Oftentimes anymore it's a function of the airport. On our return flight from Las Vegas a few weeks ago the TSA precheck lines were (of which they only had two active) longer than the regular lines (of which they had about 15 active).
Of course, you aren't forced to go through the TSA PreCheck line. You could jump over to the regular lines if they are shorter. The idea of TSA PreCheck was that it would be faster.
I have a Nexus card which expires next year. Previously when my card was due to expire, I filled out the form and to my surprise was approved pending an interview. At that time once the application was submitted, I could not change to just Global Entry. (I do not live anywhere close to where I could have gone for an interview--i.e. a Canadian airport or a border city. Moreover the border was closed because of Covid.). After some time they finally approved my application without an interview. My Nexus card was again now due to expire. I didn't want to risk being stuck having an interview again, so to be safe I applied for just Global Entry this past Friday afternoon. Monday morning (today) I logged into the site and found out that my application was approved.
FYI-- When filling out the form, I first responded "Yes" when asked if I have a Known Traveler Number. I used the number on the Nexus card and got an error message. Apparently that number is not the Known Traveler Number. When I changed my response to "No" the error message went away and I was able to continue the application.
The first time I applied for Global Entry (20 years ago), I scheduled the interview during a layover, returning from Europe. Fortunately, the flight wasn't delayed.
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Of course, you aren't forced to go through the TSA PreCheck line. You could jump over to the regular lines if they are shorter. The idea of TSA PreCheck was that it would be faster.
I have a Nexus card which expires next year. Previously when my card was due to expire, I filled out the form and to my surprise was approved pending an interview. At that time once the application was submitted, I could not change to just Global Entry. (I do not live anywhere close to where I could have gone for an interview--i.e. a Canadian airport or a border city. Moreover the border was closed because of Covid.). After some time they finally approved my application without an interview. My Nexus card was again now due to expire. I didn't want to risk being stuck having an interview again, so to be safe I applied for just Global Entry this past Friday afternoon. Monday morning (today) I logged into the site and found out that my application was approved.
FYI-- When filling out the form, I first responded "Yes" when asked if I have a Known Traveler Number. I used the number on the Nexus card and got an error message. Apparently that number is not the Known Traveler Number. When I changed my response to "No" the error message went away and I was able to continue the application.
The first time I applied for Global Entry (20 years ago), I scheduled the interview during a layover, returning from Europe. Fortunately, the flight wasn't delayed.