TSA Pre-Check taking FOREVER....

[h&D3]

DH, DD and I went on 2/10 to get our KTN. DD and I got our # in just a few days but my DH is STILL waiting on his #. I know they mentioned that it could take up to 60 days, and they did mention a higher-than-normal turn time. (I'm sure spring break didn't help the matter)

He doesn't have any sort of "history"... no criminal record - heck, he's never even had a speeding ticket.

60 days will be 4/10, and I'm going to call on 4/10 to double-check the status or see if they can give me any kind of update or what we need to do at this point. I think I'll go bonkers if they tell me "just wait".

Did anyone wait the 60 days and STILL not get their KTN? How long did it take before you finally DID get it? I've read horror stories on the net that people applied 11 months ago and STILL don't have it.... I thought that was far fetched before we applied, but now I'm starting to wonder.

We don't leave until this summer, so we have some time... I just hope he gets it sooner rather than later.

Has anyone else run into this?

 

[EACarlson]

My KTN for Precheck came pretty quickly, but my Conditional Approval for Global Entry took over a year. If you call they won't be able to tell you anything. You have to wait and be patient.

 

[Robber Baron]

My wife's was approved in a couple days.

Mine took a few weeks.

I was born in Germany while my dad was stationed there in the Air Force.

Something like this always takes a while for me.

 

[WynterL]

The process was also quite quick for my family and I. In my state, we had to complete the process at a Staples location that was approximately 30 minutes from home.

 

[tony67]

Yeah they are swamped as I understand it.

Even Global Entry renewals can take a very long time - and getting an appointment can take even longer if they only conditionally approve the renewal.

I had a conditional renewal approval for about 3 months and could not find an appointment.
Then all of a sudden out of no where they approved it.
No idea why but was happy they did.

TSE Pre Check has become too popular and unfortunately sometimes the line is longer, but its worth it since you don't have to jump through as many hoops.

If your primary Airport uses Clear that is well worth looking into - some credit cards even give it for free - that gets you to the front of the pre check line and it is ridiculously quick - unfortunately I have very few options to actually use it other than Orlando

 

[EACarlson]

If your primary Airport uses Clear that is well worth looking into - some credit cards even give it for free - that gets you to the front of the pre check line and it is ridiculously quick - unfortunately I have very few options to actually use it other than Orlando

CLEAR is not worth paying anything for. If you get it for free it can be worthwhile on occasion. I had it for 6 months starting in April of last year and going through October. I used it in 8 different airports and it saved me a grand total of 5 minutes, all of which was my last use at MCO in October. At DCA, ORD, MCI and ATL it either cost me time or would have cost me time if I had used it. BNA, MKE and MSP it made no difference at all.
Where it puts you in the precheck line is dependent on the airport. At many of the airports it's now a completely separate security station.

 

[FreeTime]

I agree that Clear is not worth the money so I let mine lapse. I had Clear and precheck and often others traveling with me with precheck only would beat me through. I think part of the problem with clear is the clear staff helping you. It is much faster at locations that let you scan yourself instead of having an agent select the on screen options.

 

[tony67]

CLEAR is not worth paying anything for. If you get it for free it can be worthwhile on occasion. I had it for 6 months starting in April of last year and going through October. I used it in 8 different airports and it saved me a grand total of 5 minutes, all of which was my last use at MCO in October. At DCA, ORD, MCI and ATL it either cost me time or would have cost me time if I had used it. BNA, MKE and MSP it made no difference at all.
Where it puts you in the precheck line is dependent on the airport. At many of the airports it's now a completely separate security station.

I agree that Clear is not worth the money so I let mine lapse. I had Clear and precheck and often others traveling with me with precheck only would beat me through. I think part of the problem with clear is the clear staff helping you. It is much faster at locations that let you scan yourself instead of having an agent select the on screen options.

I would definitely not pay for it - I do agree there.
The times I have used it I've always been to the front of the precheck line and its been very quick and Ive had no issues - but with everything YMMV.

That said its really not at enough Airports (or terminals) and not in my primary terminal - so that's a big drawback for me.
Similar frustrations with precheck where some Airlines don't use it - (Aer Lingus!!!)

I've also had the situation (in Chicago specifically - more than once) where the folks without precheck got through faster than I did with Precheck (no clear then). Still prefer the precheck line even if its slower.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

We have TSA pre with Digital ID for Delta in Detroit. Love it. Look at the camera, beep and you’re done. No boarding pass or ID to show and a separate TSA precheck line for digital ID.

 

[elvispursley]

We have precheck, initially through the nexus program and then when it came time to renew, we did global entry. It took a few days for our approval to come through and less than 2 weeks for my DS and my actual card to come through. DH and other DS still have not received the global entry card and they were approved in October!! I don’t think there’s any number to call to find out if they actually shipped and they were lost in transit. I’m niw ,eft paying $25/ea, on top of the GE fee to replace their cards.

 

[tony67]

We have precheck, initially through the nexus program and then when it came time to renew, we did global entry. It took a few days for our approval to come through and less than 2 weeks for my DS and my actual card to come through. DH and other DS still have not received the global entry card and they were approved in October!! I don’t think there’s any number to call to find out if they actually shipped and they were lost in transit. I’m niw ,eft paying $25/ea, on top of the GE fee to replace their cards.

