Is TSA Pre✓® for Domestic and Global Entry only for International Returns?

Last year we applied for Global Entry online, did face-to-face interview, was given a ‘Known Traveler Number’ and received our cards within two weeks. The whole process took several months. Our priority was to use it on a return from a Middle East trip with a tight layover in Philadelphia.

Re-entering the US one simply heads for immigration and the Global Entry kiosk which usually has a shorter line. Insert your passport into the slot, apply fingertips to the scanner, smile and answer the customs declaration questions on the screen. Take the transaction receipt, gather your bags and head for the Global Entry baggage line where another agent will collect the printout.

This year I pondered if a TSA card could expedite domestic check-in lines or would the Global Entry one be acceptable. I reviewed the cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs website.

How It Works

Global entry members are eligible to participate in U.S. citizens and U.S. lawful permanent residents enrolled in NEXUS or SENTRI are also eligible to participate in, as well as Canadian citizens who are members of NEXUS.

If you are a Global Entry member or eligible NEXUS or SENTRI member, enter your membership number (PASS ID) in the “Known Traveler Number” field when booking reservations, or enter it into your frequent flyer profile with the airline. The membership number enables Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Secure Flight System to verify that you are a legitimate CBP Trusted Traveler and eligible to participate in.

Where You Can Find Your Membership Number

You can find your Trusted Traveler member number by logging into your Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) account. Your membership number is listed toward the bottom of the page. Your membership number is also located on the back of your Trusted Traveler card in the upper-left corner.

What is TSA Pre✓®?

The program expedites traveler screening through TSA security checkpoints. For a complete list of participating airports in or for more information, visit www.tsa.gov or call the TSA Contact Center at 1-866-289-9673.

Our credit card(s) covered the Global Entry $100 per person fee OR the TSA $85 per person fee. Be sure to check with your card company for a rebate or waiver offer.

My Global Entry card expires in 4 years, and hubby’s has 5 year expiration. The same face-to-face interview day, my guess is he just had a birthday prior to our applications.  

One last point, after we received our ‘Known Traveler Number’ or ‘Trusted Traveler’ I went into each airline frequent flier program and updated our profiles.

Using frequent flier miles for a domestic airline reservation, and the reason for this post, I had to re-enter the Known Traveler Numbers again!  

Quiet Hidden Rooms tucked away in 500 Major Airports - Priority Club is Celebrating 25 Years of Airport Luxury

To my knowledge this is the largest independent airport lounge membership in more than 130 countries, allowing access regardless of the airline or class of ticket.

Prior to our departure we use their mobile app to check out directions to the airside locations. Many cities have multiple options giving Priority Club over 1000 sites.

In April, Gatwick had five choices, three in the North Terminal and two in the South Terminal. We chose Pier 1 (upper level) between Dixons and JD Sports to reach the 'No1 Lounge' entrance.

The snazzy coffee bar was self-service, nearby a buffet of fresh fruit and pastries. Special order breakfast menu was available. We chatted with several stylish travelers happy to share past experiences and future plans.

The second south terminal listing was Grain Store Cafe & Bar, the first offshoot of Bruno Loubet's award-winning London restaurant, located opposite the lift. Cardholders and guests receive a £15 discount off the final bill per person per visit valid on any type of meal and/or drinks upon presentation of a valid card. All Priority Club locations we have visited, this was a first discount/charge.

In recognition of 25 great years, Priority Pass is offering up to 25% off membership for airport lounge access. Choose from three plans to access quiet, comfortable spaces with complimentary refreshments, free internet, fax and Wi-Fi, newspapers and magazines, with conference facilities, wait service and showers available in selected lounges.

Earlier this week PP was offering the below discounts...

STANDARD Annual Membership price is US$99 plus a Member visit fee US$27 Guest visit fee US$27

STANDARD PLUS 10 lounge visits runs US$249

PRESTIGE Unlimited lounge visits price is US$359

If you wish to escape for the crowds, enjoy a preflight bite and relax while glancing at the airline departure board, take a look at the PriorityPass.com. The online video may answer more questions. The ‘Find A Lounge’ for international and domestic locations have some fun corky comments.

In JFK, the Wingtips location was listed. A note on a limit of six guests per Cardholder - Children under 3 years are admitted free - Dress code applicable (shoes and shirts required for entry - no baseball caps allowed). Safe Travels!

