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 The Platinum Card® from American Express.
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 Chase Sapphire Reserve®‘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®®, 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 IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card. 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 Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card 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 a 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)
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (Terms apply)
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (Terms apply)
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (Terms apply)
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (Terms apply)
- IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
- IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (Terms apply.)
- Mastercard® Black Card™
- Mastercard® Gold Card™
- The Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply)
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
- U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card
- United Club℠ Infinite Card (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
- United℠ Explorer Card (NEXUS application fee statement credit is another option)
- United Quest℠ Card (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 Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, 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.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Since my Reserve card doesn’t cover Nexus, I used the free benefit for my wife’s Global Entry, as per the terms and conditions of the card. Thanks for sharing!
No good deed goes unpunished! Still, you should be proud of helping your friends and family. I’d use your idea except that my wife is ineligible (foreign but not from the small number of nations eligible for Global Entry).
I enjoy helping out whenever I can! 🙂 (And, yes, good deeds frequently do have consequences but oh, well.)
I’ve used mine to cover myself, my spouse, my son and daughter-in-law …. I coached ( harassed) several friends I travel with that had the benefit but never used it. ( now they thank me every time they travel) I also, FINALLY, got my daughter to do the same with her Amex card. I just hate to see it go to waste….
Please remind your readers that the person whose card is being used for either the Global Entry or TSA Precheck application MUST be present at the interview to sign for the card separately from the applicant signing the application. Parents cannot just give their card to their older children for example. Parents must also be present to co-sign the application of a minor child.
I can’t speak to anyone signing for minors. But no one I’ve “gifted” the benefit to has ever needed me present at the interview. They’ve all been adults, but thank you for the data point!
Thank you for sharing a great message.