Diving into the differences between TSA Pre, Global Entry, and Clear PLUS.

TSA PreCheck 
Expedited security checks at more than 200 airports in the US so you don’t remove shoes, belt, or light jacket, liquids or electronics.

• If you don’t have a passport or plan to travel abroad, this is the best option for you 
• Have to submit an online application then schedule a 10 minute in person appointment at an enrollment center. It includes a background check & fingerprinting 
• 5 year membership 
• Cost is approx $80 but many travel credit cards offer to reimburse this 
• Link your Known Traveler number (TSA pre account) to your airlines account so that it automatically shows up on your boarding pass 
• Children 12 and under may use the TSA PreCheck land when traveling with a parent or guardian who has TSA PreCheck without registering. 
• Teens 13 to 17 can also accompany their parent or guardian without enrolling so long as their boarding pass also have the check indicating TSA PreCheck (which usually happens if the flights are booked on the same reservation).
• Some passengers may randomly receive TSA precheck as a way to introduce them to the benefits of being a member

Global Entry 

A US Customs & Border Patrol program that provides expedited U.S. customs screening for international air travelers when entering the United States. Global Entry members also receive TSA PreCheck® benefits as part of their membership.

• How it works – Upon arrival back into the US in airports from international travel, there are separate designated customs lines for Global Entry members. The designated Global Entry kiosks at customs either scan your face/biometrics, or scans your passport. It then gives you the green light to move forward to a customs agent who then just welcomes you back and passes you through. You get to by-pass the long custom lines everyone else has to go into
• Currently $120 non-refundable fee for 5 years
• You will make a Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Account on the US Customs and Border Patrol website, then pay the fee and start the application online
• If approved, you will complete an in person interview at a designated Global Entry Enrollment Center (lots of international airports are designated enrollment centers). At in person interview they will take picture, biometrics, finger print, etc and ask questions such as where have you traveled, employment, if you have ever been convicted of crimes, etc.

Clear PLUS

• What is it?
• Airport security pre-screening membership that uses biometrics like face, eye scans or fingerprints as a replacement for your ID (global entry and many airline ticket scanners also use biometrics now)
• It gets you faster entry at 57 airports through special CLEAR lines, you don’t have to show your ID to TSA at Airports
• It has other perks too:
  • Get escorted to front of TSA Security line after going throught Biometrics at Clear Stands
  • If you HAVE Clear but NOT TSA Pre, you are escorted to the front of the normal TSA Security line and still have to take off shoes, jacket, remove liquids, etc.
  • If you HAVE Clear AND TSA Pre, you are escorted to the front of the TSA Pre Check line where you do not have to remove shoes, belt, liquids, etc.
• Certain Sports arenas participate with Clear and you can use your Clear Membership for expedited entry and special security lines into those stadiums
• Cost?
• Clear Plus membership costs $189/year.
  • Some credit cards like Amex reimburse the cost and there are membership discounts for Delta Sky Miles members and United Plus Members, free for the top tier of both programs

TSA Pre v. Global Entry v. Clear – Episode Transcript

0:52

Today we’re going to dive into the differences between TSA Pre, Global Entry, and Clear.

When it comes to travel and getting through security, there’s so many different options.

These are kind of really the main three that you hear, so we’re going to break down the differences between them and what each one of them gives you.

1:10

So why don’t we start it off with TSA pre-check?

A lot of people know about this one, but one thing I learned while kind of doing some research is if you don’t have a passport or if you don’t plan to travel abroad, this might be the best option for you.

So you do of course have to submit an online application.

1:28

You do have to schedule an in person appointment at an enrollment center and that does include a background check and fingerprinting.

But once you’re approved, you have a five year membership and it’s only about 80 bucks for the five years.

So I mean that’s less than 20 bucks a year.

1:44

So it’s pretty affordable and there’s a lot of different credit cards that we’ve talked about in the past that actually reimbursed you if you pay for this on your credit card.

The Chase Sapphire Reserves, one of those, the Adventure X is another one of those.

