Bad Service,
Good Service
Good Service
SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2026 --
A funny thing happened to me last week before my flight home from Honolulu: My Global Entry/PreCheck unexpectedly expired. And therein hangs this week's tales of service, good and bad, on the road.
BAD SERVICE
Neither the CBP nor the TSA informs you when your Known Traveler Number (KTN) and credentials expire. You're on your own to keep track, which seems odd for two reasons: An E-mail alert to flyers is easily automated and was something the government did routinely in the past. And the feds are eager to enroll travelers into Global Entry and PreCheck because they require less manpower. Why keep travelers in the dark when their credentials need to renew?
GOOD SERVICE
I applied for Global Entry renewal on my mobile phone while I was sitting in the club waiting for my departing flight. (The hardest parts were remembering how many countries I've visited in the last five years and which of my credit cards would rebate the $120 application fee.) I was approved in 48 hours and my replacement Known Traveler card arrived by mail three days later. All this all during a putative shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security.
BAD SERVICE
Because the TSA shutdown officially drags on, the two security checkpoints in Honolulu's Terminal 1 offer bifurcated service. One only handles PreCheck, Clear, premium and elite flyers. The other across the terminal only handles gen-pop security. I mention this because when TSA Agent Kim noticed that PreCheck was not printed on my boarding pass, she told me to go to gen-pop. I showed her my Known Traveler card, she checked again and refused me again. I appealed to her humanity: I explained that this was my wife's first trip after double knee replacement and I did not want her navigating security alone. Kim was unmoved. At no moment did she mention that my first class ticket entitled me to use the kiosk adjacent to hers, which handled Clear customers and first class flyers. Her only advice was to return to the Hawaiian Airlines counter or hike across the terminal to gen pop.
GOOD SERVICE
With my wife in tow--her PreCheck credentials were in order--I returned to the Hawaiian counter. To her eternal credit, the agent was dogged in trying to get me a PreCheck-approved boarding pass. She must have made a half-dozen small adjustments, printing another pass each time. Nothing worked. "I don't understand," she says, "it's in your profile. This is so frustrating." Then the metaphoric lightbulb went off over her head. "You're first class! No worries. Just go through the first class lane instead of the PreCheck lane." She even walked over to the checkpoint first to ensure the first class lane was open and also advised the credential checker to expect us.
BAD SERVICE
Neither TSA agent Kim nor the Hawaiian counter agent noticed my expired Known Traveler number. How could they? No place on their respective screens indicated that my credentials expired. I didn't find out that fact until I reached the club and logged into my Global Entry account. There was a big, redEXPIRED notification. But, again, what is the government thinking? How could they not flag expired credentials for TSA agents and flash to airlines that a KTN had expired?
GOOD SERVICE
When we returned to the checkpoint, careful to enter via the first class lane, new agents were manning the kiosks. They processed us promptly as first class flyers and sent us to the belts and security scans. And who did we meet? TSA Agent Kim, who had moved to secondarily screening folks who had issues. She was polite: "How are you, Joseph? Glad everything was settled. Let me just wand your wife's knees and off you go … " I thanked her and apologized if I had caused her any grief. "No," she said. "All good. I appreciate you not making a scene."
So off we went to our flight, serviced by an aging Airbus A330-200 well past its sell-by date. And, once again, it was a bad service/good service kind of thing.
The bad service? The sole first class lav was malfunctioning, not something you want to hear at the beginning of a nine-hour redeye. And not something any airline should permit.
The good service? The moment we stowed our bags and sat down, a flight attendant approached with useful information: She alerted us to the lav issue, but explained that the toilet was working. It was the sink that was broken. "But I made sure the bottle of hand sanitizer is full. So you can use that lav if you want. Otherwise, there are two lavs in premium economy and the agents know first class passengers may be coming back. Our scheduled flight time is blocked at nine-oh-two. Let me know whatever you need during the flight. Now what can I bring you before we button up to go?"
A note to readers: I contacted both the CBP and TSA about the policy of no longer proactively alerting flyers about expiring Known Traveler credentials. Neither offered a useful answer or could explain why the government stopped the old policy of E-mailing flyers before expiration. But both offered a useful tip: You can renew any time during the last year of your five-year membership. So take a moment now, find out when your credentials expire and add a note to your calendar to renew at the appropriate time.
