You’ve heard us drone on about some of our favorite travel hacks, time savers, favorite travel products, and money savers for about a year now, but have we talked about TSA PreCheck & Global Entry yet? Lets!

Picture this: it’s the day of your much-anticipated trip to wherever you’re excited about going. You’re packed and ready to go until life happens and delays you leaving for the airport on time (this usually means some sort of escaped animal, frozen water, or no electricity for us…sigh…we could write a whole post about ridiculous things that happen as we’re trying to leave). When you finally get to the airport, as a savvy traveler you’ve already checked in online and have your boarding pass on your phone, so you head straight for security because you’re not checking bags. Excellent. And then you get to the security line and things slow…way…down. You know the drill, file through the line where you’ll invariably end up behind the folks who have never traveled before, have no clue what to do, and have 5 kids with them. Yep, these are the folks who don’t take the liquids out of their bag, can’t understand why they should take their shoes off, and ask several times whether their iPad is the same as a laptop and so needs to come out of their bag. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. If you’re like us, you only plan to get to the airport with just enough time to grab a coffee and stroll to your gate, with maybe a last-minute trip to the restroom before your plane is ready for you. So, when things happen to cause delays (because they always do), it can be a stressful start to your trip.

Similarly, have you ever traveled internationally and, after your long flight home (on which you may or may not have slept) you get the joyful experience of US Customs at your first airport in the US. Not familiar? Imagine a very long line (seriously, where did all these people come from?!) that never really seems to move. At the end you get to talk to a stoic Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent who asks about your trip, what you did, where you went, what you brought home with you, and the like. Finally, you’re welcomed home so you can collect your checked bag (we only check on the way home if we can help it) and re-check it to your final destination while heading to face security, again. Fun stuff.

Surely, you’re thinking, there must be a better way. Fortunately, there is. Welcome to the world of TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. Both are things we were a little reluctant to spend the money on at the beginning of our travel adventures and neither are things we’re willing to do without now that we’ve seen the light. Let’s explain.

TSA PreCheck

This is probably our favorite travel program we’re a part of. Yes, even more than Global Entry, but that’s mostly because we use PreCheck more. So, what’s the big deal? When you get to the airport and find your way to the security screening area, you’ll notice two lines. Commonly on your right is the line where most folks go. You know, the one that moves slower than the laws of physics and time might suggest it should. Then, usually on the left, there’s a line that almost never has anyone in it, at least at our local airport. That line, the empty one, is the TSA PreCheck line. If you’re part of the club and are PreCheck approved, you’ll take that left and head straight to the TSA officer. They’ll check your documents and then tell you to go left again, at which point you toss your bag on the conveyor belt for its screening and walk through a regular metal detector before heading on your way. Note: at no point do you take anything out of your bag, remove your shoes, or anything else. You will need to empty your pockets, but otherwise, that’s about it. Easy breezy, grab your bag and head to your gate, after a coffee stop, naturally.

You might not think the regular security screening line takes that much time, but after you’ve had the PreCheck experience once, going back to the regular line is about as appealing as your upcoming high school reunion (shudder). Plus, not having to remove any of your things from your carefully packed bag keeps your belongings cleaner and less exposed to the nasty stuff you can pick up in the public transit world.

So, how do you join the PreCheck club? Great question. According to the TSA PreCheck Website, you’ll need to submit an application that takes roughly 5 minutes to complete. Once that’s done there’s a brief appointment (about 10 minutes) where you’ll answer a few questions and get fingerprinted. Then TSA will conduct a background check, making sure you’re not on any of the no-fly (or other) lists the government keeps. Once that’s done, you’ll get your approval and you’re all set. There is a $78 application fee and, once approved, your PreCheck is good for 5 years, at which point you’ll need to renew. Believe us, it’s well worth the money.

One quick reminder: after you’ve been approved for TSA PreCheck, each time you check in for your flight, take a quick look at your boarding pass. See a green check mark on the pass? Great, you’re all set to head to the PreCheck screening lane when you get to the airport. But, if you don’t see that check, make sure you stop by your airline’s check in desk at the airport to see if they can look into it. When you purchase your ticket, you must put your Known Traveler number in your reservation so they know you’re part of PreCheck and you get your little check mark. Also keep in mind that PreCheck is usually only found at US airports; if you’re travelling abroad, you might need to visit the regular line with everyone else. Apologies.

Global Entry

So, PreCheck is great for your domestic flights in the US, but it doesn’t really do you any favors when you’re coming home from a trip abroad and have to go through US Customs and Boarder Control. Good news, friends: this is where Global Entry comes into play.

