I love credit cards so much!

[palhockeymomof2]

Your son would need to use your CSR account number when he applies for GE since the cost is paid upon application not when you have the interview. I think the majority of the fee is the background check they conduct to approve you. Once your son applies, you should be then see the credit on your CSR.

So he would have to apply for the global entry not the TSA pre approval....he doesn’t fly outside the country so really only needs the preapproval

 

[mmmears]

Oh okay that makes sense. When you say priority security lines are you talking about the pre-check lines?

Sometimes it's the same line, often it's different but quicker than the normal line. It seems to vary airport to airport, terminal to terminal.

I don’t see us going on any other trips for awhile that would need global entry so we would either apply ahead of time or just won’t do it.

My dad is making me second guess because he has done lots of international travel (some where we went as kids: Mexico, Paris, Jamaica) but he has never gotten GE. He told me he never felt like it was needed and never had a long line to wait at customs. We would have to pay $100 for one of us along with having to drive 3 1/2+ hours to get an interview. Should we just suck it up and wait in the customs line?

It sounds like it might be more trouble than it's worth with that kind of drive. Yes, the customs lines can be very long (they were when we landed at SFO in August). But I doubt it took people 3 hours to get through them. But GE can save you time for pre-check domestically (MCO especially since those security lines can be a mess). We fly domestically more than internationally, but still like that we have it. For us the interview was a pain - took forever to get our appointments (3 all on 3 separate days), about an hour to get to the airport, paying for parking, etc. But we are glad we did it since we do fly a minimum of several times a year. Only you can figure out what it's worth to you.

 

[thevalley]

I am not sure how old your children are but the pressure from take off and landing really bothers my DS11 and he has flown quite a bit. I make sure to have some gum handy that he can chew to help with the pressure. BWI is our home airport so I could help with that one but am at a loss for DCA except for the one time I got myself lost trying to make my way from Arlington to my hotel and ended up at the airport instead Hope you have an amazing trip! (I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new rose gold AmEx so I can see if it is a pretty as anticipated.)

wow, thank you. never thought of the pressure. I will have some gum on hand. my kiddos are 10,7,4. oldest is my daughter and 2 boys.

 

[speedyfishy]

our fights are on sw and was thinking of doing what someone else suggested by personal then biz not sure. wife would really like the pink gold amex. so not sure what to do. I would like to get something for our up coming trip. I will refer her to cip, ciu, cu. sometime next year. I have kept this whole Disney trip a secret from my kids so that will be special when the time comes to tell them. my kids have never flown before, so this should be interesting. if anyone can give any advice flying out of Reagan in DC, that would be helpful.

Do you have your flights booked already for this upcoming trip? If you go for the Southwest cards can you use those points on another trip? If you can I’d do the buisness Southwest card first then the personal. Don’t hit the spend until January though and you can get the companion pass for next year. If you decide to go this way let us know and we can help you with the timing.

Reagan is a smaller airport. Southwest is in terminal A. All the gates are visible from any other gate lol. Not too many food options either.

 

[wendow]

I don’t see us going on any other trips for awhile that would need global entry so we would either apply ahead of time or just won’t do it.

My dad is making me second guess because he has done lots of international travel (some where we went as kids: Mexico, Paris, Jamaica) but he has never gotten GE. He told me he never felt like it was needed and never had a long line to wait at customs. We would have to pay $100 for one of us along with having to drive 3 1/2+ hours to get an interview. Should we just suck it up and wait in the customs line?

Honestly, I'd just wait through customs. The only location in CO is an hour from me and I wouldn't drive that far unless I thought I'd be doing several int'l trips to make it worth it.

 

[calypso726]

This might be a stupid question but what’s a traveler number?

I saw this was answered but wanted to add that after we got it we went into each of our FF accounts with every airline and added the number to our profile.

Yeah. I think things are far from ideal for us right now as far as having enough points to book the flights soon. We may end up paying cash for the flights and use points for lodging?

That's not a bad plan. My advice for travel hacking aifare, especially business and first class is to start planning 2 years out. This gives you one year to get the points you need accumulated. That way they are in place so you can book your flights 330~ days in advance.

I don’t see us going on any other trips for awhile that would need global entry so we would either apply ahead of time or just won’t do it.

