that was sudden
Aug. 2nd, 2022 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
totientAhead of some international travel in September, I thought I'd apply for Global Entry.1 I last did this in February of 2020, gotten pre-approved, and then (a) all the interview appointments disappeared for a long time, and then (b) when they did reappear they were in inconvenient places, like Qatar. You have two years after pre-approval to schedule an interview before you have to pay again.
So on Saturday I re-applied, expecting that I probably wouldn't actually get through the process any time soon. I was pleasantly surprised to get a notice of pre-approval on Sunday, and logged in to look for appointments. The nearest site that had any appointments at all was in Baltimore. The nearest site that had any in the month of August was in Minnesota. Oh, well.
Then at one minute after midnight that night, I logged back in, and lo and behold there was an appointment for noon Monday at Logan Airport. I booked it, and then yesterday morning biked over there (it's a 45 minute ride from my house via the new bike lanes on the Alford St bridge, the newly repaved Beacham St in Everett, and the new East Boston Greenway). Fifteen minutes after arriving at the airport I was all done, and this morning I woke up to a notice that I'd been approved for Global Entry, could start using the number immediately, and would be getting a card in the mail.
Whoa.
The only downside to this experience was that both Seabiscuit and Katz Bagels are closed on Mondays.
1: I'd think twice about giving the man my fingerprints for a little bit of convenience, except long ago I sold them to the man for a fair chunk of cash in the form of a security clearance, so they're already there. But that is its own post.
So on Saturday I re-applied, expecting that I probably wouldn't actually get through the process any time soon. I was pleasantly surprised to get a notice of pre-approval on Sunday, and logged in to look for appointments. The nearest site that had any appointments at all was in Baltimore. The nearest site that had any in the month of August was in Minnesota. Oh, well.
Then at one minute after midnight that night, I logged back in, and lo and behold there was an appointment for noon Monday at Logan Airport. I booked it, and then yesterday morning biked over there (it's a 45 minute ride from my house via the new bike lanes on the Alford St bridge, the newly repaved Beacham St in Everett, and the new East Boston Greenway). Fifteen minutes after arriving at the airport I was all done, and this morning I woke up to a notice that I'd been approved for Global Entry, could start using the number immediately, and would be getting a card in the mail.
Whoa.
The only downside to this experience was that both Seabiscuit and Katz Bagels are closed on Mondays.
1: I'd think twice about giving the man my fingerprints for a little bit of convenience, except long ago I sold them to the man for a fair chunk of cash in the form of a security clearance, so they're already there. But that is its own post.
