What time to leave to get to SNA airport?

[Donathius]

I fly a lot, so it's a no brainer for me. I understand other people don't fly as much. Some credit cards also give a credit once every 5 years for one adult.

Doing Global Entry is a good choice since it includes precheck. Do know there might be an interview/appointment requirement when you first sign up. I'm not exactly sure how this works post Covid as I've had mine for a long time and my renewal was all online.

I was looking this up last night. Apparently Global Entry has a 6-18 month backlog right now. I'm just going to do precheck, but I discovered I have to renew my passport first. It expired in 2021 and I have no idea where my birth certificate has gone.

 

[irlandaise]

I was looking this up last night. Apparently Global Entry has a 6-18 month backlog right now. I'm just going to do precheck, but I discovered I have to renew my passport first. It expired in 2021 and I have no idea where my birth certificate has gone.

Your expired passport is proof of where and when you were born.

 

[China Expat]

Play it safe....arrive 90 minutes minimum before your fligHT!

 

[DLgal]

I was looking this up last night. Apparently Global Entry has a 6-18 month backlog right now. I'm just going to do precheck, but I discovered I have to renew my passport first. It expired in 2021 and I have no idea where my birth certificate has gone.

You can renew a passport online currently. Even if yours is expired. There is no requirement to send it back. All you need to do is pay the fee
and take a new photo with your phone.

 

[lcp9]

We are usually on a 7:20 flight out of SNA (but we have 4 kids and return rental cars, so it's a bit of a circus.) Last time (a Wednesday), there was a rental car snafu and my husband/kids went through security separately from me. I just checked our verizon bill to get the exact time because my husband called as I was going through security at 6:46. He went through at 6:53. We both made it with like 1 minute before SW started boarding the A group. It usually takes 20-25 mins to get to the airport from the Residence Inn at Katella/Harbor. With no bags/car you should be fine to leave at 6.

 

[Donathius]

Your expired passport is proof of where and when you were born.

It’s been expired too long. I checked their guidance on it and it has to have been expired less than a year. Mine expired in 2021.

 

[DLgal]

It’s been expired too long. I checked their guidance on it and it has to have been expired less than a year. Mine expired in 2021.

Ah. Wasn't aware of that timeline.

 

[mouschievous]

On Fri, July 8 we ordered an Uber at 4:43 pm. We were picked up from GCH in about 10 minutes and arrived at SNA at 5:11. Our driver took 17 minutes, if I remember correctly. There was 1 family in line ahead of us at security. We were at our gate by 5:20.

Hope that helps!

 

[twodogs]

Kids can get their own Global Entry (and thus, precheck). They don’t have to wait until age 13. They can only go through Pre Check lines with a parent who has Pre Check (if the child does NOT have their own Pre Check) until age 12. After that, they will send the kids out and back through the regular security line (with parent). I got my kids Global Entry when they were 6 and 8 years old, therefore they have their own Pre Check. Now they are over 12, and they can use this when traveling alone or even on school trips without us.

The wait times are real for the interviews to get PreCheck or Global Entry. You generally have to “interview” in person for either one (to me the better value is Global Entry, since it also includes PreCheck). Sometimes there are cancellations for interviews, but you have to watch your airport’s site daily. Also you can interview on arrival through US customs if you have an international trip planned soon. I do think the value of PreCheck is much better at busier airports (our home airport is DFW, where it is VERY valuable). At smaller airports like SNA, it is still helpful, but sometimes the regular lines are not that long. At DFW, the regular lines are always long.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Kids can get their own Global Entry (and thus, precheck). They don’t have to wait until age 13. They can only go through Pre Check lines with a parent who has Pre Check (if the child does NOT have their own Pre Check) until age 12. After that, they will send the kids out and back through the regular security line (with parent).

They sometimes add PreCheck on to a teen's ticket when traveling with a parent with PreCheck. My 14 year old son had PreCheck on his ticket when traveling with me on all of our flights last year. In fact, since I've gotten PreCheck, he has always had it on his ticket, even though he doesn't have a KTN for himself. That's not to say that it will always happen for every family and every situation, but it does happen, and so far we've had good luck with it.

 

[Kender]

It’s been expired too long. I checked their guidance on it and it has to have been expired less than a year. Mine expired in 2021.

Ah. Wasn't aware of that timeline.

I can't find that information. When I look online, it says "issued no more than 15 years ago" so within 5 years of expiration. This is from the online renewal page:

Passport Validity: Make sure your most recent passport was valid for 10 years. The passport must be expiring within one year or have been expired less than five years.

 

[MonocularVision]

They sometimes add PreCheck on to a teen's ticket when traveling with a parent with PreCheck. My 14 year old son had PreCheck on his ticket when traveling with me on all of our flights last year. In fact, since I've gotten PreCheck, he has always had it on his ticket, even though he doesn't have a KTN for himself. That's not to say that it will always happen for every family and every situation, but it does happen, and so far we've had good luck with it.

Yes, this happened to our 14-year-old as well. My adult children didn’t get it automatically added.

 

[Donathius]

I can't find that information. When I look online, it says "issued no more than 15 years ago" so within 5 years of expiration. This is from the online renewal page:

Yeah, the thing is when I go to sign up for pre-check for the "Citizenship/Immigration Document" the only passport options are for a current passport, or one that has expired within the last 12 months.

 

[DLgal]

Yeah, the thing is when I go to sign up for pre-check for the "Citizenship/Immigration Document" the only passport options are for a current passport, or one that has expired within the last 12 months.

You don't need a passport for Pre Check.

Find your birth certificate or request a copy from the records office where you were born. It's an easy process.

 

[irlandaise]

You don't need a passport for Pre Check.

Find your birth certificate or request a copy from the records office where you were born. It's an easy process.

LOL, now we've come full circle, because when Donathius said, "I have no idea where my birth certificate has gone," I said no problem, just use your expired passport. Oh well...

Donathius, when do you need PreCheck? Might be easiest to get a new passport and then use that for your PreCheck ID.

 

[DLgal]

LOL, now we've come full circle, because when Donathius said, "I have no idea where my birth certificate has gone," I said no problem, just use your expired passport. Oh well...

Donathius, when do you need PreCheck? Might be easiest to get a new passport and then use that for your PreCheck ID.

I'm so confused.

 

[Kender]

I'm so confused.

I think they are looking at requirements for PreCheck and not realizing we've been talking about renewing a passport . Which I've looked over that whole site (previously because I did have to make sure I could let my passport expire for a couple years without needing to go through the process of a new one and with these comments to confirm) and everything says you can still renew a passport as long as it's been less than 5 years.

The no more than one year expired sounds like a PreCheck requirement.

Yeah, the thing is when I go to sign up for pre-check for the "Citizenship/Immigration Document" the only passport options are for a current passport, or one that has expired within the last 12 months.

As I wrote above, I think I see the misunderstanding now. You can renew the passport if it's been less than 5 years since expiration without having to go through a new process again. That's what DLgal and I were talking about.

 

[bcla]

Never mind. The previous discussion was somewhat confusing as to what it was referring to - passport renewal or GE. I was thinking the comment was about getting a new passport in order to apply for GE with that new passport.