The Cruise Excursions are sold out, now what?

A friend was happy with her last-minute cruise purchase as we were with our transatlantic in April. Until it was time to sign up for excursions.

Our one day stop in Bermuda, and a primary reason for this itinerary over other cruise line routes was sold out. We asked to be waitlisted; her cruise line did not offer this option.

We chatted about her scheduled stops and I was able to help with half of them as we had traveled in the British Isles several times. The other stops were secondhand comments from past passenger discussions.

I suggested WhatsInPort.com, offers information on 1200 ports of call organized by country and then city. Click on the city and the topics cover transportation options, currency, sightseeing, printable maps, festivals, events, climate, and shopping. Click on Cruise Ship to see where your favorite is cruising right now. The Interactive World Cruise Map along with Hints and Tips are worth a visit.

Another favorite is CruiseCritic.com with their registered Message Board Forums, Reviews, Weekly Contest, Roll Calls, Special Interest Categories, Ports of Call, and Newsletters.

In the past we used these two primarily for transportation options as we like to arrive a early for international departures.

I think I’ll look up the port cities in our upcoming Canadian road trip for any additional tidbits I missed.

Organizing the Next Trip

We admire millennials proceeding to the departure gate, the airline staff scans the hand held device and they slip it back into a pocket or purse. The rest of us offer up paper copies of boarding passes.

Several weeks before our next trip, I review all information. Any recent updates from the airlines, confirm times/dates on museums, area festivals, shows and on our upcoming Canadian trip print a tide chart for the Bay of Fundy.

I have a calendar with one inch squares and make a copy for the weeks we will be traveling. Each date notes the airline, hotel and tentative plans. Behind this page in the file are sheets with flights, seat assignments, auto rental details and price, hotel addresses with confirmations, and ferry tickets.  

On the bottom right corner I pencil in a brief description (hotel 6/16) and arrange by chronological date. I can easily pull as needed and file to the back as used. Sprinkled in (with the proper dates) will be my printed AAA Drive Trips by area and travel magazine articles referencing our various destinations.  

When cruising, I use the same calendar method noting the port city and scheduled hours, excursions etc. On sea days we list special events, lectures, classes, movie times and dining reservations.

It's an easy glance at the day ahead and reminders of what to be prepared for on the next one. 

On road trips, we bring downloaded (library) audio books on a separate USB drive to help pass the time. To save funds we bring our GPS instead of depending on cell service. 

My favorite car charger offers multiple plugs for an IPhone, key pad for a tablet and IPOD. The last trip I forgot our USB wall adapter, glad we had the car charger as a back-up!  

Overlooked Offer

Delighted to find an American Express offer for a Hilton Honors credit card with 80K points, respectable bonuses on the basic purchases and no annual fee, I applied and my card was on the way. 

The next morning I was checking my point balance. On the Hilton website was an American Express offer the Hilton Honors Surpass Card available with 100K points, twice the bonus points on restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations. Included was a complimentary Priority Pass membership, with a $27 per person per visit fee, an annual anniversary weekend night for free with $75 fee.

I promptly phoned American Express. I inquired if they would ‘Honor’ the same program as I had been approved for yesterday?

I promptly phoned American Express. I inquired if they would ‘Honor’ the same program as I had been approved for yesterday?

No. The supervisor explained if I was sent an AmEx solicitation he could match it, but because I applied on my own, there was nothing he could do.

He offered to refer my complaint (and disappointment) to their marketing people. His last comment was they would probably not be able to help me either.

Five days later I am happy to report good news from an American Express email. I was approved. Now I’m pondering since I haven’t heard from marketing, they probably issued a second card! 

Airline Miles vs Hotel Points

Last night I found a great price on a 15 day transatlantic cruise for later this year. Looking at the one way air fares a whopping $1295 per person, twice the price of the cruise.

I clicked on miles; the same flight was 30K per person, a value of $.04 per mile. Our only additional expense was $17 pp for taxes and fees. Using our Delta Airline’s credit card the first checked bag is free.

In the past I’ve seen Delta’s roundtrip fares were close the one way price and the same with using miles. Many credit card companies calculate by percentage, redeem 25K in points for a $250.00 airline credit. In this example it would take 120K+ points for the same 30K miles Delta flight.  

