Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI

raysalmon said:
With NEXUS you get the FULL GE program (there aren't different levels, you either have it or you don't) and you get TSA pre-check...all for half the price of GE by itself. Doesn't make sense, but that's the feds for ya.

So yes, if you have NEXUS and you decide to take a vacation to Europe, you can use your GE benefits on the way back into the US from Paris, London, Frankfurt, etc.
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Perfect, thank you so much for that :-)
 
Xcaliber said:
Thanks for all the advice, ya'll. I'll definitely be getting GE, but I'm still on the fence about whether to go get NEXUS. I fly for a regional and we go to Canada all the time, so I think it'd be worth it to take a mini-vacation to Vancouver or Niagara. The only thing I can't get a definitive answer on is if one goes the NEXUS route, does that sign you up for the full GE program, or does it only allow you get utilize the GE kiosks when entering the US from Canada?
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Nexus gets you GE. It doesn't matter where you are coming from. You can use the GE kiosks at any airport coming from any country.
 
ahw01 said:
Will be interesting to see what happens when I do the train trip to Seattle from Vancouver Pacific Central.
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No GE in Vancouver's VIA station. You'll have to fill out a normal card like everyone else going to Seattle on the Amtrak Cascades.
 
Just went through GE at YYZ yesterday. An incredibly frustrating experience given their lack of information and GE there does not work like it does anywhere else. You still need to wait in line, talk to a CBP person, and recheck bags. While I never carry my GE card that I have, YYZ requires it for the "shorter" security line after you have cleared customs. It does not work with the typical scanned passport/kiosk that it seems the rest of the world (and Montreal) uses. The long line and process certainly has me rethinking using YYZ again if I can use Montreal instead.

My credit card and FF program both offered to pay for GE. My girlfriend and I both went for our interviews and it took at most 2 minutes. She had her student pilot certificate for some reason and hers took slightly longer as the CBP individual was curious about it. I had my known traveler number by the time I hit the parking lot at IAD. Including wait, process took 30min at most (and I arrived 15min early). Besides the Canadian issue which for me rarely is a problem as I do very little work there, I would say its worth it. Now if only you could get precheck while flying on non-us airlines...
 
Runincolorado said:
Just went through GE at YYZ yesterday. An incredibly frustrating experience given their lack of information and GE there does not work like it does anywhere else. You still need to wait in line, talk to a CBP person, and recheck bags. While I never carry my GE card that I have, YYZ requires it for the "shorter" security line after you have cleared customs. It does not work with the typical scanned passport/kiosk that it seems the rest of the world (and Montreal) uses. The long line and process certainly has me rethinking using YYZ again if I can use Montreal instead.

My credit card and FF program both offered to pay for GE. My girlfriend and I both went for our interviews and it took at most 2 minutes. She had her student pilot certificate for some reason and hers took slightly longer as the CBP individual was curious about it. I had my known traveler number by the time I hit the parking lot at IAD. Including wait, process took 30min at most (and I arrived 15min early). Besides the Canadian issue which for me rarely is a problem as I do very little work there, I would say its worth it. Now if only you could get precheck while flying on non-us airlines...
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I haven't gone through YYZ in about a year, so it may have changed but I think the machines you went through are the original NEXUS machines, and they work differently than GE. Originally, it was faster and easier involving just the quick retina scan so you didn't need to have your passport or your card dug out of your stuff. But like all things involving security/govt they made it more complicated and time consuming requiring you to swipe your card as well (so then what the hell is the purpose of the retina scan if you still need your card...?). They have phased some out and installed some of the new passport swipe type ones, particularly for when you're leaving YYZ.

It's kind of irritating. Much like when the person taking the GE form from you asks to see your passport. Um, you really need to see it? So how exactly did I just get this slip of paper from the machine, that's right, it scanned my passport AND my fingerprints...
 
They do TSA Precheck 'waivers' now, so you don't have to take your shoes off when they close the TSAPre lane and send you through 'normal'

Make it up as you go along etc etc.
 
Runincolorado said:
Just went through GE at YYZ yesterday. An incredibly frustrating experience given their lack of information and GE there does not work like it does anywhere else. You still need to wait in line, talk to a CBP person, and recheck bags. While I never carry my GE card that I have, YYZ requires it for the "shorter" security line after you have cleared customs. It does not work with the typical scanned passport/kiosk that it seems the rest of the world (and Montreal) uses. The long line and process certainly has me rethinking using YYZ again if I can use Montreal instead.

