Pre-Check Change

Just before Christmas, Kris suggested that we go thru the process of getting TSA pre-check.  When I looked at it and saw that it lasts five years, I thought it was probably a good idea, especially with the travelling I do for work, it would be much more convenient to not have to go thru and take stuff out of my backpack and remove my shoes, etc.

I had looked at it right before Christmas and found out I couldn’t even go get it done until just after the first of the year (I think the 15^th was the earliest appointment we could get).  SO I thought I would wait until after Christmas to schedule it, that way I would have a better idea of our schedules.  Plus, Kris is only off on Wednesdays, so that would be best for her.  I had checked with my boss and she said, go ahead and schedule it and if I had to leave early one day to get it done, that would be fine.  So on December 30^th, about a week after I initially looked at it, I went through registering both of us for our ID/background check.  Now, the soonest I could get in was on Thursday 1/24, and even then there were only three appointments.  Kris said to book them and she would have to work out how to do it with work since we were hoping to get it done before leaving for Florida in a month. 

Then I was talking with my boss earlier this week about it and she said she knows how inconvenient the times are, and that it takes 2-3 weeks to get your pre-check number so having to schedule so far out ahead is just ridiculous.  My thought was, huh?  I thought the 2-3 weeks was the wait time to get in to have it done.  She said, nope, it takes 2-3 weeks AFTER you go in in order to get approved, and the 2-3 weeks to get in to have your check done is just a bonus.  That means that even if we would go in on the 24^th it would still be unlikely we would have our traveler numbers before we left.  After discussing it, we are going to reschedule and push the day out for a Wednesday since it won’t matter.  I ended up doing it the day before we leave for Florida, so I’ll be running around between there and work trying to make sure everything is done before we leave, and Kris will be doing the same with packing.  But if we didn’t do it then, it would be at least another two weeks since right after we get back I have to leave on another trip for work for a few days.  Isn’t the government great?!