Global Entry members bypass regular immigration lines at SFO (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Nearly every truly frequent international traveler now enjoys the magic of the Global Entry program. Those who enroll submit to a background check, and once approved, can re-enter the U.S. via a special kiosk lane at customs & immigration that takes seconds instead of minutes (or in some cases, hours).
What makes Global Entry even better is that once approved, you automatically get into the TSA’s essential PreCheck program, which speeds you through airport security.
At $100 for five years, you get two proven line-busters at the airport. That’s just $20 per year. That’s a no-brainer, right?
Well, the problem with Global Entry is that it might have become TOO popular. Especially after all the recent falderal about long airport lines. That popularity means that the wait to get your Global Entry status has swollen to unacceptable levels.
Special lanes marked by floor signs at SFO (Photo Chris McGinnis)
For example here’s one of several emails we’ve received recently at TravelSkills:
Wondering if you can discuss the ridiculous long waits for the Global Entry appointments at SFO? The wait is now six months! Luckily I managed to get a cancelled time slot, so I only needed to wait two months. My “interview” took less than five minutes, even though each interview is allotted 15 minutes. There were three agents there at the enrollment office. So instead of handling just 12 people in that hour, they clearly could have handled 24-36 people in that one hour, at least halving the wait times.
Well, that frustration might be ameliorated soon at San Francisco International and elsewhere. According to SFO, US Customs & Border Protection has announced a pilot program to expand the hours of the Global Entry enrollment office to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The pilot is set to begin on June 12 and run for 60 days, at which time the program will be evaluated.
“Due to the overwhelming success of the Global Entry program and the subsequent increase in applications, CBP clearly recognizes the need for additional interview opportunities,” said Brian J. Humphrey, CBP’s Director of Field Operations in San Francisco.
A CBP spokesperson told TravelSkills that currently the the 24/7 pilot program will be tested at SFO only.
The Global Entry Enrollment Center at SFO is located pre-security on the arrivals level of the International Terminal. The facility already offers permanent hours of 7:00am-11:00pm, and will expand to 24/7 on June 12, 2016 for the 60-day pilot program. The expanded hours will offer an additional 826 appointment slots for travelers to enroll. For more information, visit: www.globalentry.gov.
Do you have Global Entry? Or are you in the queue waiting to get your membership? Please leave your comments below.
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There are slots, but they are all full.
Correct! I have not applied, because I’ve had disqualifying traffic tickets in 1988 and 1998.
I LOVE my #GlobalEntry … and just received my calendar notice that it’s almost time to renew … I know!!! 5 years almost passed!! I have to check on appointments to renew in a month or so. I can fly into JFK (I ONLY travel with carry-on) and clear Customs/Immigration in 4 minutes. Ahhh – best money ever spent.
The issue with that is you need to give a set of finger prints. Even US citizens can be denied Global Entry if they were convicted of certain crimes.
Thanks for the information Chris! You saved me a flight to LAX which was planned for Monday AM, I am now headed just before midnight a few days later! My friends joke I will have spent more time trying to schedule this darn appointment than I actually would have waiting in line at customs this year!
My wife and I got our Global Entry last year prior to a trip LAX-AKL (New Zealand) and back to LAX; it was worth every penny when we went around the hordes of people and bags waiting to get through the regular process at LAX. We zipped right around the hundreds of people who had that “deer-in-the-headlights” look when they realized how long it was going to take them to get to the street or to their connecting flights in the domestic system.
Thank you, Chris! Just switched mine and wife’s appointments to SFO, and a month sooner than it was booked in ATL.
BTW, while we both got approved (conditionally) at the end of May, somehow Uncle Sam couldn’t master an “Hey, you’re approved – book an appoitment” e-mail to me, after I provided all that information! So only found out about the appovals in early June. Best we could do in ATL was Aug. 22-nd 🙁
From the viewpoint of an industrial engineer, this “24/7” is a classic example of “working hard but not smart.” A “working smart” approach would be “Instead of hoping people will drive to the airport for the 1:45AM time slot, let’s substitute on-line processing at the citizen’s convenience for an in-person interview.”
Totally predictable move, since many international flights arrive at odd hours.
Not to mention one of Chris’s recent posts talked about how much PreCheck is under-performing in generating new revenue–I mean—members.
The “interview” was a joke. Just an explanation of the program and fingerprinting. Plus an hour drive to the airport each way. But the Global Entry is nice and I get Pre-Check almost always (not on Frontier, but I rarely fly them).
I am now! haha. Thanks Chris.
Hey Cats: Have you put your GOES number in your FF program profile? If so, you should have been getting PreCheck more than never!
I love my Global Entry but since signing up last year, I have NEVER gotten TSA Pre-Check! Not a problem when leaving SF because I also have Clear, but can be a pain when flying home from a non Clear participating airport. Anyone else experience this?
If theses new time slots aren’t filled or folks are “no-shows” for their appointments, then the trial will be deemed a failure. Reverting back to the long months-long wait times for many.
I recommend looking at other CBP offices along your travel routes, they may have appointments available that are not months away.