2:00

So you can actually get it for free.

What TSA pre-check is, is you get expedited security checks at more than 200 airports in the US.

So if you’re listening abroad, this doesn’t really apply to you.

But for us in the US, this means we don’t have to remove our belts, shoes, our light jacket.

2:19

We don’t have to remove any electronics or liquids from our bag.

Saves a lot of time and stress.

Honestly, once we got TSA Pre, I don’t even know how we lived beforehand without it.

When we get to the airport and very few times will, I see the TSA Pre line now being a little bit longer than the regular security line, but there may be more people.

2:41

But you’re going to move through fast because you don’t have to do all those miscellaneous things that Brittany just mentioned, such as removing the shoes, belt, jacket, liquids, etcetera.

And we’re in and out of security real fast.

Kim, I remember recently you had said you were travelling with someone who didn’t have TSA pre-check and so you stood in the regular security line with them.

3:01

And how did you feel going through that?

I felt like a peasant again.

I actually really hate the scanners that you have to go into and you have to put your hand over head and spread your legs and then they have to kind of lightly molest you, check all your pockets and things like that.

3:17

It’s it’s a degrading experience.

Yeah.

And that’s one thing.

We didn’t mention it through TSA pre-check.

You’re in a normal metal detector, not that one that you’re talking about Kim, where it takes like body full X-ray body scan of yourself.

So once you get approved for TSA pre-check, you do get a known traveler number.

3:38

And so you want to link this number to all of the airline accounts that you have.

So if you have like loyalty memberships added in so that anytime you book a flight and that airport offers TSA Pre-check, it’ll automatically go onto your boarding pass.

If you don’t have it on in advance, then you usually can’t go through.

3:56

Yeah, that happened to me once.

I did not have my number in there and I had to go back and talk to the front desk people to have them added on.

And I think that’s something that’s actually relatively new being able to have them add it on same day because in the past if you didn’t put it on usually 24 to 48 hours before your flight with your airline, it was locked out.

4:16

Now they may have changed that and of course you can do it sooner to your flight as as you had just mentioned Kim, but that’s not something you should risk.

You should always input it at time of reservation when you’re making your booking or if you’re booking through an airline that you have rewards account with, you can pre put that in there.

4:33

That way it always stays and they know to put your TSA pre with the booking.

One thing I learned when doing the research was that children 12 and under can also use TSA Pre-check when traveling with a parent or guardian who also has it without them registering.

So if you have kids and they’re under that age, you kind of like don’t have to pay for them to have TSA pre-check.

4:53

They kind of get to fly under the radar.

Before I had TSA pre-check I remember years and years ago for some reason you all got my ticket we booked together and I paid you the money.

And so because it was all under your reservation you 2 already had it.

5:09

I got TSA Pre-check added on to mine.

Yeah, that’s something that does happen.

And if you’re traveling with someone with TSA pre-check, that’s a possibility.

We’ve also seen some of the older travelers, like people over 75, they can get this as well.

5:25

When Jamal’s dad was traveling down to San Diego to see us a while back, he was over 75.

So he would get TSA Pre-check, which would then because his mom was booked under the same reservation but under 75, she got that same perk as well.

Oh so he wasn’t part of the membership, they just added it on randomly?

5:43

Yes, sometimes they will give TSA pre-check automatically to some random individuals, even if you haven’t paid.

But of course you have to meet certain criteria.

One of them is being of that age, they’re just kind of under the assumption somebody that old’s not going to do anything so you can get it.

6:00

But that’s again, you’re you’re taking a gamble.

You don’t know if you are aren’t.

You should just apply for TSA Pre-check if you want it.

They also do give it away every once in a while as a way to introduce people to the benefits so that they’re encouraged to become a BET member.

And they’re like, oh, wait, this was so nice.

6:17

I should get this all the time.

So that’s something to think about, too.

And we talked about children 12 and under, but also teens 13 to 17 can accompany their parents and guardians without enrolling as long as their boarding pass has ATSA pre-check on it too.

So they have to be booked under that same reservation.