After you deplane at your first airport in the US, your first stop will be US Customs. If you don’t have Global Entry, you’ll experience a scene not dissimilar from the one we described above with the security line. If you do have Global Entry, you can walk past that very long, slow line. Friendly tip: don’t wave as you walk by; it’s not received well. So, keep walking past those lines to the Global Entry area (there will be signs directing you, or just ask one of the helpful CBP folks in the area). Once there, you’ll walk up to a kiosk, which are typically quite empty, it’ll take your picture and give you a receipt. Then walk to the CBP officer, hand them your receipt, and continue on your way. In all, this experience almost always takes us less than 5 minutes. Amazing, right?

Interested? Good. If so, head over to the CBP’s Global Entry website and fill out your application. As with PreCheck, once your application is processed you’ll receive an e-mail directing you to schedule an in-person appointment at a Global Entry office (they’re usually located in international airports). At your appointment they’ll scan your passport, ask you a few questions, and take your picture. Once all of that is processed, you’ll receive your Global Entry card and Known Traveler ID number, which you can add to your flight information when you purchase your ticket(s).

The Global Entry application fee is $100 per person, but as with TSA PreCheck, to say this is worth the money is an understatement.

Free is Always Best

If you’re wanting to enroll in both PreCheck and Global Entry, the fees will total $178 per person and, again, the programs are good for 5 years (which amounts to about $36/year). But, if you’re a savvy traveler who responsibly uses travel-focused credit cards, make sure you check out the benefits that come with your card(s). If you have a mid- or top-tier card, the odds are good the card will cover your PreCheck and/or Global Entry fees so long as you use that card to pay for the application fees. For us, both our Platinum Card from American Express and United Club Infinite cards come with this benefit.

To sum it up, these programs are well worth the money to make your life easier and less stressful during your travels. And if you can get them for free, why not?

Happy travels!

The post Approved: An Easier Way to Travel – TSA PreCheck & Global Entry first appeared on The DeBode Way.

What’s it like travelling right now? This has to be one of the more common questions we’ve been getting recently, and so we wanted to share a recent travel experience to Mexico. To be sure, there are all kinds of people having all kinds of experiences right now, so we don’t suggest ours is the only version of the story. Still, we’ve found that, even with the added steps, travel is still entirely doable (and enjoyable!), so here goes.

Travelling to Mexico. Our recent travels took us South of the boarder to Mexico. Specifically, to Cabo San Lucas, down at the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. We flew out of the airport here in Springfield. We’re a bit spoiled, because our airport isn’t huge and so we can usually get through the various checkpoints a bit faster than folks travelling at larger hubs. We got to the airport about 90 minutes before our flight time (again, a perk of a small airport) and immediately went to the check-in counter so we could drop off our checked bags. We don’t typically check bags, but we were going to a condo and so took a bit more than if we’d gone to a hotel. In any case, our line wasn’t very long, with only a few folks ahead of us. Dropping our bags and getting our boarding passes didn’t take more than about 10 minutes and we were on our way to visit the fine folks in TSA Security. Because we have TSA Pre-check, we went left when others went right. To put this in perspective, there were probably 20 people in the non-Pre-check line while there was no one in the Pre-check line, so we said thanks and waved goodbye to TSA (always say thanks to them) in about 5 minutes.

Other than having to wear a mask in the airport and and on the plane, our flight from Springfield to Houston was pretty normal. Our ‘meal’ was the usual soda/juice/water/tea and pretzels/cookies and, like other places, we could drop our masks so long as we were actively eating or drinking and then put them back up between bites. We met up with Jason’s parents in Houston after spending some time in the AMEX Centurion Lounge (hello credit card perks!). Things in Houston were pretty similar to those in Springfield: compulsory masks but otherwise a fairly normal experience. We did end up having a roughly 3-hour delay after getting on the plane. They said it was due to a mechanical issue (something about a valve in one of the engines…seems reasonable to delay us to fix that), but several passengers around us noted the plane was a bit fuller after the delay, leading some to wonder whether another flight had been cancelled and United was trying to delay us long enough to get some of them in the open seats on our flight. In any case, we finally took off and had an uneventful flight to Cabo. The valve must have been working fine.

On the descent into Cabo, we received the usual entry paperwork to complete. With that in-hand and our passports at the ready, we made it through Customs and Immigration pretty quickly. In fact, there was almost no one in Customs at all other than our flight (perhaps because of our delay?), so we walked right up to the first officer, got our passports stamped, said thank you (again, always say thank you in Customs), and continued on our way. Getting out of Customs would have been just as fast, but there was a single officer taking the declaration forms for our entire flight, so the line got a little lengthy. Still, from the time we got off the plane to the time we were in our taxi couldn’t have been more than about 45 minutes. We handed over our declaration forms and got the bottom part back – don’t lose this, you need it to get back out of Mexico! Again, most of that time was spent waiting to get our bags (are we the only ones whose bags are always the last off the plane?!) and standing in line to leave Customs.

