Global Entry Renewal: Eleven Days from Start to Finish!
 

I am chomping at the bit to travel so I’m doing everything I can to get ready! Researching two future trips: Canterbury-Dover-Portsmouth-Cornwall and an exploration of the Alsace region of France with a re-visit to Chartres (sadly opposite sides of the country). Our passports expire in the summer of 2022 so we will wait until we are about nine months out to renew those. Our global entry passes expire on birthdays also in 2022. I learned you can apply for renewal up to one year prior to expiration date with the new expiration date four years beyond the current expiration date not the date you renew so no time lost for renewing early. We waited until my spouse’s late January birthday had passed and went on-line (www.cbp.gov or go to ttp.dhs.gov) to initiate the renewal. Logged on and updated prior information…work history had changed (retired now!) and we needed to add the countries we had visited over the last five years…flipping through our passport helped. I had saved copies of the prior application so I pulled that out and noted where we updated so when Linda went to renew, she’d have that all as a reference. We used our United Explorer Credit card for the fee as I had read where United will reimburse you for the Global Entry Fee, which happened the same day the $100 charge posted. Looking good, Chase Bank!

The next day, Sunday, Linda received an invite by the Trusted Traveler Program to schedule an interview. I was hoping the renewal wouldn’t require an interview, but alas. We looked at the availability of appointments at San Francisco International, a 45-minute drive away on a good traffic day. Wide open schedule! Much different story than four years ago, when we both had to schedule appointments several months out. We scheduled Linda for two days out, the Tuesday, and timed it so we’d miss as much of the morning commute and the start of the afternoon commute as we could…a window for us of four hours 10AM-2PM. Haven’t taken BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit…our version of the metro, subway, etc.) since the pandemic started and didn’t want to now. We zipped over there, parked in the lot suggested by the website, and as we were approaching the office via escalator, we saw a clerk opening the door looking for interviewees. She waited for us and Linda went straight in for the 10-minute interview which included picture taking and finger printing. By the time we walked back to the car, we had been in the airport for less than 25-minutes. The new card arrived in the mail exactly one week after the interview. Nice!

When we arrived home to SFO after our magical Vienna trip in mid-December of 2019, we had never been more grateful to have Global Entry. Clearly other large planes had arrived before ours, and there were seemingly several hundreds of people in the non-Global Entry lines. Global Entry? Breezed right through to the kiosk. I just wanted to share my experience in case any Fodorites haven’t thought of taking advantage of this down time to either initiate as a first timer or renew.

Hmmm. I renewed mine earlier this year, and didn't have to go for another interview. Maybe because we were in the throes of the pandemic? Anyway, received my new card in the mail about a week and a half later, like you.

I was renewed automatically last summer -- I didn't have to do anything. Was told at the time I wouldn't be getting a new card but that may have been due to covid issues over the summer. It really isn't necessary to have the card in hand, the number is the same.

I don't know what proportion of renewals require interviews but 4 of us renewed pre-pandemic and didn't have to interview. 2 of us had actually let our membership lapse by a few months. We received new cards as our old cards had the previous expiration. I'm going to use my GOES card as a REAL ID since our DMV was closed when I needed to renew my DL last year so I still have a non-compliant one.

Thank you for this thread, Janeyre; it reminded me that we needed to renew Mr. 007's global entry.

I renewed mine last year and did not have to go to another interview... they seem to mostly be interested in the fee.

Good for you, Janeeyre. It took me several months!