My dad is making me second guess because he has done lots of international travel (some where we went as kids: Mexico, Paris, Jamaica) but he has never gotten GE. He told me he never felt like it was needed and never had a long line to wait at customs. We would have to pay $100 for one of us along with having to drive 3 1/2+ hours to get an interview. Should we just suck it up and wait in the customs line?

I've seen some long lines but not any that looked 3 1/2 hours long. Just make sure that if you have a connection when you come back in to the US that you have plenty of time to clear customs, get your luggage and check back in to the connecting flight.

 

[disneybirds]

Howdy everyone, I seem to always find myself several pages behind no matter how much I try to keep up lol. Exciting news, our magic bands were shipped out today!!! can't wait for nov5th to come. I need some guidance on our next steps......my DW is 2/24 with it being a csp which was pc to a cf and a jcpenny card lol.... our fights are on sw and was thinking of doing what someone else suggested by personal then biz not sure. wife would really like the pink gold amex. so not sure what to do. I would like to get something for our up coming trip. I will refer her to cip, ciu, cu. sometime next year. I have kept this whole Disney trip a secret from my kids so that will be special when the time comes to tell them. my kids have never flown before, so this should be interesting. if anyone can give any advice flying out of Reagan in DC, that would be helpful. I have only flown out of Bwi once. I kind of feel like a little kid, I'm 41 and this is the first time for Disney for me and the kids. my dw went when she was 7 but that doesn't count. as always a big thank you for all who have helped me on our first trip. it has taken almost 2 years to plan but it is finally here. as I type this my wife is designing our own personal mickey shirts.

I am so excited for you! Hope you have an awesome trip!!!

 

[thevalley]

Do you have your flights booked already for this upcoming trip? If you go for the Southwest cards can you use those points on another trip? If you can I’d do the buisness Southwest card first then the personal. Don’t hit the spend until January though and you can get the companion pass for next year. If you decide to go this way let us know and we can help you with the timing.

Reagan is a smaller airport. Southwest is in terminal A. All the gates are visible from any other gate lol. Not too many food options either.

yes, sw has been booked for months now. I wish I understood fully what the cp was last year when we booked. i am still very thankful because it is still free flying for us via the points on my sw card when I had it. I just wasn't sure about the inflight personal increased offer. when I had it almost 2 years ago the sign up bonus was 60k for 3k spent but that was not on an inflight offer.

 

[wendow]

Did anyone else receive the promotion from Plastiq about earning 1 FFD for every dollar spent through Plastiq on a mastercard? If I'm reading the promotion correctly, this is amazing. I have a bill of around $7500 that I'll be processing through Plastiq towards the end of the month. Does that mean I'll earn 7500 FFDs??

I'm a little sad I didn't get this email a couple of days ago since I just paid several very large bills through Plastiq, but I will take what I can get!

I didn't get this

 

[thevalley]

I am so excited for you! Hope you have an awesome trip!!!

thank you!!!

 

[Alexle2007]

So he would have to apply for the global entry not the TSA pre approval....he doesn’t fly outside the country so really only needs the preapproval

.

 

[wendow]

@thevalley Hope you and your family have a great time

 

[thevalley]

@thevalley Hope you and your family have a great time

thank you!!!!

 

[Psychodisney]

TSA pre check question....can it be paid for online when you sign up for the appointment?
I’d like to use my CSR to pay for my son but he’s in Orlando and I’m in NY so can’t go with him until December....he’s flying here for Thanksgiving so I’d like to get it for him now if possible

For TSA precheck you pay in person at the appointment site. For GE you pay online.
I sent my AMex card to my son. I was done with the MSR. Don't need it back until I see him at Thanksgiving!

 

[thevalley]

I just was looking at DoC and he has a write up about the plastiq spend. looks like its targeted and not targeted to me lol.

 

[vanjust14]

Needed an expert opinion here. I have 3 Southwest credit cards from Chase that I opened to get the companion pass. Which 1 should I keep and which 2 should I close?

