I travel a lot. Over the years it has gotten harder and harder to deal with the airports. When I compare driving 5 hours vs. a 45 minute flight, the driving typically wins only because of the airport hassles. Particular with the stupid TSA security checks. I normally wear a belt, and having to deal with that, take off shoes and my computer bag, etc. results in a hour or so long wait in security lines, then the whole ordeal..... Well you know the drill.
I also travel hack. I have a lot of credit cards and they have served me and my business well over the years. I've generated millions of free miles which has been enough for my family and I to spend a month in Europe each year, as well as a month returning back to my native Australia to see family, etc. each summer (I live in the USA).
One of the forgotten benefits of certain credit cards is that they will pay for your TSA Pre-Check (or Global Entry), which I have been avoiding over the years. It's just a hassle to schedule some interview at the airport to get Pre-Checked. I've avoided it over and over again. But the last straw was when my wife & I were traveling and she randomly got Pre-Check on her boarding pass, and I didn't. The end result is that she literally walked through through TSA screening without an issue and I was stuck for 1.5 hours in line with all the plebs. OK, I thought... That's the straw that broke the camel's back.
I went online to the TSA website to see what the scheduling requirements were for getting a TSA Pre-Check. To my surprise, they could schedule me in only a few days ahead. I had an upcoming trip to Las Vegas from Phoenix and after locating the lounge that my beloved Chase Sapphire Reserve card lets me have free access to, I decided to schedule the Pre-Check before my flight left. I gave myself a few hours of grace time for this, but surprisingly the process only took about 5 minutes. I mean all they wanted was fingerprints and verification of the information I put into their website to schedule the whole thing. Oh and $85.
The $85 fee covers you for 5 years. But still, its $85.
However here's the thing I discovered. The annual fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve VISA card ($450) includes $300 of travel credits, which I will use on car rentals, hotels, airport/fuel surcharge fees, etc. but ALSO it comes with up to $100 for use on paying for TSA Pre-Check. Yep, that's right. I've already paid for it with this VISA card that is generating me miles anyway.
Do the math. The $450 annual fee is then discounted down to $150 with the travel credit. Now I can further eat into this cost by $85 for the TSA Pre-Check.
So I did that. Yep, it worked just fine. A few days after paying for it, I see a credit on my statement for the costs. TSA Pre-Check for FREE!!!!!
American Express Platinum cards have the same benefits, BTW. But without the travel credit. This is where Chase wins out with their card. So if you are considering or can only afford one of these prime credit cards, you might want to first go with the Chase one because the benefits will outstrip the annual fee for the card (at least in the first year).
But there's still a couple of nuances that you should be aware of. The $100 credit that Chase offer can be applied to either Global Entry (the International process to streamline entry back to the USA) or the TSA Pre-Check. What I stupidly didn't take advantage of is that Global Entry comes with TSA Pre-Check for free. Duh! I could have had Chase pay for both of these at once, so missed that opportunity. Don't be like me - do the Global Entry thing. It's a little more difficult to schedule, but you get 2 for the price of 1 here.
Anyway a small travel hack that you can take advantage of quickly. Avoid the long wait lines here by being prepared and you can win!