My credit card and FF program both offered to pay for GE. My girlfriend and I both went for our interviews and it took at most 2 minutes. She had her student pilot certificate for some reason and hers took slightly longer as the CBP individual was curious about it. I had my known traveler number by the time I hit the parking lot at IAD. Including wait, process took 30min at most (and I arrived 15min early). Besides the Canadian issue which for me rarely is a problem as I do very little work there, I would say its worth it. Now if only you could get precheck while flying on non-us airlines...
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That's odd...I went through YYZ the day before you did and didn't have to talk to any CBP officer. Just handed the receipt in on the way to security. The kiosks there worked the same as they have other places. Security on the other hand was a big mess. They claimed several "protocol changes" that turned out to be just misunderstandings on the part of the involved screeners.
 
Best $100 I've spent applying for Global Entry. I fly international to the US from Japan frequently, being stationed/living out there, it does help. Managed to leave the DTW's immigration fairly quickly from NRT and only had an hour left until my next flight departed. I had enough time to grab dinner at DTW before my last flight boarded.

I did my "interview" at IAD last year....I arrived there 5 minutes before my schedule interview time and they called my name and was fingerprinted and was done. The total process took my 7 minutes. The only question the CBP officer asked me is if I was active duty military. I said Yes. The other candidates there were still doing interviews and I left and flew my airplane back home. Great program. It comes with TSA Precheck for domestic travel but I automatically qualified for TSA Precheck for being active duty military anyways.
 
xdashdriver said:
That's odd...I went through YYZ the day before you did and didn't have to talk to any CBP officer. Just handed the receipt in on the way to security. The kiosks there worked the same as they have other places. Security on the other hand was a big mess. They claimed several "protocol changes" that turned out to be just misunderstandings on the part of the involved screeners.
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Interesting. The woman managing the step 3 process insisted the GF and I see a CBP officer who stamped our print out from the GE machine. The woman who collected the print outs/forms seemed like she could care less they were stamped. It seems like there are a lot of misunderstandings up there!
 
You cannot enter Canada on GE, only on NEXUS. Not sure if you can enter Canada on NEXUS from somewhere other than US, never tried it.
 
xdashdriver said:
You cannot enter Canada on GE, only on NEXUS. Not sure if you can enter Canada on NEXUS from somewhere other than US, never tried it.
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I came in from LHR and they had NEXUS machines in the Canadian entrance hall. The woman said NEXUS would have worked to enter Canada if I was a member.

I flew AC to Europe and then on to South Africa and I liked the pod style seats in Business Class, the food was good with a good selection of wine/beer/spirits. I would easily fly them again. Not to mention it was a great deal requiring just a Dash 8 flight from BWI to YYZ.
 
Runincolorado said:
I came in from LHR and they had NEXUS machines in the Canadian entrance hall. The woman said NEXUS would have worked to enter Canada if I was a member.
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So if I applied for NEXUS, I could use it coming from NRT-YYZ and then continue my journey from YYZ-IAD? Like I said, Air Canada had some sweet deals from the United States to Japan compare to the other carriers. I understand I can use NEXUS to go to Canada from the United States. For instance, driving from Whidbey Island, Washington to Vancouver, Canada or Buffalo, NY to Toronto.

Other then that, I've only used Global Entry for a year now and I'm amazed how few travelers are enrolled in this program since the most people I have seen waiting at the GE line is 4 people behind me. $100 for 5 years. Can't beat that @Xcaliber.
 
gocaps16 said:
So if I applied for NEXUS, I could use it coming from NRT-YYZ and then continue my journey from YYZ-IAD? Like I said, Air Canada had some sweet deals from the United States to Japan compare to the other carriers.
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Are you just transiting in YYZ? My route was BWI - YYZ - LHR - JNB (same return). Landing from BWI and transiting to the AC flight to LHR, I went through the international transfers. There was an abbreviated immigration check (I think, it was over a month ago so I do not fully remember). If anything, there was no line, my bags were checked straight to JNB and I was in the AC lounge maybe 10 minutes after getting there. Coming home, I never entered Canada. I went straight the the US transfers where I used GE as described above. Despite the challenges and annoyances, had they not lost my bags it would have taken maybe 30 minutes? GE only expedited filling a customs form out (for me.). I am not part of NEXUS so I cant be of much help there.
 
Runincolorado said:
Coming home, I never entered Canada. I went straight the the US transfers where I used GE as described above.
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Bingo. Next time I will know that I can use Global Entry connecting through Toronto coming from Asia and connecting my journey to the US. I was confused at first since I thought I wouldn't be allowed to use GE connecting thru YYZ from NRT and I would be in the Non-Citizen queue for 1-2 hours. Instead, I ended up spending few hundred $$ more on DL and went through immigrations in the United States. Thanks.
 
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