- Do you like waiting in long lines
when you travel through the airport?
If so, then you are in the wrong place.
Because in this video,
I'm gonna be talking about three programs
to help speed you through your airport journey in the USA.
TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and Clear.
I'll be talking about what these programs are,
what the differences are, how much they cost,
are they worth it,
and I'll give you some tips on how to get them
for discounted rates or even free.
Let's get started with TSA PreCheck.
TSA PreCheck is a program created by
the US Transportation Security Agency
to get you through airport security faster.
Their goal is to get you through airport security
in five minutes or less.
TSA PreCheck lines are special security lines
that are at over 200 airports in the USA.
And once you enroll in TSA PreCheck, and you get approved,
you can use these special PreCheck lines.
Now the special PreCheck lines for PreCheck members
allow you to go through
what people would consider old school security.
What is old school security?
Well in the PreCheck lines,
you don't have to take off your shoes,
you don't have to take your liquids out of your suitcase,
you don't have to take your electronics
or your laptop out either,
and instead of going through the full-body Nude-o-Scope,
you typically go through a metal detector instead.
I have TSA PreCheck and I can attest
the security process is so much better
not having to do those things
and assume the position that you do
through typical airport security.
Now there's about 10 million people that have TSA PreCheck.
And so even though that seems like a lot,
the TSA PreCheck lines are often significantly
shorter than the typical airport security lines,
just because there are less people in the TSA PreCheck pool.
Sometimes the TSA PreCheck lines
can be longer than the regular lines, but in that case,
sometimes it still may be worth it
to be in the TSA PreCheck line.
Just not to have to go through all the rigmarole
that you have to go through in the regular security line.
I like to keep all my stuff in my suitcase, if I can.
Now some of the cons with TSA PreCheck
is not every airport in the US has TSA PreCheck.
I mentioned it's at 200 airports,
that is not all of the airports.
And TSA PreCheck lines may not be open all the time.
They may not be open the whole time the airport is there.
So if you have an early flight or a late flight,
you might get there and find the PreCheck line is closed.
To get your TSA PreCheck benefits,
you also have to be flying on one of the airlines
that is partnered with TSA.
The good news is there's 83 airlines
that are partnered with the TSA
to offer PreCheck benefits to travelers.
What airlines aren't?
China Eastern, China Southern, and interestingly enough,
Aer Lingus are three of the notable ones.
Now, in order to apply for TSA PreCheck,
you do have to be a US citizen or a permanent resident.
And then you have to appear
at one of about 300 enrollment centers.
The cost for TSA PreCheck is $85.
And then once you're approved,
you get TSA PreCheck for five years.
Once you've been granted TSA PreCheck,
you'll be given a known traveler number,
a set of like eight or nine digits,
that then when you book your reservations
on the airline website
you put that known traveler number into the reservation.
Once it's verified and you print out your boarding pass,
then your boarding pass will say TSA Pre or PreCheck on it,
and then you can use that
to get into the PreCheck lines at the airports.
If you've got kids traveling with you,
children 12 and under can travel with their parents
and get bestowed their parents TSA PreCheck status.
Let's move on to the question of,
is TSA PreCheck worth it?
It's $85 for five years.
And I think if you travel just a few times a year,
assuming that you travel through airports
that have TSA PreCheck lines,
I think it's worth it.
One, for the time savings,
but two, for the peace of mind
knowing that you're not gonna be waiting hours in security.
That helps me a lot.
I have TSA PreCheck.
I really enjoy having it.
But the way I got TSA PreCheck
is actually by having Global Entry.
So let's go ahead and talk about
the second program here on this list now, Global Entry.
Global Entry is administered by Customs and Border patrol.
And Global Entry is a program
that's designed to speed you through not airport security,
but Global Entry is a program designed to speed you through
customs and immigration on your return into the USA.
Now the way that Global Entry
speeds your return into the USA
is that at 53 airports within the USA,
and at 13 preclearance international locations,
there are dedicated lines for people who have Global Entry.
So once you have Global Entry,
instead of going to the regular passport cattle hall
you go to the area marked Global Entry.
And then, instead of really talking to a passport agent
you go up to a kiosk where you slide in your passport,
put in your fingerprints,
and then you answer five questions on a screen.
It prints out a ticket with your picture on it.
And then you just hold up that ticket and walk through.
At LAX, airport that I fly in regularly,
the regular cattle call line can be 30 to 45 minutes.
And the Global Entry line can be zero minutes,
walk right up to the kiosks,
or maybe three to five minutes, if it's really busy.
Now in my last trip to LAX,
they're actually trialing these new Global Entry kiosks
that I really hope
Customs and Border patrol rolls out to more places.
These new kiosks,
I didn't even have to put in my passport or my fingerprints.
I just looked into a camera on a tablet.
It recognized me and said, go ahead.
So literally my time at the Global Entry line
was about 10 seconds to look at a screen.
And then the Customs and Border patrol agent just said,
Christopher, and I looked at her and said, yes.
And she's like, all right, welcome home.
Go ahead.
So that was an amazing immigration experience.
Global Entry costs a little bit more than TSA PreCheck.
It costs a hundred dollars for five years,
which is $15 more than TSA PreCheck.
But when you're approved for Global Entry,
you also get TSA PreCheck benefits as well.
Global Entry issues you that same known traveler number.
And so you can use that
in the same way that you would use it
if you're approved for TSA PreCheck.