Worst part of that is you don't actually do anything with the cards as far as I know.
For GE they just scan your passport at a kiosk.
For PreCheck your KTN is on the ticket - no one wants to see the id.
Not really sure what the purpose of it is - possible at a land border crossing IDK.

 

[EACarlson]

Worst part of that is you don't actually do anything with the cards as far as I know.
For GE they just scan your passport at a kiosk.
For PreCheck your KTN is on the ticket - no one wants to see the id.
Not really sure what the purpose of it is - possible at a land border crossing IDK.

They work as REAL ID compliant cards necessary for accessing certain government buildings and installations. Nexus you are supposed to have the card at the border.

 

[focusondisney]

DH, DD and I went on 2/10 to get our KTN. DD and I got our # in just a few days but my DH is STILL waiting on his #. I know they mentioned that it could take up to 60 days, and they did mention a higher-than-normal turn time. (I'm sure spring break didn't help the matter)

He doesn't have any sort of "history"... no criminal record - heck, he's never even had a speeding ticket.

60 days will be 4/10, and I'm going to call on 4/10 to double-check the status or see if they can give me any kind of update or what we need to do at this point. I think I'll go bonkers if they tell me "just wait".

Did anyone wait the 60 days and STILL not get their KTN? How long did it take before you finally DID get it? I've read horror stories on the net that people applied 11 months ago and STILL don't have it.... I thought that was far fetched before we applied, but now I'm starting to wonder.

We don't leave until this summer, so we have some time... I just hope he gets it sooner rather than later.

Has anyone else run into this?View attachment 841309

I’ve had Precheck for several years, I renewed 2 years ago. When we first applied, my husband got his approval in days. Mine took over 6 weeks. I also had no idea why, have never been arrested etc.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Worst part of that is you don't actually do anything with the cards as far as I know.
For GE they just scan your passport at a kiosk.
For PreCheck your KTN is on the ticket - no one wants to see the id.
Not really sure what the purpose of it is - possible at a land border crossing IDK.

GE didn't even scan my passport this last time, just my face and I was good to go. It was awesome.

I do recall reading the physical card is necessary if using GE to re-enter the US at Port Everglades. A little googling says you need it if using nexus or sentri. The physical card also qualifies as a Real ID so if your drivers license isn't Real ID yet when the flying requirement goes into effect someday over the rainbow your Global Entry ID can be used instead.

 

[tony67]

GE didn't even scan my passport this last time, just my face and I was good to go. It was awesome.

I do recall reading the physical card is necessary if using GE to re-enter the US at Port Everglades. A little googling says you need it if using nexus or sentri. The physical card also qualifies as a Real ID so if your drivers license isn't Real ID yet when the flying requirement goes into effect someday over the rainbow your Global Entry ID can be used instead.

They work as REAL ID compliant cards necessary for accessing certain government buildings and installations. Nexus you are supposed to have the card at the border.

Good to know. Thanks.

Its still not of much use to me, but I am sure it is for others.

 

[kylenne]

Yeah they are swamped as I understand it.

Even Global Entry renewals can take a very long time - and getting an appointment can take even longer if they only conditionally approve the renewal.

I had a conditional renewal approval for about 3 months and could not find an appointment.
Then all of a sudden out of no where they approved it.
No idea why but was happy they did.

TSE Pre Check has become too popular and unfortunately sometimes the line is longer, but its worth it since you don't have to jump through as many hoops.

If your primary Airport uses Clear that is well worth looking into - some credit cards even give it for free - that gets you to the front of the pre check line and it is ridiculously quick - unfortunately I have very few options to actually use it other than Orlando

I renewed my Global Entry last month and it took maybe a week. No appointment needed either, conditional approval turned into regular. I really think they're only requiring appointments for new applications now.

Clear I get through a credit card but I would still pay for it if I didn't. Not necessarily for Orlando as I fly JetBlue and in the new terminal Pre lines are non-existent. But I sometimes fly Delta for my holiday travel to see family and it's a godsend at JFK T4. Even the Pre line was crazy but I shot straight to the front of it with Clear. The thing with Pre though is even when the lines are long, they move so much faster than the regular line. Half of it is because there's not as much stuff you have to do but a lot of it is because Pre lines are filled with people who travel regularly and know how things work. You don't have the line held up by people fighting with TSA agents over full jars of peanut butter and similar nonsense (true story I saw when I got the dreaded ZZZZ once).

 

[Akck]

I renewed my Global Entry last month and it took maybe a week. No appointment needed either, conditional approval turned into regular. I really think they're only requiring appointments for new applications now.

My wife renewed about 6 months ago and I renewed about 2 months ago. We still haven’t gotten conditional approval. The only good thing is our old numbers have been extended.

 

[Lewisc]

I just renewed GE. Less then 48 hours to show as approved. A few months ago my passport renewal took less then a week, less then 2 weeks counting mail time both directions.

There must be some automated screening going on.