6:34

Kind of like how you were talking to him when you were booked with us and you got it.

I was booked with mom and dad, yes.

So TFA pre-check actually has a lot of perks and benefits and could be a really good option for you and your family, especially if you don’t plan on doing a lot of travel abroad.

6:50

So the next thing that we’re going to talk about is Global Entry.

So what is Global Entry?

It’s basically AUS custom and Border Patrol program that provides expedited US custom screening for international air travelers when entering back into the United States.

7:08

Now when Brittany was talking about TSA pre-check, I mentioned how we have it.

But guess what, we have TSA pre-check because it comes automatic with our Global Entry.

So if you get Global Entry, you’re automatically going to get TSA Pre-check.

So if you are actually going internationally more often, then you should do this versus just getting TSA pre-check because it’s going to be a little bit more money out of pocket, but you’re going to get both features for you.

7:35

Now, although this is designed really more for air travel, for expedited customs when coming back into the country through flying, you can use this for land crossings between Canada and Mexico.

So if you’re driving across and back into the United States from Canada or Mexico, or there’s even walking lines when you walk across the border, there’s special lines.

7:58

Now, Canada and Mexico each have their own unique program that’s independent just for Canada, just for Mexico, but Global Entry supersedes those.

So if you have your Global Entry, you can use them for those land crossings just as well to have faster lines going across.

8:15

I can’t even imagine sitting in a regular border border crossing on a Sunday from going from Tijuana to San Diego without having Global Entry.

It’s good to be a mess.

Yeah, you want to talk about the body scan as a degrading experience?

Try sitting in that border crossing line in your car for seven.

8:33

Hours.

And I know you’ve done it, Kim.

And that’s a bad day.

The seven hours, normally it’s about like 2:00 to 3:00, but it can be bad.

Now, if you have the expedited customs and Global Entry, the driveline is usually no more than 45 minutes, as low as 5 to 10.

8:51

But the walk across line is absolutely immediate.

And for us living here in San Diego, so close to the border, it’s an absolute game changer for us.

In fact, we just went to Mexico for tacos like a week or so ago with someone who didn’t have Global Entry and we said, bro, you got to get out of our car and you need a walk across, we’ll meet you on the other side.

9:12

And that’s what happened.

That’s exactly what we did.

But luckily the walk across line in the evening wasn’t too bad and he made it across with good timing, so it all worked out.

But again, those are those little lucky moments that you can’t count on to always be the case 100% of the time.

9:28

So how Global Entry works is upon arrival back into the US in airports from international travel there, there are separate designated custom lines for global injury members.

So you basically get a bypass the normal line that’s incredibly large and filled with people.

9:45

As a good example of this.

Do you ladies remember when we just landed back in the US from Costa Rica in Houston?

What the normal customs line looked like.

It was now scary.

There was over 1000 plus people in it and Zana traveled with us on that one.

10:03

Shout out to the OG squad Zana on that trip.

This was her first trip traveling with Global Entry and we were telling her if you didn’t have that right now, we would have left you in that line and you would have been meeting us in the next terminal.

You know, overpassing through it was rough.

10:19

So instead of waiting in line for that would have easily been an hour plus, if not longer, we were through in 5 minutes.

No longer than that.

And even when we came back from Rome, we landed in Atlanta, Brittany and I.

Atlanta is a messy airport to begin with.

10:36

Like when you land in Atlanta and you have a connection, you need at least like 3 hours.

Coming back from Rome.

Our connection was tight already as it was, and our flight out of Rome was delayed and so we barely had enough time, but we saw the regular customs line.

10:52

When we landed again, it was like 1000 people, plus it was super, super crowded.

We walked up to the Global Entry station and immediately we were out within like 5 to 10 minutes.

If we didn’t have that, honestly we would have missed our connector on that one.

So it really does save you time, especially in those crunch moments where you have a flight delay, short connection, just getting back into the country.

11:14

O you go through the designated global entry line and you actually have a kiosk.

A lot of the kiosks now just really scan your biometrics, your face.

