Avoid the Airport Lines – for free!

Global Entry, TSA Pre✓, Mobile Passport, CLEAR, and more for no-hassle travel

updated April 2022

We all love to travel, but airport lines are ridiculous! The stress, the crowds, the lines…yet we do it, because we’ve gotta get out there and explore the world, right?! Here’s the best way to avoid airport lines – Let’s get some no-hassle travel going.

…a guy walks by everyone and passes through the same security gate that you are…He doesn’t have to remove his shoes (F#$@ that shoe bomber), doesn’t have to take off his belt or take his computer & phone out of his bag!

Who is this guy? He must be some big shot. Super rich? NOPE…he just knows how to play the game. That’s what I’m going to teach you…the game. 

My goal is to help you learn to travel easily, on a shoestring; this is one of my top strategies for no-hassle travel – Global Entry™, which includes TSA Pre✓™

The Trusted Traveler Programs

The chart below shows that Global Entry will speed your entry into the US from international destinations, while TSA Pre✓ expedites departures from the US. I recommend both to avoid lines on both ends.

As you can see, Global Entry automatically includes TSA Pre✓!

CLEAR

The CLEAR Program

CLEAR membership expedites security screening using your personal biometric information, allowing you to bypass normal TSA security and gets you to the front of the TSA PreCheck lines!

The primary function of the CLEAR program is to speed you through the ID process at airport security. You do not get to skip TSA security entirely – it simply eliminates waiting in those lines.

Plus – the app will create a QR code for your Covid vaccination records.

Additional uses are being added all the time, including using CLEAR to access sports stadiums for events, enter airport lounges, for alcohol purchases, and to fast-track rental car pickups without waiting in line. Find out more about CLEAR.

Get Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ for free!

*Some premium credit cards provide you with a Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ application fee statement credit–so it winds up costing nothing! Some of these have other great travel perqs as well. Here’s a list of some cards with the credit:

• *AmEx Platinum Cards – the ONLY cards that credits this *and* CLEAR!
• Capital One Venture X
• United Explorer Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Mastercard Black
• Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite

If you just can’t get Global Entry for some reason (there are reported delays in the applications and interview process due to the pandemic), Mobile Passport and its app will definitely help you to avoid lines when entering the US. Here’s an article that discusses Mobile Passport, and some other benefits of having it.

I’m on a rant about this, because lately I’ve traveled with a friend who does not have Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ – and last year, when we entered the US at the Philadelphia airport, their passport scanning machines were down. I breezed through customs, even ahead of the airline crews, but had to wait 2½ hours for him to come through. Not good.

Related Travel Articles

• Travel for Free or for Reduced Fees
• How to find the best deals on flights
• Must-have gear for traveling
• How to stay healthy while traveling
• Renew Your Passport in a hurry
• Where can US citizens travel right now?
• Travel Cartoons – just for fun

Did you sign up for my newsletter yet?

Join the world travelers who do it the easy way; get Global Entry (or TSA Pre✓), CLEAR, skip the airport lines, and enjoy no-hassle travel. I’ll see you out there – soon, I hope!