Being in Mexico. This was Tasha’s first time in Cabo; it had been about 15 years since Jason had been there. But, for all that, our time was pretty much as expected. The resort we stayed at did require masks to be worn in all public places, even outdoors, but it wasn’t exactly strictly enforced. We did need to wear our mask in the restaurant (a buffet), but only while we were at the buffet getting food. We did need to wear them in the taxis, but most of the taxi drivers’ masks didn’t cover their noses, so we’re not sure how strictly they would have enforced the mandate if pushed: we didn’t try (while we’re certain they’re nice folks, the Mexican Federales were not on our list of people to visit). Otherwise, things were pretty…normal. Jason’s grandparents (the reason we were in Cabo in the first place) have been wintering over in Cabo for the last 30 years and they said the cruise ship traffic off the cost was about back to pre-pandemic levels and that the resorts seemed to be at regular capacity and operations, except for the masks.

Travelling back to the US. This was where our travelling experience was the most different/new. Shortly before we left the resort, we had to scan a QR code at the front desk and fill out a form saying we didn’t have any COVID symptoms and hadn’t been around anyone with COVID symptoms. Once that was submitted, we received an e-mail confirmation (more on this later). In addition, we had to schedule COVID tests no more than 24 hours before we left the country. Because we’re both fully vaccinated, the US government used to require a COVID test no more than 3 days before returning home, but that had recently been updated to 24 hours, the same as for folks who had not been vaccinated. This was easy enough to do; another QR code and a few questions secured our appointments. The test itself wasn’t at all pleasant; being poked in the brain hurts! But, it was over fast enough and about an hour or so later we received e-mails indicating a negative test result (again, more on this later).

When checking in for our flight back to the US, there was a bit more information to include, but we were able to do everything through the United app on our phones via their Travel Ready Center. In addition to the regular check-in questions and information, we also included our passport, GlobalEntry information, and screenshots of the negative COVID test result (you could also take a picture of a printed test result). Once that was in, everything else was pretty normal.

When we got to the airport in Cabo, we had to use a self-check-in kiosk to check our bags. We even printed our own baggage tags and put them on our luggage! That’s a new one, check this off Jason’s bucket-list (don’t ask why, there’s no explanation). Once that was done, we waited in a reasonably-fast-moving line to weigh and drop our bags and receive our boarding passes. Before we could go through security, we had to fill out another COVID form and show our declaration form we filled out when we landed in Mexico (remember, don’t lose this!). We handed our COVID form to another airport employee on our way to security. As it turned out, this was the same form we had to fill out using the QR code at the hotel, so we aren’t sure if we could have shown them the confirmation e-mail rather than fill out the form again, but we also didn’t realize this until later. Our TSA Pre-check does not work outside the US, so we had to go through regular security and, while it certainly took longer than the Pre-check lines, it didn’t take that long, and before long we were on the other side heading to the Duty Free shop (yesssssss!). Jason has a love of Scotch (Talisker Dark Storm) that you can ONLY get in the Duty Free shops across the world and his supply had run out due to lack of travel. He was elated to find some!

The flight back to the US was uneventful, as was Customs in Houston. We have GlobalEntry, and so we had no forms to fill out to go through Customs. Instead, we walked up to the GlobalEntry kiosks (all of them were open), had it take our picture and spit out a receipt with our information (a little creepy that it just knows based on our pictures), and then headed to the desk to be cleared for entry back home. Keep in mind that after going through Customs, you have to go back through TSA security before you can enter the rest of the airport. (Note, no, this doesn’t make any sense at all, and we have yet to find someone that can explain this need) Unfortunately, even though we were back in the US, there isn’t a Pre-check line in TSA security on the other side of Customs, so once again the shoes came off, we assumed the position, and…well, you know the drill. Or well, we thought we did. Tasha forgot her Kindle in her purse and was held back to rescreen – oops. But, once you’re through that, everything was pretty normal. Again, there’s a masking requirement, but otherwise, it was a fairly normal airport experience and flight back to Springfield on our tiny regional jet (aka, the puddle jumper we always seem to fly on back to Springfield).