Some of the older ones will still have you scan your passport, but as soon as it recognizes your face or your passport and it ties it to the fact that you have Global Entry, it will give you a green light to go speak to the customs agent.

11:38

Most of the time, they’ll just say your name.

Oh, are you Jamal?

You Brittany?

They’ll recognize your photo to your passport, and they’ll say welcome back to the US.

And that’s all she wrote, for that matter.

I feel like they’re more friendly in the global entry line.

They’re like, how was your trip and what you do?

11:56

Where is the other one?

They’re like.

I know.

Do you have anything to play?

He’s just wanting to interrogate you if you’re in that normal line.

So you definitely want Global Entry.

So how do you get it?

Well, currently, right now it’s $100 non refundable for five years.

12:13

And why I say non refundable is just because you apply doesn’t mean that you’re going to get it.

So if you don’t get it, sorry, you’re out the 100 bucks, but starting October 1st, 2024, so this year, get on it.

If you’re thinking about it, they’re raising the price to $120.00 still for the five years.

12:31

So it’s going to be a $20 increase.

It’s not necessarily anything terrible, but if you’re thinking about it, just get on the game and do it right now before they raise the price.

But you apply and make an account through the Trusted Traveler program through the Customs and Borders Patrol website.

12:48

You pay that fee.

You answer all the questions that they have.

Most of the questions are what countries that you visited recently.

It will ask employment history, of course, questions of if you’ve ever been convicted of crimes, felonies, etcetera.

And then once it goes through the appropriate background, they’ll let you know if you’re conditionally approved, at which point you have to do an in person interview at a designated Global Entry enrollment center.

13:14

Lots of international airports count as those enrollment centers.

They’ll take your biometrics, fingerprints, picture, et cetera, and you are good to go for five years and now you’re traveling free and easy back into the United States.

One thing I will say is once you get that card, go ahead and make sure that you’ve activated it online.

13:33

I made the mistake of not activating mine once I received it and I found out about it when trying to cross back into the US from Mexico.

That’s good to know, I didn’t even realize that.

One thing I was worried about when I first got mine was the fact that I lost my card when I was like Oh no, how am I ever going to use this?

13:50

You don’t actually need to show your card when you’re coming back.

You don’t need to travel with it.

You don’t need to show it.

It’s programmed into your passport number.

Right.

But with that caveat, though, Kim, they do say though, you should carry it with you to have because they can’t ask for it.

But I have never coming back into the United States after landing in an airport.

14:10

Have had to give them the Global Entry card.

Your passport is sufficient.

What about when we have driven across?

Do you have to show your physical card?

You don’t.

I read it online.

You don’t have to show your card because I looked into this.

I was going to try to request a new card and it says in there you don’t have to travel with it but I just renewed mine and I got my card.

14:30

There you go, There you go.

But good question, Brittany.

What I think happens now is even if you have a passport card, which would then have a different passport number than your actual passport booklet, but the booklet and your passport cards all have RFID chips in them now.

14:47

And so it was just tied to that chip to recognize that you have Global Entry.

So I don’t think that you actually need it, but always good to.

Care.

I mean, they can, they can literally scan your face, so I don’t think you need to carry the card.

That’s true.

The third option that you have for getting through security faster is Clear or they’re calling it the Clear Plus membership.

15:08

It began as an airport security pre screening membership.

We’re starting to see a lot of Clear kiosks pop up in airports around the country.

There are 57 airports now that have Clear.

It’s definitely growing.

We’re going to start to see a lot more of them.

15:25

Clear is a lot like Global Entry where you have to fill out an application, do a little bit of a background check, get approved for it, and then scan your fingerprint and your biometrics and what not.

When you go up to scan in the Clear kiosk, it also uses biometrics, face scan, eye scan, fingerprints, all of that and helps you get through the line faster.

15:46

A lot of people have asked, well, if you already have TSA Pre or you already have Global Entry, do you really need CLEAR?

A lot of people do say yes, get Clear, and that’s because there are different benefits with Clear.

