Field Notes · Travel Planning
Travel Like a
Head of State
When a foreign dignitary lands, someone meets them at the jetway. The rest of us queue up with everyone else. There's a middle option.
When heads of state and senior government officials travel internationally, they get the full treatment from the governments they visit — met at the plane, escorted past every checkpoint, luggage handled, car waiting at the curb. Nobody waits in line. Nobody grumbles at an understaffed immigration hall.
I know because I've had it both ways. When I traveled internationally with the federal government, I occasionally accompanied a senior executive that warranted expedited handling on arrival. Let me tell you, that will spoil you. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that similar expediting services are available to travelers with no special government status.
What an Expediter Actually Does
Picture getting off a long international flight and being met at the end of the jetway by a friendly local who knows your name, speaks your language, and walks you straight past the line that has already formed at the immigration checkpoint. That same person then escorts you to baggage claim — where you point out your bags and someone else carries them — and walks you past customs and out to your waiting car. If anything interrupts the smooth flow of that process, there's a private arrival lounge where you can have a drink and a snack while it gets sorted.
No brass band. No red carpet. But you will feel conspicuously better off than everyone else from your flight, most of whom are still in that line when you've already left the building.
Arrival Expediting: Usually Worth It
Janet and I have made a habit of checking for expediting services whenever we travel internationally, particularly in the Caribbean, and testing them ourselves before recommending them to clients. The verdict on arrival expediting, almost without exception: worth the cost.
Our average time from deplaning to getting into the car — including waiting for checked luggage, which no expediter has figured out how to speed up — runs about thirty minutes. The people who skipped the service and stood in the same lines we bypassed sometimes didn't make it to the resort until an hour or two after we were already checked in, unpacked, and on the beach.
That's not an exaggeration. I've asked.
Departure Expediting: A Shorter Case
Departure expediting is a more mixed proposition. In some cases, it gets you to the front of the airline's check-in line — but not always. It may include access to a VIP departure lounge, which is a pleasant way to wait for boarding, especially if there's a delay — but, again, not always. Most airlines already sell priority check-in and lounge access separately, and usually for less than a departure expediting service charges.
The one thing departure expediting occasionally offers that airlines don't: a skip-the-line pass for security screening. Not every service includes it, though, so it's worth confirming before you book. We can help you understand exactly what you're getting for the fee at any specific destination.
Global Entry: The Domestic Expediter
Arrival expediting ends at the U.S. border — but that's where Global Entry picks up. It's the closest thing to having a stateside expediter, and at $120 for five years it's among the better values in travel. Janet and I have used ours to skip lines at CBP immigration checkpoints that, on the same flights, took other passengers the better part of an hour.
Global Entry also works at a handful of foreign airports that participate in CBP's pre-arrival screening program — airports where you clear U.S. customs before you board rather than after you land. Nassau is one of them. We've come through there and can confirm that Global Entry was worth every dollar for what it allowed us to skip.
The full rundown on Global Entry — how to apply, the interview, Enrollment on Arrival — is in the companion guide.
What It Costs and How to Book It
Arrival expediting services run roughly $200–$300 depending on the destination; departure services are typically a bit less. The price has generally climbed along with demand — these services have become popular enough that availability is a real concern. We've seen travelers arrive at the airport trying to sign up on the spot and get turned away because the day was fully booked.
Book early. If you're considering an expediting service for your trip, it shouldn't be an afterthought the week before you leave. When we book your travel, we'll flag whether the service is available at your destination and what it includes, so you can make the call with full information.
Whether It's Worth It
That depends entirely on you. If you're traveling off-peak, have a high tolerance for lines, or a low one for spending money on something you could technically wait out — maybe it isn't worth the cost.
I have a low tolerance for lines. Any lines. I spent enough time standing in them during my Army years that I've developed a strong preference for not doing it on vacation. When I have to stand in one, I become, in Janet's generous description, an impatient three-year-old. If that characterization applies to you, an expediting service is probably the right call.
And if someone ever figures out how to expedite checked luggage, I'll be first in line. Metaphorically speaking.
The service exists, it works, and in most cases it costs less than you'd expect for what you get. The question isn't whether it's available — it's whether skipping two hours of airport lines on the first day of your vacation is worth a couple hundred dollars to you. For most of our clients who've tried it, the answer is yes, and they ask for it again on the next trip.