORD years ago and it was simple.  Usually, the interview is at the international terminal or the TSA/DHS office at the airport.  

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Both me and my wife have had Global Entry for years. It is the best money we have spent on travel related items. The interview is a breeze! It will take you longer to park and find the interview location that the interview itself. We also had to drive out of town to an airport that offered interviews and we just made a date night out of it. FYI.... I recently renewed mine and did not have to re-interview and my renewal was approved in less than 48hours and the new card was in my mailbox in less than a week so once you get it then it is pretty easy to keep renewing when necessary. 

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7 hours ago, whitsmom said:

Well that doesn't sound too back then.  We will have to drive to the airport SDF (about 40-45 mins away).  Not sure where we go at the airport though so I may have to call the airport and ask ahead of time.

Note this is by no means the 100% right answer, but due to the amount of international freight that comes in to SDF and clears customs (due to being the main UPS air freight hub), my understanding is that they have an entirely separate Customs & Border Protection building (where as an airport of its size would normally just have a small office). This building is just east of the main terminal, and I would guess this is where the Global Entry stuff takes place. The CBP website lists an address of 650 Administration Drive, which does appears to trace back to this same building on Google Maps. 

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15 hours ago, Zacharius said:

Note this is by no means the 100% right answer, but due to the amount of international freight that comes in to SDF and clears customs (due to being the main UPS air freight hub), my understanding is that they have an entirely separate Customs & Border Protection building (where as an airport of its size would normally just have a small office). This building is just east of the main terminal, and I would guess this is where the Global Entry stuff takes place. The CBP website lists an address of 650 Administration Drive, which does appears to trace back to this same building on Google Maps. 

I did find out that we go to the west end of the Ticketing area and it is behind Allegiant & United Ticketing.  That will be easy to get to thankfully from the parking garage.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We had our interview appointment on Friday (9/17).  Our appointment time was 2:45 pm; however, we got there about 40 minutes early (we allowed extra time due to so much road construction on I-65).  They went on an checked us in and we only waited about a minute or two and we got to be together in the same room. Our KTN was effective as soon as we left our appointment (i thought we had to wait for our GE card to come in the mail).  He told me that the card is just another form of ID and it can be used instead of getting the enhanced drivers license for travel.  When I got home, I get our KTN's linked to our 3 flights that we have booked and applied it to our Delta profile also.  We have one more flight to book but have to wait a few more weeks before the dates will be available.  

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23 minutes ago, teddy said:

Having a KTN is where it’s at. 
 

My wife doesn’t think it’s necessary….even after our flight out of Boston a week or so ago when I walked straight through security then got a cup of coffee while waiting for her to show up at the gate…20 minutes later. 

Oh I'm with you - I totally think it is necessary 😇

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1 hour ago, teddy said:

got a cup of coffee while waiting for her to show up at the gate…20 minutes later.

Oh, you like to live dangerously... 😆

We've had Global Entry for many years and many vacations (including some international travel). The first time we skipped an hour long line TSA (like Orlando, during peak travel) it paid for itself. And skipping a customs line is crazy awesome!! 

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11 hours ago, teddy said:

Having a KTN is where it’s at. 
 

My wife doesn’t think it’s necessary….even after our flight out of Boston a week or so ago when I walked straight through security then got a cup of coffee while waiting for her to show up at the gate…20 minutes later. 

In Toronto, my colleagues and I were headed down to Clearwater Beach for a corporate retreat. I spent about 10 minutes in the Global Entry/NEXUS lanes (including pre-clearing customs) and it felt long. My colleagues took over an hour to get through  and only had about 10-15 minutes before general boarding was called. 
 

I'd known that the KTN was worth the cost before. But after that incident I KNEW that it was the best money I could ever spend on something travel-related. 