Premier opened February 2016
Plus opened October 2017
Business opened November 2017

We do fly Southwest a bunch, but I’m not even sure it’s necessary to have any of the cards open at this point because we also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred which transfers 1:1 with Southwest Rapid Rewards and offers better ways to earn more points on the same purchases.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I have/had all 3 and decided to upgrade my Plus to the Priority for 5,000 bonus points. I will be closing my Premier this month and my Biz next month after receiving my anniversary points. I think upgrading is worth it with the increased benefits it offers...$75 travel credit, 4 upgraded boardings, increased anniversary points. I do not need the other cards since I have the priority and do not feel the fee is worth it. I will lower my overall CL by closing and will be ready to apply again for CP in the future.

Citi Thank you premier....worth an app today before 60k bonus goes away? I'm unfamiliar with the program but looking to diversify a bit. Maxed on Chase, have 6-7 Amex (some AU,may get another) thinking of what's up next. I Like flexibility of use...hows this stack up? ETA it's either this or the Barclays card.... I've been tossing those two around in my head lately....but Citi goes away today so I'm thinking ...maybe?

I went for this offer, especially since the AF is waived. My plan is to use them for Southwest flights. I read you can get 1.25 cents per point with Southwest for booking over the phone. Plus with the companion pass, this is an even greater value for no AF. Once you have your flight booked through Citi, you can add the confirmation number to your southwest account and add companion pass. I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it should work!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I believe it's same GE/TSA pre-check. You pay upfront when you apply.

Thanks...I have TSA pre check but couldn’t remember if I paid ahead of time or when I went in

 

[palhockeymomof2]

For TSA precheck you pay in person at the appointment site. For GE you pay online.
I sent my AMex card to my son. I was done with the MSR. Don't need it back until I see him at Thanksgiving!

Thanks....I couldn’t remember when I paid for the TSA precheck...I’m done with the MSR on my CSR...I’ll see if he can schedule an appointment and do exactly what you did...although me may worry about them checking the name on the card

 

[WVMomof3]

Howdy everyone, I seem to always find myself several pages behind no matter how much I try to keep up lol. Exciting news, our magic bands were shipped out today!!! can't wait for nov5th to come. I need some guidance on our next steps......my DW is 2/24 with it being a csp which was pc to a cf and a jcpenny card lol.... our fights are on sw and was thinking of doing what someone else suggested by personal then biz not sure. wife would really like the pink gold amex. so not sure what to do. I would like to get something for our up coming trip. I will refer her to cip, ciu, cu. sometime next year. I have kept this whole Disney trip a secret from my kids so that will be special when the time comes to tell them. my kids have never flown before, so this should be interesting. if anyone can give any advice flying out of Reagan in DC, that would be helpful. I have only flown out of Bwi once. I kind of feel like a little kid, I'm 41 and this is the first time for Disney for me and the kids. my dw went when she was 7 but that doesn't count. as always a big thank you for all who have helped me on our first trip. it has taken almost 2 years to plan but it is finally here. as I type this my wife is designing our own personal mickey shirts.

How exciting to be going on your first trip!! Will you wait till airport to surprise them? I can see that surprising would be fun but I always thought talking about trip before was very fun too. At least once a week at dinner we would talk about rides and stuff we were looking forward to doing. I do 2nd the gum and/or Sudafed. That has helped clear our ears too. My 2nd DD had terrible ear pains on flights when she was younger. It has gotten better now that she is older.


Maybe you can go for Rose gold Amex now. According to @Lain it takes 2 months to report to credit reports so I think she would still be good to apply in flight for SW personal card in November.

 

[apollodi]

Apparently there aren’t any in my state. That’s a bummer but not a surprise.

We have two states close that we might just have to make a weekend trip or something to do it.

We are also in a state with no GE interview locations and are going to use DH's CSR credit for precheck instead. The nearest GE interview is 2.5 hours away, while precheck will soon be in a Staples nearby. We also have 2 little kids, and an adult's precheck will cover them, but they would need their own GE for international travel. We don't anticipate taking any trips outside the US without the kids (except one anniversary trip to Spain we have planned for May) in the next 5 years, so GE likely won't be useful more than once. We will spend more time getting to the interview location than we save at customs. Given our travel patterns and the difference in interview travel times, precheck will save us more time overall.

Now, if we had a trip planned that gets us close to an interview location in time for our trip to Spain in May, we would probably consider a GE application since it would take less time!