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The top credit cards for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck

  • Jason Stauffer

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    You wait in long airport security lines to get to your flight; you wait in long customs lines when you finish a flight. Wouldn’t it be great to race through or even skip those lines altogether?

    Trusted traveler programs like TSA PreCheck and Global Entry can expedite these screenings and get you 4the airport faster.

    These programs come with registration fees but th

    ere are many travel credit cards and rewards credit cards that will reimburse you as a perk of being a cardmember. Let’s take a look at our top credit cards for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck.

    Top credit cards for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck

    Top Global Entry and TSA PreCheck credit cards

    Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card

    Bonus

    With the Southwest Performance Business credit card you’ll earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening

    Other benefits

    With this airline credit card, every year you’ll get four upgraded boarding certificates (worth up to $50 each), 9,000 points on your account anniversary (worth ~$135 in Southwest flights) and 365 Southwest Wi-Fi credits every year (worth $8 each).

    Annual fee

    $199

    The Platinum Card® from American Express

    Bonus

    With Amex Platinum you can earn 100,000 Amex Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of opening your account.

    Other benefits

    Each year you’ll get up to $200 in incidental fee statement credits on your selected airline, up to $200 in annual Uber Cash for U.S. services and up to $100 in annual statement credits for Saks Fifth Avenue. The Amex Platinum card also has the best airport lounge access of any personal credit card. Enrollment required for select benefits.

    Annual fee

    $695 (see rates and fees)

    The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

    Bonus

    The Amex Business Platinum card has a welcome offer where you can earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.

    Other benefits

    This card comes with up to $200 in annual airline fee credits and up to $400 in Dell credits every year (for U.S. Dell purchases). And when you use the Pay With Points feature you’ll get a 35% points rebate (up to 500,000 points per calendar year), making the points you can earn from this welcome offer (from the bonus and minimum spending) worth nearly $1,400+ in airfare. Enrollment required for select benefits.

    The Amex Business Platinum card has the same airport lounge access perks as the personal version, which are better than any other business credit card.

    Annual fee

    $595 ($695 if application is received on or after 01/13/2022) (see rates and fees)

    Chase Sapphire Reserve®

    Bonus

    The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a bonus of 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

    Other benefits

    Every cardmember year you’ll get up to $300 in travel credits, which applies to all sorts of purchases like airfare, hotels and car rentals. You can also pool points you earn on other Chase cards onto the Sapphire Reserve and they are worth 1.5 cents each toward travel booked through the Chase travel portal.

    Annual fee

    $550

    Capital One Spark Miles for Business

    Bonus

    The Capital One Spark Miles card has a bonus offer worth 50,000 Spark miles (worth at least $500 in travel) after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

    Other benefits

    You’ll earn 2x miles on purchases with this card. You don’t need to worry about maximizing bonus categories.

    Annual fee

    $95, waived the first year.

    IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card

    Bonus

    The IHG credit card has a bonus of 125,000 bonus points and a free night after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening

    Other benefits

    When you have this hotel credit card, you’ll get IHG Platinum status and the fourth night reward on every award reservation of four nights or more. Every card anniversary you’ll also get a reward night, valid at IHG hotels costing up to 40,000 points per night.

    Annual fee

    $89

    Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®

    Bonus

    The Citi AAdvantage Executive card has a bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $5,000 in the first three months of account opening.

    Other benefits

    The cardholder will get an American Airlines Admirals Club membership, which gets you your immediate family (spouse/domestic parter and children up to 18) or two guests access to Admirals Club lounges (and partner lounges) when you have a same-day American Airlines (or partner airline) boarding pass. You can also add up to 10 authorized users for free and each one of them will also get access to Admirals Club lounges (but not partner lounges).

    Annual fee

    $450

    Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card

    Bonus

    The Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card has a bonus of 50,000 bonus points (worth $500) after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

    Other benefits

    Up to $100 in airline incidental fee credits each year. This credit applies to fees like preferred seating upgrades, ticket change or cancellation fees, checked baggage fees, inflight entertainment, inflight food and drink and airport lounge fees. It applies to most domestic airlines but you don’t have to choose your airline ahead of time. Just pay with the card and the credits will be applied.

    Annual fee

    $95

    Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

    Bonus

    The Capital One Venture card has a welcome offer of 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

    Other benefits

    You’ll earn 2x miles on every purchase made with the Capital One Venture card. You can transfer these miles to several different airline partners.

    Annual fee

    $95

    United℠ Explorer Card

    Bonus

    The United℠ Explorer Card has a bonus of up to 70,000 miles. Earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Plus, earn an additional 10,000 miles after you spend $6,000 total on purchases in the first six months your account is open.

    Other benefits

    One of the best perks of having a United Airlines credit card is that it will get you access to an increased number of award seats, which makes your miles much more useful. You’ll also get two one-time United Club airport lounge passes every year.

    Annual fee

    $95, waived the first year.

    American Express® Green Card

    Bonus

    The Amex Green Card is offering a welcome bonus of 45,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $2,000 on purchases on the Amex Green Card in the first six months of card membership.

    Other benefits

    With this card every year you’ll get up to $100 in LoungeBuddy credits, which can be used to purchase airport lounge access. The Amex Green card also earns 3x points on travel and at restaurants worldwide.

