We returned from an international trip in December through O’Hare. Did not have global entry. The line was long but moved.
TSA on the other hand were the rudest. Screaming at passengers. It was something.
Applied for global entry so I don’t have to do that again. And try and avoid O’Hare
I keep meaning to apply for global entry but haven’t done it. On big trips we have flown business and that helps at least get us off the plane first and at the front of the crowds off our plane.
One tip for your kids- always have a valid passport ready. One never knows if you’re going to be asked to go on an overseas trip. One of mine got asked on his first out of country trip last Wednesday with a Saturday departure. You can bet he was happy he had an valid passport.
In a letter to my D when she graduated high school I wrote “keep your passport up to date because you never know when you might have an opportunity to go to Paris or Shanghai or Moscow and need your passport. Remember that 6 moth leeway that the Department of Homeland Security has imposed!”
oh crud. I forgot my daughter turned 18 and will need a new one. Better get on that. Thanks for the reminder
Pay for the extra passport pages, especially if your student is planning on study abroad.
And always check the expiration because more and more countries require that the passport have at least 6 months before expiration left while visiting their country…and you never know when the Passport offices start backing up again.
I did some research on this recently and decided on the Ostrich Pillow. I haven’t had the chance to use it yet, however.
The tips from this thread on staying calm/less anxious during travel prep/travel were invaluable!
Had a relaxing and enjoyable family vacation to Mexico - and numerous times said (during trip) “This will be terrific” and “It will be a great time or a great story!” (it was both!).
Fam commented on how much more chill I was LOL. Didn’t need any of the many health meds packed nor the health/travel insurance - but all good to have and made relaxing a good bit easier lol.
PS The tip - “just make sure you have your passport and wallet - you can figure the rest out” was a gamechanger in terms of over-stressing packing absolutely everything right!! I repeated that one multiple times too LOL
I think when you do it when returning from a trip you do it right in the entry line in immigration. At least that’s what the signs said when I returned from Mexico. I didn’t have pre-approval at that time but it looked like you just told ‘someone’ that you had pre-approval and they’d lead you through the process.
Woohoo! We arrived in Miami around 6 pm and were able to get our interviews. Easy peasy. We had to go through regular passport inspection and then just down the hall. There were two people ahead of us so it was quick. The only thing that took time was my fingerprints. Apparently, I don’t really have any anymore. It took five tries! I guess I could have a life of crime. Anyhow, we are thrilled to have global entry now.
My mom is the same. I don’t think they ever got any on her
We leave for our 4 week trip on Monday. My (rather large) suitcase still has plenty of room in it, even though I didn’t pack quite as little as some here would. Both my husband and I are doing much better than normal.
Thanks to people who made suggestions/helped me figure out what to take. I am taking a small backpack as carry on and no purse, and that is also not very full. I’m a work in progress, but getting better.
I’m really happy I already have my global entry. My fingers are so chapped with the stupid winter weather that fingerprint ID isn’t working on my older iPad. Time for a little self care!
Love global entry. Made a super tight connection recently that we wouldn’t have otherwise, breezing through customs. Bags didn’t make it, but the airline delivered them home. It was the last leg of a very long trip.
I blame it on all the crafting I do with hot glue 
Well there’s that too. I can’t hot glue without collateral damage 
H and my sis lost fingerprints due to lots (decades) of keyboarding. I think that’s pretty common these days.
I’ve been failing fingerprinting a lot. I had to keep getting them for my CASA volunteer job and for my Americorps job. They asked if I did a lot of cleaning with harsh chemicals. (Sadly no, my house is not that clean).
I did pass my Global Entry on the first try.
Some machines are better able to detect fingerprints than others. We have found that out over the years. Also the iPhone has a pretty good fingerprint scanner, even for fainter prints.
When I did Global Entry a few years ago the machine was weird - I had to press absurdly hard to get it work. Like literally pressing as hard as possible with my fingertips turning white. The agent helping was like, “press harder, press harder!”
Apple’s fingerprint sensors on the ipad and iphone work great for me. But weirdly 3 different macbook pros I’ve had for work over the past 5 years were all very inconsistent to the point that I gave up on it and just type my password now.
Can anybody recommend a battery backup device? I have iphone 12mini, and when traveling I tend to “top if off” to never be caught with dead battery. I prefer not too heavy, not too costly.