BOSTON (WHDH) — We all hate those long lines at the airport and well, they’re about to get worse! Numbers just out predict holiday air travel’s going to increase from last year! But wait, before you make your reservations, Investigative Reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan reveals a time-saving travel secret you need to know.
It’s one of the hardest reservations in the city to get, people in the Boston area are waiting months for one. It’s not for a hot new restaurant, it’s for an interview here at Logan.
You need that interview to be part of a federal program called Global Entry and savvy travelers are rushing to join.
Instead of standing in those endless lines when they’re just back from an international trip, Global Entry fliers go through at jet speed.
To join this elite group, you have to sign up online, pay $100, go through a background check, then be interviewed and fingerprinted by an officer.
These approved Global Entry passengers are just back from Iceland.
Hank: “When you look at the lines, what do you think?”
Traveler: “Thank god I’m over here.”
Traveler: “I thank the lord I dont have to stand in that.”
Here’s the glitch. So many travelers want to avoid this line that when they try to sign up they get grounded trying to schedule their interview.
Officer Mark Beauchesne, US Customs & Border Protection: “The secrets out. Everyone’s signing up.”
Traveler: “How long a wait did you have?
Traveler: “It was about three months.”
Traveler: “Four months.”
When our producer tried to book an appointment in August, the first available appointment was, New Year’s Eve at 6:15p.
Hank: “So you’re doing them as fast as you can.”
Beauchesne: “Yes, just the amount of applicants that have applied, we’re booking out to January and February now.”
Why so long? Logan Airport has one of the busiest enrollment centers in the country, doing 100 interviews a day! The agents who do the interviews also have to screen the arriving.
Now there’s a way to dodge the delays; they’ve just opened a new enrollment center here at the Tip O’Neil building and the wait time is about two weeks. So get back online, and reschedule your interview for the Tip.
You’re not required to go through the process at the airport closest to your residence, or even in your home state.
Here is a list of all the Global Entry interview centers:
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-centers
If you live close to one, or you’re traveling and passing through another airport you may even be able to get a last minute interview at another location.
You may also want to keep checking the appointment openings online, if someone cancels last minute, sometimes you can take their spot and get an interview the same day or very next day.
For more information on how to sign up, US Customs and Border Protection Global Entry Program:
https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/
http://www.globalentry.gov
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