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Known traveler number: What it is, what it does and why you should have one

BJRSanDiego

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2012
Messages
3,439
Reaction score
1,913
Points
398
Location
San Diego
Resorts Owned
Sands of Kahana, Desert Springs I, DSV2, Shadow Ridge Enclaves Dlx
We decided to try the free 30-day trial of CLEAR when traveling to Hawaii last August. What a fiasco! When you first sign up they need to capture your biometrics. It's supposed to be self serve, but they couldn't get the machines to work. They kept getting errors trying to read our fingerprints and scan our eyes. After multiple attempts on several machines, they barely were able to capture everything they needed. It added a 30 minute delay. When they were finally done, they were able to take us to the front of the TSA line. We canceled our membership as soon as we got back home. The concept is good if they could only get reliable equipment.
Hi Art, at the end of August, my wife and I applied for TSA pre-clear. She got her clearance in 1 day. Me? about 75 days. So, she was precleared for our Sept. trip to Kauai and Maui and I was not. Kind of strange for my delay considering I had a clearance while working at the same company that we both worked at. Plus clearance at another co. subsequently. I wonder if the delay in processing my application was because my file was bigger than my wife's (given my previous gov't clearances).
 

artringwald

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
4,737
Reaction score
3,679
Points
448
Location
Oakdale, MN
Resorts Owned
DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
Hi Art, at the end of August, my wife and I applied for TSA pre-clear. She got her clearance in 1 day. Me? about 75 days. So, she was precleared for our Sept. trip to Kauai and Maui and I was not. Kind of strange for my delay considering I had a clearance while working at the same company that we both worked at. Plus clearance at another co. subsequently. I wonder if the delay in processing my application was because my file was bigger than my wife's (given my previous gov't clearances).
I was talking about the CLEAR expedited security app which costs $100/year and is available at a limited number of airports and venues.


It's not available at the San Diego airport, or any of the Hawaiian airports. Both of us had already received Global Entry, so it was just a matter of getting our biometrics (fingerprint, face, and iris scan) into their database. Once it's in the database, they can use any one of those to make a positive ID that you're really who you say you are, and they'll escort you to the front of the line, like they would if you were in a wheel chair.
 

PcflEZFlng

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2018
Messages
1,052
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Points
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Location
CA
At the end of an international trip in 2017, I resolved to get GE after seeing many of my travel companions with GE sail through US Customs, while I stood in a long line, got randomly selected for interview, stood in another long line, and then got grilled by an agent with a hundred questions. I must have been at his kiosk for twenty minutes. I arrived at the gate area for our connecting flight more than an hour after my companions did.

Got my chance to apply in 2019. After completing the information online, I booked my appointment four months out (earliest I could get in Southern California). The interview, in November 2019, was notable for two things: 1) the haughtiness of the agent, similar to the Customs agent I encountered two years earlier (I won't go into detail, but what's WITH these people?) and 2) the unusual location, quite literally ON the Mexican border, at the entrance to the pedestrian bridge going across. The back wall of the building is actually part of the border wall.
 
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KimmieM

newbie
Joined
Sep 25, 2021
Messages
121
Reaction score
63
Points
28
We decided to try the free 30-day trial of CLEAR when traveling to Hawaii last August. What a fiasco! When you first sign up they need to capture your biometrics. It's supposed to be self serve, but they couldn't get the machines to work. They kept getting errors trying to read our fingerprints and scan our eyes. After multiple attempts on several machines, they barely were able to capture everything they needed. It added a 30 minute delay. When they were finally done, they were able to take us to the front of the TSA line. We canceled our membership as soon as we got back home. The concept is good if they could only get reliable equipment.
We decided to try the free 30-day trial of CLEAR when traveling to Hawaii last August. What a fiasco! When you first sign up they need to capture your biometrics. It's supposed to be self serve, but they couldn't get the machines to work. They kept getting errors trying to read our fingerprints and scan our eyes. After multiple attempts on several machines, they barely were able to capture everything they needed. It added a 30 minute delay. When they were finally done, they were able to take us to the front of the TSA line. We canceled our membership as soon as we got back home. The concept is good if they could only get reliable equipment.
TSA precheck is quick and easy to apply for. Most credit card companies will reimburse you for the cost. It's a breeze checking in for a flight with TSA precheck.
 

Jan M.

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
4,486
Reaction score
5,844
Points
548
Location
Tamarac, FL
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Presidential Reserve at Panama City Beach
Club Wyndham Access
Grandview Las Vegas and Discovery Beach Resort - Both in RCI Points
Woodstone and Summit at Massanutten - Both in RCI weeks used as Wyndham PICs
Our TSA Pre-Checks came up for renewal earlier year. Renewing them was a no brainer. We're spoiled.

I've been flying 3-4 times a year with our granddaughters, ages 10 and 5, since they were about 18 months old. The girls get included in my pre-check when they fly with me. I didn't have it the first year or so with the older granddaughter. Having it makes flying with kids so, so much easier.

On the few occasions the girls have flown with their parents when they go through security the girls let them know that's not how we do it with Grandma.
 

dori47

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2009
Messages
92
Reaction score
24
Points
368
Location
Vancouver Island
Resorts Owned
Maui Beach Vacation Club
WorldMark
We are Canadian. We have Nexus cards. They sped up our last two travel times, but if you aren't crossing where they have a Nexus lane, it doesn't make a difference. We were thankful about them last time.
 
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