Posted on 05/28/2016 10:54:58 AM PDT by Allen In Texas Hill Country
Just for the heck of it, yesterday, I applied for GOES. Supposedly can circumvent the long TSA lines at airports. Although I have also heard that the GOES lines are not so fast these days too.
Got to travel thru Chicago in a couple of months and the horror stories were non-stop. Although recently they seemed to have gotten a bit better.
Kinda did it out of curiosity too but wasn't too happy with having to put so much personal info out there.
How many chips do they insert?
“Got to travel thru Chicago in a couple of months and the horror stories were non-stop”
My mother and sister hired a limo to drive them from Tampa to Tallahassee and back. A uniformed driver picked them up, loaded their luggage and they rode the five your trip in the back of a Lincoln Continental. It cost less than the air fare; $400 for round trip. You might investigate Uber too.
It’s worth it. I’ve saved a lot of time at the airport.
They took retinal scans and fingerprints when I applied back in 2012.
It's not the number of chips, it's where they insert them!
If the weather’s fair, go by air but next time drive yourself. See America first. See the USA in your Chevrolet. TSA = Thousands Standing Around
This is Global Entry. Definitely worth it for international travel, as you bypass immigration with a simple kiosk. Side benefit is TSA Pre-Check on all domestic flights. $100 for 5 years.
If you have the time and it fits into your travel plans, try going by Amtrak and getting a sleeper. My son and I took an Amtrak vacation this spring, which was truly a novel experience. In the station, there is a lounge for sleeping car and first class passengers where they offer free refreshments while you wait to board the train. On the train, there is a dining car where they cook the food, and the menu is decent. For breakfast, we had the thickest, fluffiest pancakes I have ever seen. You get to watch the scenery and never have to worry about stopping for gas. The train is a bit bumpier than airplanes, but you get used to it.
If it’s a Chevrolet, you won’t see the USA. Just the inside of a service department waiting room as you wait for the broken POS to be fixed for the nth time on your journey. :P Low quality UAW garbage at best.
How long does the clearance process take? I gave myself 2 months. Hope to get done by then.
I considered driving but 2 days in my Kia Soul is a bit too long. Last fall I had to drive to Dallas and Fort Worth area on several occasion. As much as I am happy with the Kia, long hauls are not its forte. The seats become uncomfortable after a few hours.
Or you can try this:
Best seat cushions for truck drivers (I assume they work for car drivers sa well)
Yes, it was easy to enroll, but it is only good for international travel, not national flights.
GOES is for international travel to bypass the long lines at Customs. That’s a good thing, but for national travel the trusted traveller # gets you TSA pre-check which, in my three years experience with it, has been worth every penny. Mere minutes in line and that’s been my experience in Orlando, L.A., D.C., Atlanta airports.
That being said, you are then in a national database. Although, just about any other type of government interaction puts you in a database somewhere.
Thats what I’m getting it for, local/national travel, not international. Do you remember how long the clearance process was?
Amtrak is nice, expensive and does not serve most of ‘Flyover Country’.
If Amtrak covered the same passenger routes we had in the 1960’s, it would be a great deal. However, it is nowhere close.
Also, locked, empty stations where the train stops at 2am are not conducive to enticing riders.
“they” have already got your personal info; you’re just confirming it :) as you will soon find out if you ever try to qualify with Western Union to send money and forget your address from 30 years ago by one digit and get bounced.
in addition to Global Pass (and the reciprocal domestic pre-check by some airlines) there’s always the private route:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/21/the-uber-for-private-jets-has-landed.html
Was not long...two months or less. And that was when it was fairly new. I think it’s faster now.
It took about 3-4 weeks. I was born in the US, and had a valid passport at the time, so I was told that processing would be quicker.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.