So, in the end, other than a few extra forms, masks all day, and the one COVID test, our travel experience was pretty normal. Other than the 3-hour delay in Houston (not directly COVID-related), we didn’t really experience any disruptions or longer waits than is usual. Also keep in mind this was the week before Christmas, so if you’re travelling in conjunction with major holidays, you might have longer waits, more delays, and so on. But again, at least based on our experience, that’s all normal stuff to deal with during holiday travel, and not necessarily a result of the pandemic.

We have another trip to Mexico coming up, but we’re leaving through a major airport and only taking carry-ons. Once we see what that’s like, we’ll report the experience here so you can compare the two. But, at least based on our recent experience to/from Cabo, travelling internationally is still totally doable and not that much more of a pain than it used to be, at least to Mexico where there are no additional entry requirements. We’ll hope that’s the same answer we give after coming home from our next trip!

The post Travelling in a Pandemic: New changes, but still manageable. first appeared on The DeBode Way.

Okay, let’s talk about traveling, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

First, let’s separate traveling (getting from Point A to Point B) from exploring (seeing all there is to see in Point B). We like to do both, but more the latter than the former. Travelling isn’t what it used to be, and for a whole bunch of reasons. And while travelling is more complicated and can be a pain, we’ve picked up a few things along the way that make a world of difference for our traveling experience.

What we’ve Learned about Travelling, Part 1: The Airport Experience.

If you’re flying, TSA Pre-Check is easily among the best investments we’ve ever made. Yes, lots of other people have it. Yes, it’s still valuable and handy to have. It’s SO nice to not wait in the long lines, not have to take your shoes/belt/jacket off, and not have to take things out of our carry-on bags. These all sound like small things, and they are, but they add up quickly. And when travelling has become more complicated and can be a headache, why not rack up the small wins when you can? Just in our small hometown airport alone, we can walk in the door and straight through security to be at the gate in about 5-10 minutes. It definitely takes longer at larger US airports but not having to re-dress yourself and cram everything back into your carefully packed bags alone is worth it. Plus, you’re trading that hour long security line for one that’s only a few minutes long. Major win for your stress levels.

Along the same lines, if you’re leaving the country, we’d recommend two different programs to consider, as either can make your life easier when you re-enter the States. First, Global Entry. Being in this program means you have a MUCH shorter process to journey through Customs when you get back to the US (note, this does not change your entry process into other countries). You have to submit your application, wait for approval, and then schedule your interview (at an international airport), during which they’ll ask you a few questions and take your picture. Once complete, you’ll receive your card in the mail a short while later. Because of this, it’s important to plan well in advance to make this happen. Also keep in mind that, as of the time we’re writing this, Global Entry also gets you TSA Pre-Check (win!). If you are a credit card points gathering fool like we are and hold a card with travel benefits, check to see if they cover the cost of Pre-Check and Global Entry. Many do as part of your annual fee and this puts you well on your way to justifying that annual fee.

Second, if you don’t want to shell out the money for Global Entry, we’d strongly recommend an app on your phone called Mobile Passport. You know the form you’ll receive on the plane when you get back asking you to declare things you’ve purchased on your trip? Mobile passport captures your passport information and has you answer those questions, all in a handy app. It won’t work before you land at your point-of-entry back into the US (we do it as soon as we touch down while the plane taxis to the gate), but once you submit and it’s accepted, there’s a different and much shorter/faster line to go through in Customs. Best part? It’s totally free. Usually we do that, even though we have Global Entry, and then just go through whichever line is shorter.
However, on our most recent trip back from Mexico we didn’t have to fill out a paper form and even though we were super prepared by filling out our Mobile Passport App, they never asked for it. We glided through the Global Entry line and on to pick up our bags and re-drop them for the second leg of our trip.
Mental note – they run you through security again after an international flight, don’t buy a giant bottle of water in the airport unless you plan to drink it ALL because they will make you dump it. Sad face. Also, a Kindle counts as a computer these days apparently, take it out of your bag or they’ll make you rescan and wait forever. FOR-EV-ER.

Another thing you’re going to be asked about at flight check-in for an international trip these days is your Covid test. As of this writing you have to have a negative test to re-enter the country, taken the day before your flight (not necessarily 24 hours before). Luckily our resort in Cabo offered us a test so we didn’t have to track one down. If you’re not staying somewhere that offers testing the day before you leave, you can bring an at home test to bring with you to take online. This is where I refer you to the experts – The Points Guy has a whole team of travel experts that stay on top of the ever changing requirements. This article really breaks down the current requirements.

We hope to see you back out there soon. We’re just scratching the surface. Stay tuned for more tips and more travel from us! Have a wonderful Christmas!

The post Travel Lessons – How to breeze through the airport first appeared on The DeBode Way.