Nexus for Canadians?

[Gigi22]

Thinking of applying for Nexus for the first time. Is there any advantage in applying for Nexus so your Nexus expiration and passport expiration dates coordinate somewhat? Or am I overthinking this?

 

[scrappinginontario]

The expiration date of your Nexus will be linked to your birth date so it has nothing to do with Passport expiration. It's one of the best decisions we've made when it comes to travel. Go for it!!

 

[isabellea]

Easy to do and not too expensive (50$ USD for 5 years per adult). Our passports all have different expiration dates so there was no advantage to have everything coordinating. One thing that is important it to update your Nexus profile when getting a new passport, changing jobs or moving.

 

[dis_guy]

I can't recommend NEXUS highly enough. Even if you use it only once per year it is worth every penny.

We used to catch the red eye flight from Edmonton to Houston because it got us to WDW early in the morning, giving us an extra day there. However at the time it departed, US pre-clearance wasn't open at YEG, so we had to clear US customs at IAH. The last time we did that flight (which is now sadly discontinued) we got to IAH at the same time as a number of flights from South America. We had to stand in line with a few hundred people ahead of us while our connection's departure time crept closer and closer. We made it, but I'd have happily paid $100 or more to use the global entry kiosks that had no wait at all. That was when we decided to get our NEXUS cards.

It's been smooth sailing ever since.

BTW, if any of the information you used in your application changes you need to update it. This can be done online and I just did that for my new drivers license.

 

[keaster]

Same here! Just flew back from Chicago this morning. The regular security line at O'Hare was crazy (and this was at 4:30am!) With nexus you can enrol in TSA Pre Check...there were only 3 people ahead of us!

 

[dis_guy]

With nexus you can enrol in TSA Pre Check...there were only 3 people ahead of us!

Yup. With NEXUS you automatically get Global Entry, which also gets you TSA Pre Check- provided you have your fingerprints on file with your NEXUS card.

 

[starvenger]

So, another story that may convince you to get Nexus.

My company had a corporate retreat in Clearwater Beach, FL (I know!) during the week preceding Victoria Day. Pearson had recently changed things up so that for US flights you now drop your bags off, then go through security, then finally go through customs. In theory, this is supposed to make things run faster. In practice... not so much.

Most of my colleagues don't have NEXUS, including my boss. In any event, we started going through the checkpoint at the same time. Being business travellers, we didn't have any bags to check, and going through security wasn't all that taxing. It may actually have been a bit longer on my end since the Global Entry side also processes those with disabilities, airport staff and crew. Still, it took maybe 5-10 minutes total so no big deal.

With regards to US Customs though, the time difference was substantial. With the Nexus I was able to walk over to the automated kiosks, answer the questions, get my picture taken and walk out of the checkpoint. 3 minutes, at most. My boss took 45 minutes to get out of the checkpoint. In the interim, I was able to head down to the Starbucks (this is in T3), walk back over to my gate (which naturally was right by the security checkpoint), and did all my email checks etc.

So as you can see, a huge time saver right there.

Coming back, I had TSA Pre-Check, but Tampa's layout is pretty well designed, so there was no effective advantage to having it this time around (maybe 1-2 minutes). I will say that it was a time saver when I was at PHX a couple of years back though.

 

[dis_guy]

My boss took 45 minutes to get out of the checkpoint. In the interim, I was able to head down to the Starbucks (this is in T3), walk back over to my gate (which naturally was right by the security checkpoint), and did all my email checks etc.

Quite similar experience the first time I used my card at YEG. Just to see how much time it saved I found someone in bright clothing that got to the checkpoint the same time I did and was in the regular line. I went through, got my Starbucks coffee and food (had to wait 5 mins for that as it was a busy 5 AM rush time), sat down, ate, drank my coffee at a leisurely pace, and was just clearing my table when my previously spotted fellow traveller was only just coming through. I got to pre-clearance at 4:30 AM when it opened and the regular line looked quite long already, while there were 6 of us in the NEXUS line.