BAD SERVICE
Neither the CBP nor the TSA informs you when your Known Traveler Number (KTN) and credentials expire. You're on your own to keep track, which seems odd for two reasons: An E-mail alert to flyers is easily automated and was something the government did routinely in the past. And the feds are eager to enroll travelers into Global Entry and PreCheck because they require less manpower. Why keep travelers in the dark when their credentials need to renew?
GOOD SERVICE
I applied for Global Entry renewal on my mobile phone while I was sitting in the club waiting for my departing flight. (The hardest parts were remembering how many countries I've visited in the last five years and which of my credit cards would rebate the $120 application fee.) I was approved in 48 hours and my replacement Known Traveler card arrived by mail three days later. All this all during a putative shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security.
BAD SERVICE
Because the TSA shutdown officially drags on, the two security checkpoints in Honolulu's Terminal 1 offer bifurcated service. One only handles PreCheck, Clear, premium and elite flyers. The other across the terminal only handles gen-pop security. I mention this because when TSA Agent Kim noticed that PreCheck was not printed on my boarding pass, she told me to go to gen-pop. I showed her my Known Traveler card, she checked again and refused me again. I appealed to her humanity: I explained that this was my wife's first trip after double knee replacement and I did not want her navigating security alone. Kim was unmoved. At no moment did she mention that my first class ticket entitled me to use the kiosk adjacent to hers, which handled Clear customers and first class flyers. Her only advice was to return to the Hawaiian Airlines counter or hike across the terminal to gen pop.
GOOD SERVICE
With my wife in tow--her PreCheck credentials were in order--I returned to the Hawaiian counter. To her eternal credit, the agent was dogged in trying to get me a PreCheck-approved boarding pass. She must have made a half-dozen small adjustments, printing another pass each time. Nothing worked. "I don't understand," she says, "it's in your profile. This is so frustrating." Then the metaphoric lightbulb went off over her head. "You're first class! No worries. Just go through the first class lane instead of the PreCheck lane." She even walked over to the checkpoint first to ensure the first class lane was open and also advised the credential checker to expect us.
BAD SERVICE
Neither TSA agent Kim nor the Hawaiian counter agent noticed my expired Known Traveler number. How could they? No place on their respective screens indicated that my credentials expired. I didn't find out that fact until I reached the club and logged into my Global Entry account. There was a big, red
GOOD SERVICE
When we returned to the checkpoint, careful to enter via the first class lane, new agents were manning the kiosks. They processed us promptly as first class flyers and sent us to the belts and security scans. And who did we meet? TSA Agent Kim, who had moved to secondarily screening folks who had issues. She was polite: "How are you, Joseph? Glad everything was settled. Let me just wand your wife's knees and off you go … " I thanked her and apologized if I had caused her any grief. "No," she said. "All good. I appreciate you not making a scene."
So off we went to our flight, serviced by an aging Airbus A330-200 well past its sell-by date. And, once again, it was a bad service/good service kind of thing.
The bad service? The sole first class lav was malfunctioning, not something you want to hear at the beginning of a nine-hour redeye. And not something any airline should permit.
The good service? The moment we stowed our bags and sat down, a flight attendant approached with useful information: She alerted us to the lav issue, but explained that the toilet was working. It was the sink that was broken. "But I made sure the bottle of hand sanitizer is full. So you can use that lav if you want. Otherwise, there are two lavs in premium economy and the agents know first class passengers may be coming back. Our scheduled flight time is blocked at nine-oh-two. Let me know whatever you need during the flight. Now what can I bring you before we button up to go?"
A note to readers: I contacted both the CBP and TSA about the policy of no longer proactively alerting flyers about expiring Known Traveler credentials. Neither offered a useful answer or could explain why the government stopped the old policy of E-mailing flyers before expiration. But both offered a useful tip: You can renew any time during the last year of your five-year membership. So take a moment now, find out when your credentials expire and add a note to your calendar to renew at the appropriate time.