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Global Entry (ID Card) Travel Question

dogdoctor

General question for those that travel with Global Entry, do you ever travel with your Global Entry ID cards? My whole family has Global Entry, and I recognize that Global Entry is already tied to the passports (so the cards are effectively unnecessary), but I feel the card would add one level of extra ID for our minor children that have no other forms of ID outside of the passports. Wise to bring them? Risky to bring them? Not even worth it? Just curious what others have done or do with their cards. Thanks in advance.

Comments

MikeHenderson

I've never taken my Global Entry card. But I believe it satisfies the need for a Real-ID for boarding aircraft in the US (if you don't have a Real-ID driver's license).

Side note, the last few times I came back to the US, the Global Entry machines did a face ID. You didn't have to put your passport into the machine.

BKMD

I've never carried it with me, BUT when I was entering New Zealand, I could have used their expedited line IF I had the card with me. This was 6-7 years ago, so maybe they have an electronic database now. I have no idea; also no idea if other countries accept it (though I've haven't experienced any).

British

We have never taken our cards with us.but I do believe you can use them as a Real ID but only at land borders, Mexico, Canada. And yes, we have had the machines with Face ID. Before that, when the machine took your photo, all it would capture was my forehead because I’m short. The agents always accepted it anyway.

DebiHoran90

I carry mine with my passport in a case together

sevenseas

There have been recent reports in various forums of people now being asked to produce their GE ID cards while queuing, where that was never an issue before, so I'd bring them (I am doing so myself). It seems to be tied to people getting in the wrong line, adding to the confusion and understaffing that is the current state of travel. GE cards are a nice form of ID for minors, as are passport cards (not valid for entry by air, but still useful).

OurTravels34

I have never brought mine along either on any trips and we’ve had Global Entry since it’s inception. I just renewed the cards online. The next day ij received an e-mail that the renewals were approved. That was fast service. I thought I would be waiting months to get the renewal approved.

Ken from Vegas

We carry ours. It is a good backup ID if you should need to replace your passport for some reason. Also, if you cross the border from Canada by land or ferry you can use the card.

Smiling Sam

I sometimes carry my Global Entry card on domestic flights, only because it is easier to get out of my wallet than my drivers license.

Also, just in case, for whatever reason airlines mess up and don't give me TSA Precheck. That's happen a time or two for both myself and my wife.

I bring it with me on international flights, just in case, but haven't had a need for it to date. The passport is the goto for international travel.

BKMD

Also, just in case, for whatever reason airlines mess up and don't give me TSA Precheck.

I've had that happen a couple of times. The TSA agents said unless it's on the boarding pass, it doesn't matter that you have GE or Precheck. They won't accept it.

Smiling Sam

The TSA agents said unless it's on the boarding pass, it doesn't matter that you have GE or Precheck. They won't accept it.

I agree, but you can get it corrected at the airline counter. After what you described happened to me once and I had to go back to the airline counter to get it fixed (fortunately this was at the Tucson airport, where you can do this in 5 or 10 minutes).

Now if I print the boarding passes myself, I always check and see that it says TSA Pre. If it doesn't then I see if I can correct it myself, and reprint. If not, then I show the global entry card and get the airline agent to correct it at the airport before going to the TSA checkpoint.

OurTravels34

I also take a picture of my Global Entry card , Passport, drivers license, Medicare Card, car insurance etc etc etc and put those items in another part of my cell phone and password protected.

kfnknfzk

We started carrying ours when we took our first international flight during COVID-19. Nowadays you just never know what you might be asked for. We keep passports, Global Entry cards and CDC cards all in one place. Your passport suffices as a Real ID by the way. Great question, dogdoctor.

AlanS

Smiling Sam
12:00PM

The TSA agents said unless it's on the boarding pass, it doesn't matter that you have GE or Precheck. They won't accept it.

I agree, but you can get it corrected at the airline counter. After what you described happened to me once and I had to go back to the airline counter to get it fixed (fortunately this was at the Tucson airport, where you can do this in 5 or 10 minutes).

Now if I print the boarding passes myself, I always check and see that it says TSA Pre. If it doesn't then I see if I can correct it myself, and reprint. If not, then I show the global entry card and get the airline agent to correct it at the airport before going to the TSA checkpoint.

We were told the same thing about Pre-Check. If it is not on the boarding pass, you don't get it- having and showing the card does not help. We were also told by a Delta desk agent that even though the agent prints it locally, the Pre-Check cert part of the process is handled by TSA (via some means- data link?)- somehow TSA is in the ticketing/boarding pass generation process, and TSA can randomly not include it even if you qualify. I'm not sure if I believe the entire story, but who knows. We had one set of boarding passes w/o Pre-check but when the agent printed a new set for our delayed flight, Pre-Check was displayed.