In a recent conversation with a fellow traveler, we discussed the use of hotel points verses airline miles. She preferred to gather hotel points and shop for cheat airfares. I shared our recent good luck at the Crown Plaza in Kensington London for a free anniversary night plus points and $110 USD was our price for two nights in a two-story suite.

I hope she will look into an airline credit card’s sign-up bonus with minimum purchase requirements. Companion certificates are another option on anniversary renewals for certain levels. Again, as long as one pays off those credit card balances every month, they are a great deal.

You may start checking prices and miles 330 days prior to departure. We have found great deals six months beforehand when excess seats available. Of course a little luck with supply and demand doesn’t hurt any time of year you choose to travel.

Another note… years ago I noticed once I returned to a site the fares were always higher. This wasn’t my imagination and confirmed by major travel magazine. Now I use C-cleaner after an inquiry to remove cookies from the search engine.  

Prioritize your needs, work on those accruals and enjoy redeeming them for safe travels!

Intl Text Charges on Free Wi-Fi

We have avoided the high price programs of slow cruise ship’s internet service for years. Instead it’s an adventure to seek out other Wi-Fi options in a café or port shops once on land.

I chose not to delete nor respond to the Verizon text(s) that kept appearing as we used a restaurant’s Wi-Fi service, free with the purchase of food, in the colorful port city of Cobh, Ireland.

Several weeks later our monthly bill was higher than usual and I scrutinized it carefully. Under ‘sent’ texts was a US area code 513. It appeared Verizon was billing me to receive their messages and auto-replies since I did not respond.

I chose to ‘chat’ with a rep and was told Verizon reads your device as long distance because no international feature was active.

Correct, I never agreed to a plan. The rep said, “When you travel international and there is no international services on the device and messages are not sent through iMessage it would attract a charge.”

He removed the expense and gave us an additional $12 for my trouble. I was surprised to find out while using a private Wi-Fi service; I am not protected from my carrier’s text charges.

One last note… in south Florida we found if one sees land while cruising out to sea expect to pay big bucks on that cell call. I don’t know how it works, but that tower in view is most likely not part of your program. 

Using Hotel Points

Fellow travelers have shared their many friends and family perks from the national chains. Years ago I started to accumulate hotel points, using an anniversary night or combinations of points with dollars can go a long way.

My favorite hotel credit card is IHG through Chase because the $49 annual fee does not have category restrictions. The one free anniversary night each year may be used in any of their worldwide locations, Intercontinental, Crown Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Express and others.

IHG offers their customers creative accelerated point programs with stays and using the Chase card for double points on 'everyday purchases' like groceries, gasoline and restaurants. Hotels offer tier pricing (most of the time) or a free night for 15K+ points depending on the locations and time of year.

Customer Preferences List exceeds those of the others with the exception of Marriott inquiring as to ones pillow preference. IHG's website is easy to search and as with most membership check-ins there is free Wi-Fi and bottled water or bonus points.

Two weeks ago we used an anniversary night at the Crown Plaza, Kensington in London and then paid $110 USD with 40K points for the second night, booking a basic hotel room.

After making to two separate reservations on line, I emailed Crown Plaza asking if we could remain in the same hotel room for both nights. A prompt reply with a person's name said they made a note of it.

Standing in line to check-in we overheard the receptionist quote the nightly rate of 399 BPS, over $550 USD. The pleasant surprise, as IHG members we were upgraded to a two-story suite with a posted price of 499 BPS.

Accessible by elevator on both floors, the lower level had a sofa, desk, table to seat four, TV, stocked mini-bar fridge (additional fees applied) and a stairway up to the second floor to the sleeping quarters complete with coffee/tea set ups, biscuits (cookies), a safe, USB outlet, multiple 110V and 220V plugs. The pleasant staff and an excellent location near the Glouster Road Tube stop would be our first choice again on a return trip to London.

This past weekend we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Hixon, TN outside of Chattanooga using points for another reward night. The new ‘Formula Blue’ concept has a bright lobby and updated breakfast area. Across from check-in is a computer/business center and on the lower level a fitness room and square pool with round hot tub.   

The contemporary hotel room design was fresh, including the basics, min-fridge, Keurig coffee/tea station, microwave, USB and multiple power outlets. Another wonderful staff made this a nice experience, especially when one is reminded to pick warm cookies in route to your room.