We have three young kids so we don't fly a lot.
But when I do, maaaaan, I love TSA PreCheck.
This post will tell you which credit cards will give you Global Entry and TSA PreCheck for free.
A few years ago, my lovely wife signed me up up for TSA PreCheck and it's been awesome. It's available at most busy airports and it lets you skip the main TSA checkpoint lines. It's becoming more popular, which means lines are growing, but you can skip some of the security theater at the airport like taking off your shoes.
TSA PreCheck has an international version, called Global Entry, but we don't travel enough to have considered it.
Did you know that a lot of travel credit cards are now offering free Global Entry and TSA PreCheck as a perk? Global Entry costs $100 and must be renewed every 5 years. PreCheck costs $85 and must be renewed every five years. These cards will reimburse you the cost of the application every five years!
Cards with Global Entry / TSA PreCheck Fee Credit Offers
The key to getting Global Entry or TSA PreCheck for free is to get a credit card that offers to refund the security program's application fee. Many travel cards offer this perk every 5 years, which matches the renewal period of each program.
What's great about this reimbursement is that you usually don't even need to contact the card. Pay for the application using the card offering the benefit and then wait. The issuer will recognize the charge as coming from Global Entry or TSA and automatically issue you a refund. For some cards, it can be as quickly as a few days or a couple billing statements.
If you recently renewed, you can pay for someone else's application and get a reimbursement. They don't see who the application is for and they don't care.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card will refund you the application fee for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years.
The card also offers a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. 50,000 miles is valued at $500 in travel. Also, there's a special offer of 10X miles on thousands of hotels through January 2020 through hotels.com/venture.
There is a $95 annual fee that is waived for the first year. This card has the lowest annual fee of any card on this list.
Capital One Spark Miles for Business
The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is another Capital One card that will give you a $100 credit for one Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application every four years. The card also gives a 50,000 mile bonus, worth $500 in travel, once you spend $4,500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
The card has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year than it's $95.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Card
The Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card will not only give you a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, but it also has a sign up bonus. You get 80,000 Rapid Rewards points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening your account.
This is on top of a business-friendly point earning schedule of 3 points per $1 spent on Southwest Airlines purchases, 2 points per $1 spent on social media, search engine, Internet, cable and phone services; and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You also get Inflight WiFi credits, 4 upgraded boardings per year (when available), and all for an annual fee of $199.
Platinum Card from American Express
The Platinum Card from American Express will reimburse you the application fee for Global Entry. This card has a lot of travel perks, including access to airport lounges, $200 annual air travel credits, and even $250 in Uber credits each year.
You also get 60,000 Membership Reward points when you spend $5,000 in purchases in your first three months.
This card has a $550 annual fee.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
I love Chase cards because the Chase Ultimate Rewards program is so versatile. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers a $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. You can use this perk for yourself or someone else, you just have to pay for it with the card and they'll credit you.
You also get $300 in annual travel credits as well as access to airport lounges via Priority Pass Select. Those are just a few of the many travel rewards of the card.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve card also has a new sign up bonus of 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card has a $300 annual travel credit perk that you can use on Global Entry fees. It's not as good as some of the other cards that also offer a travel credit perk because on those cards the Global Entry fee benefit is a separate one.
IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
If you're a fan of InterContinental Hotels Group then you might want to consider the IHG Club Premier Credit card. Not only does it reimburse you up to $100 every four years when you pay for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application with the card, but they will give you 80,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 in purchases within the first three months of opening your account.
There are other perks as well including a free night after each account anniversary and Platinum Elite status as long as you are a card member.
With an annual fee of just $89, this card has one of the lowest annual fees of the cards on this list.
Learn more about this card and others
The United Explorer Card
If you fancy United Airlines (and even if you only fly infrequently), the United Explorer Card has a $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit. This is on top of two United Club one-time use passes each year and priority boarding.
