Please sign in to post.

Global Entry - figured how to get an appointment

DH & I applied for our Global Entry cards in late Nov. '19... No appointments then for months out - so we figured we would "just wait" until we returned from the next trip - mid - 2020... Ha!

Every time we looked for appointments - all were booked months in advance.

Last week - he figured out the trick: Must say - one of the GE staff said "look daily - lots of appointments are cancelled." Airport map (online) should show where the GE office is - TPA's is at the end of "red" baggage claim - and is separate from TSA-Pre and the other entry options.

Here goes:
Book an appointment (ours were for mid - October for Tampa airport). System will send you a text w/validation number every time you sign in.. kind of a pain - but I give them ++ for security effort.
Sign back in and look at "your" account
Check Reschedule Appointment box.

Fill in the reason (we said - Need sooner).
When the calendar appears - tab back through the months - from Oct to August... If there is an appointment the date will show. The calendar will not let you search backwards until you have an appointment scheduled.

He looked on a Thurs (7/29) and found one for Mon. Aug 1 - 7:45am.. They wouldn't take me (each takes a separate slot).. I looked on Tues (8/2) early and there were 2 available for that morning. Neither were there on Mon. afternoon. I picked the 10:30 over the 8:30 - figured PJ's would be frowned on ;-)

If you don't see one available - just sign out - you don't loose your original appointment. And keep on trying!

Received our GE cards in the mail today (1 week).
Note: He flew to CA 2 days later and took advantage of the TSA approved status - even without the card (account # was already updated & that's what United's system wanted).

I know some don't live as close to their travel airport as we - but if you do and are still battling for an appointment - Hope this helps.

Posted by
11609 posts

Very helpful info. We got ours early on and only had to wait two days for appointments to meet with Border Patrol agents to be approved for GE and TSA-PreCheck.
And add your Global Entry number to each of your airline accounts and it will be automatically filled in when booking flights. TSA Pre-Check is so helpful but Global Entry is incredible. Ten minutes going through insanely crowded international arrivals airports where others are waiting an hour to be checked.