I'm sitting here in the airport in Salt Lake City waiting to board. Got my approval for TSA Pre Check and whisked through JFK a few days ago… for anybody who doesn't have TSA Pre Check and travels a lot… go look it up… Actually, the way to go, which is what I did, was google “Global Entry”.
It's $100 for 5 years and the benefit is that when you come back into the United States from another country, at most of the major airports there is now a “Global Entry” section where you whisk right through!
When we were coming back from Mexico earlier in the year, through Dallas, I was salivating… I had passed the first phase of the online questionnaire and was just waiting for the in person interview.
The Global Entry section was totally empty!
Well, I finally got my approval having gone to an in person meeting in Baltimore a couple weeks ago. Looked at Chicago's Concert Tour Schedule and saw where I'd be able to book the appointment!
So when I came home the other day, from JFK, (that rhymes!), I went through TSA Pre with NO ONE in front of me! Unreal… Oh, that's right… you can apply for any of the major airlines that offer it and get in line for them to check you out… or, if you are a certain status flyer, they might just approve you already. (I was pre-approved on American Airlines and went through TSA Pre Check once before… and that's when I was hooked!)
Oh yeah, you don't take your shoes off… don't take your laptop out of the bag, keep your belt on, keep your jacket on… etc.
So that's the benefit of Global Entry… even if you aren't flying out of the country that much, if you fly much at all, domestically, it's worth it for a hundred bucks to skate through domestic airports… when you are approved for Global Entry you're approved on ALL THE DOMESTIC AIRLINES that offer TSA Pre Check!
Ah, the things that get me excited these days…
BUT, as they say, don't count on it always… they say they let you through 80% of the time… gotta keep a little bit of wonder for anybody thinking of trying anything weird!
So I'm headed to Phoenix for the Seacret National Convention and I read online last night that US Airways has TSA Pre Check here in SLC. Oooops… error on the website! Hey, I'm grateful I get to go to an event that is going to be amazing… (I'll report more while I'm there…), and it reminds me of how grateful I am… (knowing you have TSA Pre Check is very comforting… ah yes, they say the Phoenix airport has it!)
And there's the little pearl of life… even if things don't go my way, look at what you do have… one life… one chance… live it… don't miss it! J