No. Global Entry and a Redress Number are not the same thing, and asking whether Global Entry is the same as a Redress Number is a common mix-up because both are issued by agencies within the Department of Homeland Security and both produce a number you type into an airline reservation. They solve different problems. Global Entry, run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, speeds you through customs on international arrivals and includes TSA PreCheck. A Redress Number, issued through the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP), fixes a misidentification that has been causing you to get flagged, delayed, or denied boarding. You can have one, both, or neither.
What Global Entry Does
Global Entry is a trusted traveler program run by CBP. Approved members skip the standard customs line when arriving at a U.S. airport from an international flight and use a touchless biometric portal that scans your face and clears you in seconds.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Global Entry CBP has replaced most of the older kiosks with these facial-recognition portals.2U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Global Entry Touchless Portal Instructions
Membership also includes TSA PreCheck for domestic flights: shorter lines, no need to remove shoes or laptops, and a PreCheck indicator on your boarding pass. The application fee is $120 and covers five years.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Global Entry Many premium travel credit cards reimburse the fee. If you only fly domestically, standalone TSA PreCheck costs $78 for five years.
Once approved, you receive a nine-digit membership number called a PASSID. Airlines call this your Known Traveler Number, or KTN. It appears on the back of your trusted traveler card and inside your account at the Trusted Traveler Programs website.3Department of Homeland Security. Official Trusted Traveler Program Website The KTN is what triggers the PreCheck designation on your boarding pass.
What a Redress Number Does
A Redress Number, formally called a Redress Control Number (RCN), is a seven-digit number issued through DHS TRIP.4Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions – DHS TRIP It exists for one reason: to link you with a resolved misidentification case so security systems stop confusing you with someone on a watch list or flagging you because of a past data error.
Travelers who need one typically experience problems like being unable to print a boarding pass, getting repeatedly pulled into secondary screening at customs, being denied boarding, or being incorrectly denied ESTA authorization.5Homeland Security. Step 1: Should I Use DHS TRIP? DHS TRIP also handles situations where fingerprint records at a port of entry need correction or where an I-94 departure record was never submitted when you left the country. It does not handle complaints about lost luggage, poor customer service, or discrimination.
A Redress Number is free to obtain. It does not give you expedited screening or shorter customs lines. It tells the system that you have already been cleared and should not be flagged again.
How to Tell the Two Numbers Apart
The quickest way to keep them straight is by length, source, and purpose.
- Known Traveler Number (KTN/PASSID): nine digits, issued by CBP through Global Entry or another trusted traveler program, and used to get faster screening and customs processing.
- Redress Control Number (RCN): seven digits, issued by DHS TRIP, and used to prevent you from being misidentified as a security risk.
Airline booking systems keep separate fields for each, and putting one number in the other’s field will not work. The DHS TRIP FAQ is explicit on this point: “These numbers are not the same, and it is important not to confuse one with the other.”6DHS TRIP – Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions
Using Both Numbers When You Book Travel
If you have both numbers, enter each in its designated field when you make a reservation. Neither field is required to complete a booking, but skipping them defeats the purpose of having them.6DHS TRIP – Homeland Security. Frequently Asked Questions The KTN triggers the TSA PreCheck indicator on your boarding pass. The Redress Number tells the Secure Flight system to use your cleared profile during the pre-departure security check.
Online, most airlines display both fields under a “secure traveler” or “known traveler” section on the passenger details page. Booking by phone or through a travel agent? Give both numbers and specify which is which. Putting the wrong number in the wrong slot is one of the most common reasons PreCheck fails to show up on a boarding pass.
Having One Does Not Affect the Other
Because the programs are separate, a Global Entry denial does not touch your Redress Number, and losing Global Entry membership does not erase your RCN or bring back the misidentification issues it resolved. You can hold a Redress Number without ever applying for Global Entry, and you can hold Global Entry without ever needing DHS TRIP. Each number sits in its own record, at its own agency, doing its own job.