![]() Once I'd opened it on my phone, it asked to scan the info page of my passport and directed me to take a photo of myself in order to create a permanent profile that now lives in my app. While on the Tarmac waiting to de-plane, instead of filling out the paper Customs re-entry form, I downloaded Mobile Passport. When I touched down at JFK after a 14-hour flight, which included a two-hour delay due to an ill passenger, to say that I would have tried *anything* to get myself out of the airport a little faster would be an understatement. ![]() I walked right up to a waiting agent who scanned my QR code, took a look at my passport, stamped it, and sent me on my way. It sounded too good to be true, so I decided to try it out for myself, which I did on a recent trip back from Dubai. It's the official one of US Customs and Border Protection and allows anyone with a US or Canadian passport to skip the stress-inducing re-entry lines after international flights at 24 domestic airports (plus the Everglades Cruise Port in Florida). Instead, he told me he'd downloaded a free (!) app called Mobile Passport. How, I asked, assuming he'd shelled out hundreds of dollars to sign his brood up for the expedited security perks of either TSA Pre-Check (which costs $85 for a five-year membership) or Global Entry ($100 for the same timeframe). So, when a neighbor told me recently about how he and his family of four managed to make it through US Customs in under five minutes-over Thanksgiving.in New York City-I was, understandably, intrigued. I love a good healthy travel hack as much as the next person-whether it's ways to stay hydrated on an airplane, catch some zzz's (even in coach), or curb that inevitable case of jet lag that sets in after a long-haul flight. ![]()
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