As an added incentive, they have a limited time offer of 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in the first three months. It's a solid bonus for new cardholders.
It also has a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year that is normally $95 in subsequent years.
You should be able to find a good travel credit card that gives you the Global Entry fee reimbursement perk.
Even if you have to pay for it yourself, the fee covers five years. Even at $100, that's $20 a year to get into an expedited line or skip the line altogether!
What is Global Entry?
Global Entry is a program by the US Customs and Border Protection. You apply for the program and have to go through a screening and clearance process. If and when Global Entry is granted, you can go through an expedited customs process. The screening and clearance process involves a background check and an in-person interview.
Instead of going through the customs line, you can go to the Global Entry kiosks and simply scan your fingerprints. You fill out a customs declaration and are sent on your merry way.
Global Entry has a $100 fee that you pay when you submit your application. This fee is non-refundable even if your application is denied. Global Entry is good for 5 years and when you get it, you get TSA PreCheck for free!
What is TSA PreCheck?
TSA PreCheck is similar to Global Entry except it's just for TSA checkpoints at airports. You go through a background check and in-person interview but when you are cleared, you are issued a Known Travel Number (KTN). You add that number to your bookings and the airlines will add a little TSA Pre✓ to your boarding passes so you can go through the expedited lines.
Children under 12 don't need TSA PreCheck and can go through the line with you when you go through. Children 13 and older will need their own TSA PreCheck.
In those lines, you don't need to take off your shoes, belts, or light jackets. You can keep your laptops and liquids in your bag. The size rules are still in place but you don't need to remove the containers.
TSA PreCheck costs $85 and is good for five years.
What about CLEAR?
CLEAR is a separate program and is not affiliated with TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. It helps you get through the security line by using biometrics to identify you, rather than paperwork. You can read more about the differences between CLEAR and TSA PreCheck for a better understanding of how the two can work together.
FullTimeFinance says
July 6, 2018 at 8:23 amBank of America premier rewards also has global entry reimbursement. Ironically today I’m applying our last child for global entry. All four of us have gotten free global entry via cards.
Everyone in your party, even kids, must have global entry to use it.
Jim Wang says
July 6, 2018 at 5:12 pmThat’s good to know… that’s unlike with TSA PreCheck, beacuse on that the kids get it when their parents have it.
Jim @ Route To Retire says
July 6, 2018 at 8:28 amThat’s funny – my wife and I were just talking about this last night. We signed her up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve to take advantage of the Global Entry reimbursement along with the signup bonus and the travel credit. We’re going to do the same for me once we knock out the bonus on hers.
It’s an expensive card, but it’ll pay for itself a couple times over with those perks. But it’ll also be the first card that we cancel so we don’t have to pay that annual fee a second time! 😉
— Jim
Jim Wang says
July 6, 2018 at 5:11 pmA lot of those cards have expensive annual fees but they give you so much for them. I imagine that for their ideal customer, the annual fee is just “prepaying” expenses they already have.
The Platinum Card sounds expensive at $450 a year but in just air credits and Uber credits, you get your $450 back. Then you throw in the membership rewards plus Global Entry fee reimbursement and you’re already ahead. It is expensive to folks who aren’t their target or just outside the ideal, but for the ideal it’s a no brainer (hence the widespread adoption of it).
DNN says
July 6, 2018 at 7:27 pmI feel offering that option on a credit card is a good sales & marketing ploy to earning and winning more business. It can sometimes be a hassle getting through TSA. So with that option being an add on with cardmember benefits, it’s a win win for the credit card company, and also for the finance blogger to market credit card affiliate programs and emphasize that specific benefit as a means of increasing sales and ROI long-term.
GYM says
July 9, 2018 at 1:38 amOmmmgg dangling amazing Credit Card offers from the US again! 😉
I have NEXUS (which is Global Entry) but don’t have TSA precheck… The NEXUS is $50 USD for 5 years and is the best $50 spent ever. So worth it especially with kids or even any kind of traveling. I just renewed mine again this year for another 5 years.
