Some of the fun of traveling as been taken out due to lengthy waits at airport security, immigration and customs.

Luckily, if you are a US citizen or permanent resident, you can save your precious time by signing up for TSA Pre-Check and/or Global Entry.

TSA Pre-Check is an expedited security lane for travelers who have been pre-approved as low-risk. You fill out an online application, pay $85 for five years, and go for a face-to-face interview, usually at your nearest airport.

Global Entry means that whenever you go abroad and re-enter the US, you go through expedited immigration and customs lines. Again, you apply online, pay $100 for five years, and do the face-to-face interview.

The advantage of paying the extra $15 for Global Entry is that you get TSA Pre-Check included for free, so it makes a lot of sense.

For me, the online application took about 30 minutes to complete. Then you get conditional approval and are scheduled an interview. The earliest available date for me was three months in advance.

I attended that interview along with my Australian passport, US permanent resident card and a utility bill to prove my address. The interview was more for identity verification and to explain the program and was all done in 15 minutes.

The approval was instant, meaning that if I were to fly that day, I could have taken advantage of the programs.

You can find more information on Global Entry here and TSA Pre-Check here.

Any questions you may have, pop them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them.