Does anybody know how to get in touch with SIA?

[malcontent]

Well SQ made another crack in my luggage on the flight back to SG and they still have not gotten back to me for the initial flight to the US. This is getting funny at this point. More money from travel insurance then.

Delta airlines didn’t even make any new cracks at all but SQ did. That or JFK airport sucks at handling bags. *shrug*

That is another perk of using a US credit card, good ones will cover lost or damaged luggage if you charge the flight, and that is on top of the sign up bonus and other rewards. Nowadays many do not charge foreign transaction fees either. The last time I flew Delta back in 2018 (when they still flew out of Singapore), I signed up for the Skymiles Amex Gold (first year no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees) and got 70,000 bonus miles, plus tens of thousands more earned miles from spend on the card. I got two free checked bags on two domestic flights with the family (we vacationed in the Canadian Rockies that year - almost all by points and miles). I then cancelled the card after 11 months (before the annual fee) but kept all the goodies.

Definitely >$1k of benefits for one card signup.

[malcontent]

Global Entry is amazing, I breezed through immigration within 5 mins… and waited a long time at the luggage claim instead lol. Yes, it comes with TSA Pre Check and I just used it today. Not having to take off shoes and keeping my liquids & devices in bags is a huge plus. I saw there’s a higher tier called CLEAR but I’m not eligible for it.

I have applied for Global Entry. Conditional approval arrived within 48 hours. The next step is to schedule an interview, but interviews in Singapore are unavailable until Nov 29th, and even the button to select Singapore is missing.

I’m flying to Chicago in a couple of weeks and the Chicago appointments are unavailable until end August.

I read that virtual interviews are available for some, but apparently not for me.

I also read that it’s possible to get an interview on arrival - including at Chicago, so I will try that and report back.

I believe the process is the same for both US and Singapore passport holders.

[malcontent]

Just an update to the above, as mentioned by MOCHS previously, interview schedules can open up as people cancel/change their appointments.

After a few days of checking and re-checking multiple times throughout the day and night, a slot in Singapore finally opened up next month - so I jumped on it. This will be a backup, in case I’m not able to get the interview on arrival in a few weeks (apparently there are staffing shortages, so I’m not betting on it).

[malcontent]

Another update to the above. I just managed to get an appointment for this week in Singapore.

I’ve been logging in and checking the site about once every couple of hours throughout the day. Most times you only get a slot at the end of the queue, which right now is out to Dec. You will only see a slot open up (due to someone cancelling) maybe once or twice in a day. Those few slots are usually months away, so you need both diligence and luck.

Another point to note, anytime a slot has opened up, I noticed it always got snapped up rather quickly, usually within a half an hour at most… so there must be a lot of people out there fishing for slots.

[malcontent]

Just a final update, I went to the US embassy today and got the interview done and I was approved instantly. No major questions were asked of me, and no documents were required other than my passport. One thing I found odd, they could only send the Global Entry Card to a US address. I used my parent’s address, and I’ll be visiting them the weekend after next, so it’s perfect timing. However, you really don’t need the physical card to use Global Entry, unless you are driving into Canada.

One final tip, and this was what the guy told me, typically they cancel some slots on Tuesday, so that can be your lucky day if you are wanting an earlier slot, so if you’ve applied, keep checking, especially on Tuesday. I happened to get mine Monday night, but Tuesday was the 4th of July holiday so maybe that’s why.

[MOCHS]

Yay!

Funny enough, my husband’s GE card never made it to his parents house. *shrug*

The wait at the embassy was a bit boring since you couldn’t bring in any devices, including a smartwatch. My hubby and I just stared at the paintings on the wall to kill time.

[malcontent]

Yay!

Funny enough, my husband’s GE card never made it to his parents house. *shrug*

The wait at the embassy was a bit boring since you couldn’t bring in any devices, including a smartwatch. My hubby and I just stared at the paintings on the wall to kill time.

I was super lucky, the CBP officer had no other interviewees at that time, so it was in and done in 20 mins. The guy was very professional. I made sure not to distract him while he was key punching what was needed for my approval - I saw the email approval as soon as I got home 10 mins later. He also read out my parent’s address in the states, so I have my fingers crossed (although I don’t plan to make any Canadian land crossings soon).

