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TSA PreCheck vs Global Entry: which one is worth it for you
Enter your trips and your status: the chooser weighs both programs, with the cost per year and per round trip.
Which one should I get?
Best fit for the way you fly
Global Entry
| Cost per year, after card credits | $24 |
| Per round trip | $4 |
- You fly back from abroad 2 times a year: Global Entry covers customs on the way in and includes TSA PreCheck on the way out.
- Over five years the gap with the cheapest PreCheck is 40.25 dollars at enrollment.
| Program | 5 years, you pay | Gives |
|---|---|---|
| TSA PreCheck | $79.75 | faster US security lane |
| Global Entry | $120 | customs kiosks on return + PreCheck |
| NEXUS | $120 | Canada and US lanes + kiosks + PreCheck |
| SENTRI | $120 | Mexico land lanes + PreCheck |
| CLEAR+ | $1,095 | skips the ID check line only |
Fees read on tsa.gov, cbp.gov and CLEAR’s price page. You apply only on the official sites: this page is not TSA, CBP or CLEAR.
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry overlap on one point and differ on everything else. PreCheck speeds up the security checkpoint when you leave a US airport, for $79.75 to $85 over five years depending on the enrollment provider. Global Entry speeds up customs and immigration when you come back from abroad, at a kiosk instead of the passport line, and it includes PreCheck: members type their PASS ID as Known Traveler Number. It costs $120 for five years, so the gap with the cheapest PreCheck is $40.25, about eight dollars a year. Global Entry asks more of you: a valid passport, a background check in which CBP approves 80% of applications within 2 weeks but some take a year or longer, and an interview with a CBP officer. If you leave the country even once a year and can attend that interview, Global Entry is the better buy.
What Global Entry costs on top of PreCheck
Extra for Global Entry, per return trip
$8.05
| Gap over five years | $40.25 |
| Gap at renewal | $61.25 |
| Global Entry includes | TSA PreCheck |
Against the cheapest PreCheck enrollment (IDEMIA, $79.75). Global Entry also needs a passport and an interview.
Fees and rules read on tsa.gov and cbp.gov by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Side by side
Read the table by line rather than by column: on cost, the two are close; on what they cover and how you get them, they are far apart. The figures come from the TSA PreCheck page and the CBP Global Entry pages, read on October 26, 2026.
| TSA PreCheck | Global Entry | |
|---|---|---|
| Speeds up | US airport security, on departure | US customs and immigration on return, plus security |
| Fee for five years | $79.75 to $85 | $120 |
| Renewal | $58.75 to $84.95 | $120 |
| Who can apply | U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents | the same, plus Mexican nationals and partner countries |
| Document needed | passport, or REAL ID plus proof of citizenship | valid passport |
| Step in person | about 10 minutes, fingerprints and photo | interview with a CBP officer |
| Typical decision | 3-5 days (up to 60) | 80% within 2 weeks (some 12 months or more) |
| Children | none needed to 17 when flying with you | no fee under 18 with a member parent |
When Global Entry is the better buy
TSA's own advice is to consider Global Entry from four trips abroad a year. The arithmetic is kinder to Global Entry than that. Over five years the gap with the cheapest PreCheck is $40.25; at renewal, with PreCheck renewed online at $58.75, it is $61.25. Spread over one return trip a year, that is eight to twelve dollars per arrival for skipping the passport line, which on a busy evening at a large gateway can be the longest wait of the journey. A card with a fee credit of $120 makes the gap disappear.
What Global Entry costs on top of PreCheck
Extra for Global Entry, per return trip
$8.05
| Gap over five years | $40.25 |
| Gap at renewal | $61.25 |
| Global Entry includes | TSA PreCheck |
Against the cheapest PreCheck enrollment (IDEMIA, $79.75). Global Entry also needs a passport and an interview.
Global Entry also helps on land: its card works in the SENTRI lanes from Mexico and the NEXUS lanes into the United States from Canada, after the vehicle is registered for SENTRI. And it travels with you: a Global Entry member can use the kiosks at Canadian preclearance airports and, through arrangements CBP lists, faster lanes in some partner countries, each with its own enrollment.
When PreCheck alone is the right call
PreCheck wins in three situations. You never or almost never fly abroad. You have no valid passport and do not plan to get one, since Global Entry interviews require it while PreCheck accepts a REAL ID driver's license with a birth certificate. Or you need the faster lane within weeks: PreCheck numbers usually arrive in days, while Global Entry can sit in review for months and then needs an interview slot, unless you can use Enrollment on Arrival on your next return from abroad.
Holding both is rarely useful. If you already have PreCheck with years left and apply for Global Entry, use the Global Entry PASS ID in your reservations once you are approved and let PreCheck expire; there is no refund for the unused years.
Eligibility decides first
PreCheck is limited to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents. Global Entry takes the same people plus Mexican nationals and citizens of 22 partner countries, among them the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Japan and South Korea, each after vetting by their own government. A Canadian citizen can have neither directly and goes through NEXUS instead, which includes both. Any criminal conviction, customs or immigration violation can make an applicant ineligible for either; the denials page explains the routes when that happens.