There’s different lines for Clear.

So say the TSA pre-check line is very long, but the CLEAR line is not, then you can get yourself through a little faster that way.

16:09

So you have another option essentially.

The other thing that’s really, really cool is you can make a reservation in line and I don’t have CLEAR, but after doing a bunch of research in here, maybe thinking about getting it.

What’s cool about it is that so say you’re going to be flying through Atlanta.

16:29

We know it’s a messy airport and we know we have a crunched amount of time.

For example, your layover that you had there getting home from Rome and you know, you only have a short amount of time.

So if, if the security line is long, you guys are fucked.

Well, you can actually go on to the clear website ahead of time, make a reservation in line for a specific time, show up and walk right up.

16:50

That’s pretty cool.

That’s a benefit I didn’t really know about.

If you are a very frequent traveler then I think Clear is worth it.

The cost is not too bad, it’s $189 for a year.

But there are a ton of different programs that give you discounts or free membership.

17:07

Some of them that they advertise on the website are Amex card holders for example.

Get statement credits reimbursing for it.

There are membership discounts for Delta, Sky members, United Plus members, and then depending on the tier of membership that you have with the airline, say you’re at the very top medallion status for Delta, you get clear membership for free.

17:29

So they’re basically giving this shit away.

I think, you know, just to kind of touch upon as you were describing it, Kim, something very important to articulate about Clear, CLEAR is not a government program, whereas with TSA pre-check as well as Global Entry is a government program.

17:44

Clear is a private company and really they just ID you with your biometrics, eye scans, fingerprints, etcetera, but they work with TSA when you’re at the airport.

And when you were saying like, is it worth it to have both if you have TSA pre-check or Global Entry, and you were saying how people say yes, it’s worth it to have both because all Clear is, is helping identify you first, right?

18:10

So that takes away TSA from having to identify that it’s you.

But when you go through Clear, you get it to jump to the front of the normal TSA line or the TSA pre-check line if you have TSA pre-check, and then you get to bypass that and then go through security as normal.

18:28

So Clear in itself doesn’t give you anything extra security, but it can help you bypass the lines to be a little bit faster because you’re already pre ID Ed.

Exactly the other cool thing, just like with TSA Pre, you can add family members onto your account.

So say you’re married or you have adult siblings, you can add them on for $99.00 so they get a discounted rate.

18:50

If you have any family members under the age of 18, they can be added on for free.

Love to save that money.

We love a good deal around here.

The other thing about that reserve feature that I mentioned where you can kind of book your time slot in line.

You can book that for U to 10 people.

19:07

And if you’re traveling with 10 people, you already know you’re going through it.

So to make that reservation in line, especially when you’re in a time crunch, that can really save a trip.

We can prevent freak outs here with Clear.

Prevent a small freak out.

We need to get clear.

Just with Jamal, apparently.

19:24

I always.

Thought it was interesting that Clear works with some sports arenas as well and you can use your membership to some like really popular stadiums like the Capital One Arena in Washington DC, the Chase Center in San Francisco.

This is becoming a lot more popular.

19:41

So there’s 57 airports.

There’s not quite as many arenas just yet, but arena lines are just as wild as TSA lines.

And depending on the event, it could be even more wild than those.

They check your purse, they body scan you, they pull you into secondary cavity search.

19:58

Sometimes.

They really are getting intense at arenas these days.

So to have the clear that you’ve already paid for for travel and now benefiting you at a sporting event, or say you’re not a big traveler but you are a big sports fan, then this one could benefit you in other ways.

Whichever one you do get, we do recommend getting one even if you travel just a couple times a year.

20:19

Probably the worst part about traveling is traversing through the airport and then of course sitting on a small airplane, all of that.

But if you can make your trip just a little more pleasant of an experience for that airport part of things, it’s going to make your trip that much better.

I wholeheartedly agree.

20:35

One way or the other, pick up one of these.

And hope this was helpful, Squatties, thanks so much for tuning in to just.

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And have fun traveling this weekend