Bernz [email protected] says
July 10, 2018 at 11:11 pmI got mine from AMEX for free (reimbursed) and I love it. The Priority Pass lounge access is nice too, but my UBER credits are only $15/month and not $250 annually as you mentioned in your post.
Jim Wang says
July 11, 2018 at 7:08 amThe Uber benefit for The Platinum Card from American Express is $15 per month but you get a $20 bonus in December:
Pat says
November 25, 2018 at 4:14 pmWhy don’t you show how to get the TSA pre-check without one of those credit cards. The price of having one of those cards is crazy out of my budget.
Jim Wang says
November 29, 2018 at 11:44 amThose cards to have annual fees, as most travel cards do, and I will research how to get TSA Pre-check/Global Entry other ways but I suspect there aren’t going to be too many alternatives unfortunately.
Bill says
June 30, 2019 at 4:47 pmTwo of the cards waive the annual fee the first year and most of them have sign-up bonuses that more than pay for an annual fee. And you can always just pay the $85 for TSA Pre-check, but once you’re doing that you may as well get the credit card to take care of it.
Pat says
December 15, 2018 at 3:37 pmThat is crazy. You can get the TSA Pre-check without those credit cards. This makes me wonder if you know what you are talking about in other areas. Sounds like you are just promoting those credit cards.
Jim Wang says
December 16, 2018 at 9:24 amAnyone can get it if they pay the application fee and pass the background check.
Where can you get it for free?
William Miller says
March 14, 2019 at 12:58 pmMy wife’s United Chase Mileage Plus card only covers Global Entry $100 reimbursement for her.
We are a Bank of America Premier Rewards members and am thinking of applying for the Global Entry pass $100 reimbursement fee instead of using her United Chase card. Our two grandchildren are traveling to Japan with us in June. Do you know if we can get the $100 fee reimbursed for them with our Bank of America Premier Rewards account? By the way, one of our grandchildren turns 18 in May so I probably need to get him signed for the Global Entry pass before he turns 18 or do you know if that will be a problem?
Jim Wang says
March 18, 2019 at 11:53 amThe Bank of America Premier Rewards Credit Card has a similar perk to the cards on this list, you get a $100 airport security statement credit towards Globa Entry once every four years.
Your grandson will need Global Entry for himself too and you can sign up before you’re 18 as long as a parent/guardian consents.
Dahlia says
March 19, 2019 at 1:05 amPat, the post clearly says “Ways To Get Global Entry or TSA Pre-check For Free.” He’s just listing the ways to get them for free. (Thanks by the way!) Why are you hating on the guy? If you want to know how to get them, just give it a google on the internet machine.
Jim Wang says
March 19, 2019 at 9:06 amI don’t mind the critique but more to the point, if there is a 100% free way to get Global Entry or TSA Precheck for free, I’d love to know. I realize these are “free” when you get the card, which have an annual fee, but some of these cards have fantastic other perks that make it worth getting even without the GE/TSA perk.
Lucia Diana says
May 6, 2019 at 5:48 pmOur United Explorer Business DOES NOT cover this perk. Isn’t that terrible? Why not for business?
Jim Wang says
May 6, 2019 at 7:16 pmI don’t know why the business version of the card doesn’t offer a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit, it seems silly but I guess they think businesses will pay for it themselves anyway?
cr says
May 21, 2019 at 10:30 amCapital one spark business also paying the fee
Jim Wang says
May 21, 2019 at 2:54 pmYes, it’s new as of May 21, 2019 and I’ve added them to the list. Thanks!
Barb says
June 27, 2019 at 2:18 pmThere are other ways besides having or using these credit cards to get TSA PreCheck. You can trade United Mileage Points, for example. You can trade IHG hotel reward program points for TSA PreCheck. You can also trade Marriott Rewards points for this also.