Hacker News Reader

Comment by howlingfantods | Hacker News Reader

Everyone should get Global Entry. It makes the process of getting through immigration relatively painless. Additionally, Global Entry allows you to use the TSA Precheck lines, which are orders of magnitude shorter than the regular security lines. Global Entry also recently implemented the ability to apply for an APEC card, which lets you go through the diplomatic passport line at most Asian airports.

There's certainly an ethical debate about paying the government for better service but from a pragmatic standpoint, I can't recommend it enough.

View on HN

>There's certainly an ethical debate about paying the government for better service

What's far more offensive to me is that you have to supply your biometric information, submit yourself to an examination by a government agent in a review center, and submit to being photographed and fingerprinted like you are a criminal. In a free society citizens should be able to travel freely with being extorted, harassed, or otherwise molested by the government.

while at the same time, others can use the Pre Chek lines simply for having the right credit card or just being randomly picked by some TSA algorithm.

Sometimes the lines end up being just as long, which is frustrating.

Nope, I am not going to pay to solve a problem artificially created, let alone already payed for in the ticket.

In Canada, it's $50 for 5 years of Nexus which entitles someone to quicker security lines in the US and Canada, quicker border entry, and more.

At $10/year (for the amount I fly per year, it works out to roughly 25 cents per leg of travel), I can't really think of anything more cost efficient to save that much time, stress, etc.

However, getting Global Entry is a hassle. You have to call ICE, make an appointment to go to an airport, go there, get fingerprinted, photographed, and retina scanned, get asked some questions about your background, and then wait for a card to be mailed to you.

(This probably involves giving up less privacy than creating a Facebook or Google account, of course.)

But for Facebook and Google, I'm paying (with my information) their solution to big problems in the world. For Global Entry, you're trading information for a solution to a problem they created.

Getting violated once in a somewhat professional manner is better than getting violated unprofessionally every time you fly or re-enter the country. At least that's what I told myself when I got Global Entry.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com