So all in all, the entire process was just under one week for me, but took some doing (and luck).

[MOCHS]

I wonder if it’s the same guy that interviewed me. He sent me a reminder email the day before the GE interview and I was surprised to see the same name on the actual day. Did his first name start with a B?

He did verify the address with my husband and it was correct. Missing mail isn’t that uncommon in the US anyway.

I also noticed the US Embassy did check out my LinkedIn profile on the week of my GE interview. I never listed any of my social media accounts in the GE application. Guess it’s a final check to verify me.

[malcontent]

I wonder if it’s the same guy that interviewed me. He sent me a reminder email the day before the GE interview and I was surprised to see the same name on the actual day. Did his first name start with a B?

He did verify the address with my husband and it was correct. Missing mail isn’t that uncommon in the US anyway.

I also noticed the US Embassy did check out my LinkedIn profile on the week of my GE interview. I never listed any of my social media accounts in the GE application. Guess it’s a final check to verify me.

I can’t recall his first name, but it seems like his last name was short and ended with an x. He was very personable and even shared some of his travel experiences. Interesting that they checked out your social media, they wouldn’t have found anything on me if they checked. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did a soft enquiry on my credit score, which is over 800. They obviously didn’t find any dirt on me

[MOCHS]

We were interviewed by the same guy. He was friendly too. He saw hubby and I seated together and asked if we wanted to complete the GE procedure as a family or individually. He kinda joked that there have been occasions during the family interview where a secret was revealed and the spouse didn’t know anything about it. I found his humour funny.

I also had a blister on my thumb so I had a band aid on it and he said it was fine for the fingerprinting section so only 9 of my fingerprints got captured. He said there are GE applicants who have a finger or two amputated and it’s okay to not have 10 fingerprints.

When I tried to enter JFK via GE with 10 fingerprints since my blister healed, the GE kiosk failed on me actually and I was directed to the immigration counter next to the GE kiosk where they recaptured all 10 fingerprints. It was slightly nerve wrecking but at least I did not have to re-queue at the international line.

There was some hoohaa years ago when GE was introduced where they appeared to “ask” for your social media pages. Many applicants just chose not to input it. Technically during the conditional approval stage, you have already passed the requirements and there isn’t anything more to check.

[malcontent]

Technically during the conditional approval stage, you have already passed the requirements and there isn’t anything more to check.

Yep, that is what I read online, the interview is almost a formality, much like when you go to the immigration counter itself - you can assume you’re going to be approved. And just like at the immigration counter, this allows them the opportunity to pick up any body language or other peculiarities/inconsistencies that may need further probing.

[malcontent]

Here is what happened when I lost my virginity doing Global Entry for the first time. I arrived at the airport and as expected - no crowds, nary a soul in fact, so it saved me no time this trip… but when I walked up to the kiosk, I was surprised, it barely caught my face and instantly I was called by name to the immigration counter - no prints, no passport, the guy just handed me a card with a number on it and said proceed. I then handed it to the customs clearance later and went through without question. Pretty slick.

I just went through TSA Pre-check on the way out (yes, also nary a soul this time… it just figures), and didn’t really see a noticeable difference, to be honest… maybe in the future.

On my last day in the US, the Global Entry card showed up in the mail, so I do have that now… maybe it will come in handy on my next land crossing into Canada. Who knows?

[MOCHS]

Eh? Which lucky airport did you go to that you has no crowds? JFK had lots of people in the evening when I landed & departed.

Even my in-laws small regional airport had a crowd but TSA pre-check was empty while the rest went through the normal line.

[malcontent]

Eh? Which lucky airport did you go to that you has no crowds? JFK had lots of people in the evening when I landed & departed.

Even my in-laws small regional airport had a crowd but TSA pre-check was empty while the rest went through the normal line.

It shocked me too… it was Chicago O’hare, and the last time I went through it was absolutley jam packed, so it had to be just lucky timing.

The reason I say “as expected” is because it’s just my luck after I spend $100 on this that the crowds disappear and it becomes useless.

I’m sure that luck will run out and it will be useful to beat the crowds in the future.