Yes, Global Entry is worth it. We signed up online about 20 months ago. We had our interview at the Ronald Regan Building in Washington DC since we live in Southern Maryland about 6 months after applying.

The key to a smooth approval is to be totally truthful. We both have had multiple background checks over the decades since we worked in many Government jobs before retiring. The one key piece of advice that always applied throughout was that "disclosure is INFINITLY better than discovery!"

When you get to the interview, your background check has already been completed. If everything you submitted matches what the BC found, the process is quick and smooth. If there are grey areas, you will be asked to explain. Just always be totally honest.

One month after getting our approval we flew to Amsterdam continuing to Florence for a 10 day tour of Tuscany with 2 days in Rome. Since we were booked by our travel agent on KLM we did not get PreCheck at Dulles. No big deal.

On our way back home we again were booked on KLM through Amsterdam. For this trip our passsports were only stamped when we entered the EU at Amsterdam and again when left the EU there on the way home.

When we arrived back at IAD we rode the mobile lounge from our gate to Customs. When we entered the hall there was the expected zig zag maze leading to Imigration/Passport check...and a seperate path only for GE travellers that led to a bank of 50 Kiosk machines along a seperate path.

At the Kiosks we each had our pasports scanned, smiled at the camera, had our fingerprints electronicly scanned, and answered four questions concerning purchases. Then the machine spit out a long "cash register tape" with our data and we followed the "GE Only" lane to bagage claim.

At Baggage claim we recovered our checked luggage, and followed the GE Only lane on the floor with overhead signs to a single TSA agent, avoiding another zig zag corral, and handed her the paper tape, and she waived us to the exit.

Total time from stepping off the airplane to driving out of the parking garage was less than a half hour. At IAD!

Definitely well worth it!