Re: Erm....
Please tell me more about these "I can afford $100 to prove I'm not a terrorist" cards.
I assume these are the Global Entry (or NEXUS for the northern cousins) cards. Very much worth the money if you happen to cross any US border with any regularity at all. They let you bypass the general immigration queue; you are also exempted from filling the stupid little customs form (you do get the same questions at the entry terminal, though); in many - but not all - airports you also get to use an express security queue. All-in-all, it usually lets you cut down the time you need to clear the US customs and immigration to under 15 minutes. When I was still travelling to the US, I was routinely able to catch 45-minute domestic connexions at La Guardia when arriving on an international flight, which would have been quite out of the question otherwise.
Besides the cost, the downside is that you have to undergo the equivalent of a low-grade background check when you enroll. It's nothing major - the full set of fingerprints, retinal scan (at least if you apply through NEXUS), couple of pages of questions, basic security/reliability check, and a personal interview - but it does take time, and it can be a little disconcerting if you've never done it before.
Now that I can no longer get the card (technically, I am still eligible, but the nearest enrollment center, which I would need to attend in person, is a 7-hour flight away), I've decided that the undeniable pleasure of vising the US is no longer worth the hassle and the occasional humiliation of crossing that border in the general queue. Hopefully, things will improve again before I get too old to travel for pleasure - but I am not holding my breath.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