    Annual fee

    $150 (see rates and fees)

    Use trusted traveler programs to speed through security lines

    If you meet the eligibility criteria for trusted traveler programs, you’ll be able to get expedited clearance as a pre-approved low-risk traveler.

    The different programs will have their pros and cons, such as which airports offer each program, the cost to enroll or the difficulty of qualifying as a low-risk traveler. TSA PreCheck will get you expedited security at participating airports and Global Entry gets you expedited customs clearance upon returning to the U.S. Also, Global Entry gets you access to TSA PreCheck benefits.

    Here are a few ways you can get expedited security clearance:

    Register for Global Entry

    Global Entry is offered through U.S. Customs and Border Protection and allows expedited clearance through customs for pre-approved low-risk travelers. It’s great for frequent overseas flyers because it’s designed to get you through customs more quickly when you return to the U.S.

    The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website has a list of the airports where Global Entry is available, which include:

    Even if you are not a U.S. citizen, you may be eligible for membership to Global Entry. Lawful permanent residents of the U.S. and citizens of certain other countries are eligible for membership.

    To apply for the program, you apply on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website and pay a nonrefundable $100 application fee. But if you have one of the credit cards listed above, you can have the fee reimbursed.

    Once your application is conditionally approved, you schedule the final step of the approval process, an in-person interview with a CBP officer. If the wait times for an interview are too long, it is possible to get a same-day Global Entry appointment on arrival.

    Get TSA PreCheck

    TSA PreCheck is a trusted traveler program similar to Global Entry and is geared to domestic travelers within the U.S. TSA PreCheck lines are often much shorter than the regular security lines and you also won’t have to remove your shoes, laptops, liquids, belts or jackets. So if your airport offers TSA PreCheck, it can be a huge time saver.

    According to the TSA website, in April 2019, 93% of TSA PreCheck passengers waited less than five minutes. The program is available at more than 200 airports and for 72 airlines.

    Skip the long security lines with TSA PreCheck. (Photo by David Tran/iStock by Getty Images)

    The TSA PreCheck enrollment process is similar to Global Entry. You submit an online application and pay a fee of $85, then schedule an appointment at one of their 380+ enrollment centers throughout the U.S.

    If you meet the eligibility criteria as a low-risk traveler, you’ll be given a Known Traveler Number (KTN) which you’ll need to input to your frequent traveler accounts to make sure you can get TSA PreCheck the next time you fly.

    TSA PreCheck is available to U.S. citizens, nationals and lawful permanent residents of the U.S.

    Get CLEAR

    During peak travel season, even the TSA PreCheck lines could have a long wait. If this is the case at your airport, consider CLEAR.

    CLEAR is a privately-operated security program that lets you bypass the TSA PreCheck lines entirely. When you visit an airport that offers CLEAR, you’ll head for the dedicated CLEAR lanes. A concierge will walk you to an available kiosk, where you’ll scan your fingerprints and boarding pass.

    Once that is completed, the concierge will walk you to the front of the TSA security line.

    And CLEAR can also get you into certain sports stadiums more quickly. CLEAR is available at over 65+ airports and sport stadiums nationwide:

    The two-step registration process for CLEAR is also much faster than that of Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. The first step is an online application which can be completed in under five minutes and the second step is to visit a CLEAR kiosk where you’ll scan your ID, fingerprints and answer a couple questions to confirm your identity.

    Once that’s complete, you can use your CLEAR membership right away.

    So who’s eligible for CLEAR? Anyone 18 years of age or older can register and must provide one of the following valid and unexpired forms of photo ID:

    CLEAR does not do background checks, so it could be a good choice if that’s the reason you’re not eligible for other trusted traveler programs.

    CLEAR membership costs $189 per year. If your airport’s TSA PreCheck lines are just as long as the regular security lines, it could be worth the fee. And there are lots of ways to get a discounted membership. For example, just for setting up a United Airlines account you can get CLEAR for only $119 a year; if you have top-tier United Airlines elite status, you can get it for free.

    Get TSA PreCheck as an Orbitz Platinum member

    Orbitz Rewards Platinum members can also have the $85 enrollment fee for TSA PreCheck reimbursed. To qualify for Platinum status with Orbitz, you’ll need to have 12 or more qualifying stay nights per year.

    If you are a Platinum member, you’ll want to visit this website and follow the instructions. Make sure you have your promotion code from the instructions so that you can get the processing fee waived.

    Summary of the best credit cards for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck

    Trusted traveler programs like TSA PreCheck and Global Entry can help get you through security checkpoints faster. Although these programs have registration fees, there are a number of credit cards that will reimburse TSA PreCheck and Global Entry fees.

    If you find that your airport’s TSA PreCheck lanes are just as long as the regular security lines, you may want to consider enrolling in CLEAR. It has a smaller network than TSA PreCheck, but it does let you jump to the front of the TSA line and, depending on your airport, it could be a huge time saver well worth the fee.

      For more travel and credit card news, deals and analysis sign-up for our newsletter here.

    For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, please click here.

    For the rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card from American Express, please click here.

    For rates and fees of the Amex Green card, click here.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)