Can Other People Use Your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Credit Card Benefit?

Many travel enthusiasts hold at least one credit card offering statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fees. (Global Entry carries a non-refundable $100 fee to apply; TSA PreCheck®’s is $85. Even if you’re denied membership, you can’t get the fee back.)

More cards are now adding NEXUS application fee credit, too.

But what happens when you simultaneously hold multiple credit cards offering the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application statement credit (as I once did)?

After all, your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® membership is good for five years. And most cards allow you to apply (or renew) every four or four and a half years, so your membership doesn’t lapse. I charged both my original Global Entry application fee and subsequent renewal fee to my card_name. (Rates and Fees.)

What did I do with all the other cards’ Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application statement credit benefits? Let them go to waste?

Oh, heck no.

You Can Let Others Use Your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® (or NEXUS) Credit Card Benefit!

The Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® statement credit feature is transferrable (for lack of a better term). The cardholder does not need to be the person applying for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. 

Here are some examples:

My best friend used my card_name‘s benefit to apply for Global Entry. I gave him my credit card and billing information. He paid the Global Entry application fee to my card, the $100 charge showed up on my account and was later credited, I earned 100 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, and he got his Global Entry membership.

One of my client’s reps with whom I travel frequently didn’t have TSA PreCheck®. (Do you know how much Las Vegas American Express Centurion Lounge time she cost us while I waited for her to clear security at LAS? 🙂 ) So, she applied for Global Entry and used my card_name. Same thing as the above example: she charged the fee to my card, it was credited back, I earned 100 IHG points, and all is good.

Finally, my wife’s cousin, the cousin’s husband, and the cousin’s husband’s brother all traveled to Spain and Mexico one year. This was after the four “premium” Delta SkyMiles cobranded Amexes added the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® benefit to their cards. So,  they used my Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, and card_name to pay their fees. Everything worked great and they now enjoy Global Entry.

What Should You Keep in Mind About Letting Other People Use Your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Credit Card Benefit?

Keep in mind a few points if you decide to let others use your credit card benefits.

First, you give your credit card number, the card’s three (or four) digit security code, and all your billing information to the person you’re “gifting” the benefit. So, make sure this is someone you know and trust. (An alternative is to have that person fill out their application online and then have you physically come over to the computer and enter your information while they take a hike for a minute.) I’m all for being kind — but don’t be dumb. I’d be leery about giving my personal information to the girlfriend of a friend’s sister’s roommate I met at a party or something.

Next, make sure the lucky person is someone who will actually use Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Some of my relatives travel by plane once a year. Maybe every other year. Now, if these people specifically ask me if they can use my Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® credit, I may give it to them. But I’ll also tell them they’ll probably spend more time applying for the program, driving to and from the in-person interview location, waiting for the interview, and actually getting interviewed by the TSA or Customs and Border Patrol agent — than just waiting in “standard” airport security a few times over the course of five years.

Also: please, please, please make sure the person understands that when going through TSA security:

• laptops and 3-1-1 compliant liquids can remain in their carryon bags
• they don’t have to take off their shoes

Finally, flaky people need not apply. Filling out the online application is fairly easy (though tedious, especially for people who do a lot of international traveling). But, as I mentioned above, there is an in-person interview that must be conducted before the feds officially sign off on your membership. Someone who used my Global Entry application statement credit never showed up for their interview and didn’t reschedule. That irked me. My card was charged and credited the application fee, so it didn’t cost me anything. But the benefit was exhausted for four and a half years. I could’ve instead offered it to someone else who would’ve gone to their interview if they wanted to use the credit.

What Credit Cards Offer Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® (or NEXUS) Application Fee Statement Credit?

You might already have a credit card offering Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee statement credit — and not even know it!

This isn’t an exhaustive list of all cards offering the benefit. But here are about 20 or so:

• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply)
• card_name
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
• card_name
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (Terms apply)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (Terms apply)
• card_name (Terms apply)
• card_name (Terms apply)
• card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
• card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
• card_name (Terms apply.)
• card_name
• card_name
• card_name (Terms apply)
• <card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
• card_name
• card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
• card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
• card_name (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)

Final Approach

If you hold more than one card offering Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee statement credit, consider “gifting” the benefit to someone. The cardholder does not need to be the person applying for the program.

Just make sure the lucky recipient is someone you trust — and who will actually use Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Hopefully, they’re intelligent enough to understand how the security process actually works. And that’s after they’ve attended an in-person interview they know they must attend.

To see rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link. Terms apply. (See rates and fees; terms apply.)

To see rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link. Terms apply.

To see rates and fees for the card_name, please visit this link. Terms apply.

To see rates and fees for the card_name, please visit this link. Terms apply.

To see rates and fees for the card_name, please visit this link. Terms apply.

To see rates and fees for the card_name, please visit this link. Terms apply.

To see rates and fees for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.