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4 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

My husband, son, and I went to our Pre-check interview on August 6th. Within a week, my son and I had our KTNs. Unfortunately, we are still waiting on my husband's KTN at forty-six days. We can't figure out why his application is taking so long. 

image.thumb.png.e41c21a010ed3742b0182016360b0837.png

On the Global Entry, we got our KTN before we scheduled our appointment.  During our interview they then linked our KTN with our passport and we could use the KTN immediately.  He said that our Global Entry card would come in about two weeks but that is only used as a ID and that it could be used to fly instead of the enhanced drivers license.

It sounds like your husband's portion is hanging in limbo and it may take you guys reaching out to them to check on it. 

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Easy.   Just go through electronic finger printing, photo,  and they just ask basic screening questions on whether you've been convicted of crime.   As you noted it gives you pre-check. ( I did it when it first came out, you had to list where you had lived etc.)   Its through CBP as opposed to TSA and its really handy when you have to come through customs.   Gets you to a shorter line when you return.

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4 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Easy.   Just go through electronic finger printing, photo,  and they just ask basic screening questions on whether you've been convicted of crime.   As you noted it gives you pre-check. ( I did it when it first came out, you had to list where you had lived etc.)   Its through CBP as opposed to TSA and its really handy when you have to come through customs.   Gets you to a shorter line when you return.

I was so surprised how easy and quick that it all happened.  We did luck up on our appointment scheduling as normally we would have had to drive 3 hours north to Cincinnati airport; however, for one week only that had it for Louisville airport and that was only 35 minutes away!  The person that did our interview was from Chicago. 

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1 hour ago, whitsmom said:

I was so surprised how easy and quick that it all happened.  We did luck up on our appointment scheduling as normally we would have had to drive 3 hours north to Cincinnati airport; however, for one week only that had it for Louisville airport and that was only 35 minutes away!  The person that did our interview was from Chicago. 

I did mine at CVG - They were booked out for months and I sat on the scheduling page refreshing until I saw a cancellation a couple days out and I grabbed it. 

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2 minutes ago, KLA said:

I did mine at CVG - They were booked out for months and I sat on the scheduling page refreshing until I saw a cancellation a couple days out and I grabbed it. 

My husband was one of the lucky ones that has to have an interview for his renewal.  The first available appointment in San Diego was a year out and it's not even the airport; we have to go to the border crossing station.  

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On 9/20/2021 at 4:45 AM, whitsmom said:

We had our interview appointment on Friday (9/17).  Our appointment time was 2:45 pm; however, we got there about 40 minutes early (we allowed extra time due to so much road construction on I-65).  They went on an checked us in and we only waited about a minute or two and we got to be together in the same room. Our KTN was effective as soon as we left our appointment (i thought we had to wait for our GE card to come in the mail).  He told me that the card is just another form of ID and it can be used instead of getting the enhanced drivers license for travel.  When I got home, I get our KTN's linked to our 3 flights that we have booked and applied it to our Delta profile also.  We have one more flight to book but have to wait a few more weeks before the dates will be available.  

If your KTN is in your airline profile, it's automatically attached to your reservation.

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Hmmmmm....have you checked the no-fly list to see if he's on there ?  LOL

😉

I just spoke with the Universal Enroll people about the whereabouts of my husband's KTN. They said that applications are taking 30 days and that they are "swamped." She said that at 46 days, that is too long. There were no flags on him and no correspondence emailed or snail-mailed to him. She escalated the application (who knew?) and said he should have his KTN in the next week; otherwise, we should call, and they will escalate it higher up. They were pleasant to deal with, and hopefully, that will be the end of that. If anyone needs to follow up with them on a similar situation, their number is 855-347-8371. 

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2 hours ago, Akeka said:

My husband was one of the lucky ones that has to have an interview for his renewal.  The first available appointment in San Diego was a year out and it's not even the airport; we have to go to the border crossing station.  

I couldn't believe how fast mine went.  I did my application on line on 8/30/21 and had my interview 9/17/21. 

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