And so if you're considering getting one of these programs
if you travel internationally,
even a little bit for 15 extra dollars
to save yourself 30 or 45 minutes
after you've come home from a long flight from Australia,
I think is definitely worth the $15.
The challenge with Global Entry is that,
Global Entry you have to show up for an interview
just like you have to for TSA PreCheck,
but the number of interview and enrollment centers
for Global Entry is significantly less than PreCheck.
PreCheck has like 300 plus enrollment centers.
Global Entry only has about a hundred.
And so there's many people who live across the US
who don't live near a Global Entry interview center.
And so, those people either have to drive a long way
or there are also options
to do a Global Entry appointment on arrival into the US.
In that case, you like stand in a separate line,
and then they'll interview you as you arrive,
but that line could be long too.
The other challenges right now,
there's so many people that wanna apply for Global Entry
because people are starting to travel again.
That actually there's like
almost zero appointments anywhere
but they give you one year from the time
you're nominally approved to actually get your interview
to then get your benefits.
If you've got kids, your Global Entry benefits will apply
to them as long as they are under the age of two years old.
If your kids are two or older,
then they have to go get their own
Global Entry account approval and interview.
And so in case you're wondering, yes,
for the traveling princess,
we have applied for Global Entry for her.
So when we take our next international trip,
she can come through the Global Entry line
with me and OCgirl.
Now the third program Clear is an interesting one,
because it's not run by the federal government
like the previous two programs.
Clear is run by a private company.
And Clear's goal is to verify your identity
in new high tech methods,
instead of simply looking at your driver's license.
And so Clear's goal is to help speed you through
the identification check process
that's part of airport security.
So once you're approved for Clear,
instead of going into the normal TSA lines
and having a TSA agent look at your identification
to verify it's you,
when you have Clear, you go to a Clear kiosk,
which looks at your fingerprints and looks at your iris,
your iris scan in your eyeball to verify that it's you.
And then after you've been verified by the Clear kiosk,
a Clear agent will escort you
to the appropriate security line.
When I say appropriate security line,
if you have PreCheck
then after the Clear retina scan ID check,
they will take you to the PreCheck line
passed beyond the TSA agent who's checking IDs.
If you do not have PreCheck,
then you'll go in the regular security queue.
But also after that TSA person who is checking.
By the way these three programs
really kind of all go together
and they're all complementary,
because they're all different parts of the process.
You can have Global Entry, which includes TSA PreCheck,
and you can have Clear as well
and they all give you a little bit different of benefit,
stack them all up and they all make it a little bit faster.
Now Clear has probably the easiest enrollment
of all of these in that
you can basically show up in the Clear line at the airport
and enroll right at one of the Clear kiosks.
Now Clear is at only about 50 airports within the US.
And so it has the least amount of places.
It's also the most expensive at $179 per year.
The other programs we talked about PreCheck, Global Entry,
$85, a hundred dollars for five years,
Clear $179 for one year.
You can also add up to three family members for $50 each,
and children's 17 and under can go with their parents
through the Clear line.
Now to answer the question of, is Clear worth it?
It's less clear to me that Clear is worth it
compared to TSA PreCheck and Global Entry
because it's significantly more for significantly less time.
I think Clear is only worth it,
if you travel a significant amount through an airport
that has long lines in security,
that are basically the bottleneck
is the TSA agent doing the ID check.
If the long lines are on the other side of that TSA agent,
like there after the ID check
and you're waiting for the X-rays
then Clear isn't gonna help you at all with that.
Clear also isn't gonna help you at all,
if you are traveling through one of the many airports
that doesn't have Clear lines.
But one way to make these programs a lot more worth it
is if you can get them at a discount or even free.
So let's talk about how you can do that.
And first we'll start with Clear.
Clear gives discounts to elite members of Delta and United.
So if you're a Delta or United flyer,
you can link your frequent flyer account to Clear.
And then you can get discounts
depending upon your elite status.
Discounts up to including free for top level elite members.
If you're an American Express card holder,
you may also get Clear credits
on your American Express card.
The Centurion card gives credit for like $329.
So you can get a primary membership
plus like three additional memberships.
If you have an Amex Platinum card,
it includes $189 of credits per year
towards Clear membership.
And if you have an Amex Green card,
which is a little lower level tier,
that one includes a hundred dollars annual statement credit
towards Clear, you know, bringing the price down to $89.
That's assuming you're paying full price,
but those statement credits will also stack
with the discounts you get
if you are an elite flyer of Delta or United.
Now speaking of statement credits
there are also many premium travel related credit cards
that will also give you statement credits
towards TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.
Those statement credits are typically limited
to one credit every five years instead of every year
because those programs bill on the five-year frequency.
But if you have like a Chase Sapphire Reserve card
or you have an Amex Platinum card,
those both will give
$85 TSA PreCheck credits every five years
and a hundred dollars Global Entry credits every five years.
If you need to get Global Entry and PreCheck
for other family members,
if you have multiple cards that have that statement benefit,
then you can put different family members on those cards.
So I apply for my Global Entry benefit
on my Amex Platinum card.
And I apply for OCgirl's Global Entry benefit
on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
And so I can get the statement credits
both in the same year,
'cause they're on two different cards.
Now on the subject of discounts,
if you're planning to travel anytime in the near future,
airfares are at crazy high prices.
So if you wanna know how to get a cheap price on airfare,
how to find discounts with the crazy high prices today,
you might enjoy watching my video right here
about how to find cheap airfares.
Well as usual fellow explorers, I won't say goodbye,
'cause I'm gonna see you over there.