We have only taken our GE cards once, just this year, but not sure why we decided to do so. More and more locations, foreign and domestic are using facial recognition. Most recently when we passed through Charles De Gaulle on the way to Athens, and possibly when we arrived in Amman, Jordan- we don't remember if we were scanned, but remember the agent in the next queue was having trouble with a passenger's eyes and had to run the check several times?

The photo is part of the biometric information stored on the chip in your (biometric) passport.

Terrye

I used to never take my global entry card , but I read an article on the Points guy about people going through GE in OHare earlier this year and they were required by two Homeland security guards. to show their cards before they were allowed to use the machines. So now I carry mine along with my passport and cdc card.

AlanS

Terrye,

Thanks. That is good enough reason for me to carry it from here on out.

MCD

When I was on the Hawaii tour last August, Tauck purchased all of the inter-island flights. I noticed that my boarding pass did not have my TSA Pre-check on it, and I showed my global entry card to one of the TSA agents, but she wouldn't accept it, and I had to wait in a long line. That happened to several others, too. Of course, we all got on the same flight, so I would have been waiting in line or waiting in a seat after security. First world problem!

Terrye

I looked up the Points Guy article it was May8, 2022. I need to correct the airport it was at Washington Dulles coming in from London Heathrow..

BKMD

Related to MCD's post and the Hawaii trip, prior to the trip, I set up an account with Hawaiian Air, including my GE/TSAPC number,. I didn't care about the FF miles, as I don't expect to be back there any time soon, but with the hope that the Tauck-booked intra-island flights would get linked to my account and I'd get Precheck on my boarding passes. It worked! I was the only one in the group with Precheck that didn't have to go back to the ticket agent to present the number and have the boarding pass reissued.

On that note, it was surprising how many on the tour didn't have precheck. Then I realized many weren't seasoned/frequent travelers like those on most of the other tours I've done (mostly exotics) or the frequent posters on this forum.

JohnS

These cards are the size of a credit card. We carry these any time we carry our passports.

sudhamali

Always carry them along with passport.Never had to take them out for any reason.Face ID At GE in airports is a great time saver.

Choc

We always carry our card. We were asked to show them once because people were trying to cut the line and use pre tsa lines when they weren’t qualified. It was busy. We also use them when coming back on a cruise. Many times the staff in the cruise terminals won’t let u in the global entry line without showing the card.

British

We also had the problem of pre check not showing, that was on my boarding pass, not my husband’s so he went through, they wouldn’t let me through, we had never noticed the error. I did not understand what the agent wanted me to do and did not believe I had Global entry. She told me I had to go back to the check in desk, I did not want to, it was crazy down there and security was really quiet in all lines. She thought I was trying to refuse, I was trying to explain I would go through regular security instead,she was rude and frightening me. I just went through regular security straight away and learned a lesson to check my pass in future.
Thanks to everyone for all this advice .

OurTravels34

I’ve learned to always log into the airline before a flight takes off. I check and double check all the personal information. I have been surprised what is not there which can make the difference between a boarding pass having TSA pre-check printed on it. You can always insert any pertinent information is that missing such as a global entry number, special dietary requests, the correct e-mail and correct cell phone number to receive texts messages about a flight. The list goes on. When I hang r checked, problems occurred.

Sealord

I have also gotten boarding passes with no pre-check on them. I went through regular security, then had the AA Admirals Club agent fix it. It only took a minute. She said someone had entered my number three times and that is why it was not working. We carry them because it is a “real” ID, as our California driver’s licenses are not … you can pay extra and jump through hoops to get a California Real ID driver’s license, but I see no need to do that. We have passports and military ID’s which are both real ID’s.

British

You mean you have to pay to get real iD in California? We don’t in PA

wanderingstar

I alway carry mine with my passport and the number is shown under My Profile for Delta. It also serves as a visual reminder to double check the boarding pass before proceeding to the correct line.

Sealord

Yes British … in California you must pay extra for a real id driver’s license. It is more complicated than getting a Global Entry card. The wave of the future?

Smiling Sam

In Arizona we paid a little extra for the real id driver's license, but it was no where near as complicated as for a Global Entry card. We don't have waves in Arizona.

Claudia Sails

I thought getting my Global Entry card - even the first one which required an interview - was way easier than renewing my drivers license even though I opted not to get the Real ID version. Thought I had brought all required documents including my passport, military ID, utility bill, etc. Barely got it done in one visit and only after my husband went out to the card and rummaged around for one more piece of paper. I didn't see any need for the Real ID with a military retiree card and passport. Never use my drivers license to board a flight anyway.

Smiling Sam

Real ID drivers license took about one hour. I brought the required documentation, filled out the form, waited my turn and I was done.

For Global ID, I'm talking the first time for both of these documents, I had to fill out a form, request an interview time slot, drive to Phoenix (at the time there were no locations in Tucson) for the interview, wait for approval, wait for the card to show up. I believe this process took about a month.