I fly Southwest out of Love Field almost exclusively for international trips. That means I'm connecting regardless — and I have opinions about where that connection lands on the way home. Strong ones.
If the choice is a shorter connection through Austin or a longer one through Houston Hobby, I'm taking Houston every time. I'll sit in that extra 45 minutes at HOU without hesitation.
Once you understand why, you'll probably start making the same call.
The App Most Travelers Have Never Heard Of
Mobile Passport Control — MPC — is a free U.S. Customs and Border Protection app that lets you submit your declaration digitally before you ever reach the immigration booth. No kiosk. No paper form. Dedicated lane.
It's free. It takes about 10 minutes to set up. And most travelers I talk to have never heard of it.
I've timed it personally — from the immigration hall entrance to outside the booth: under four minutes. The general line was backed up well past 45.
The catch: not every airport has it. Houston Hobby (HOU) has it. Austin-Bergstrom (AUS) does not.
That's why I take the longer connection.
Let's Back Up — The Full Landscape
Four tools. Most travelers have one. Few have the right combination.
TSA PreCheck — $85 for 5 years The one most people know. Dedicated security lane, no removing shoes or laptops, significantly faster than standard screening. Works at domestic security and on international departures from U.S. airports. Does nothing for you on the return side at immigration.
If you fly more than twice a year, get it.
Global Entry — $120 for 5 years PreCheck plus expedited immigration re-entry. When you land internationally, instead of the general immigration line you use a dedicated kiosk, answer a few quick questions, and you're done. Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck automatically.
The application requires a brief interview at an enrollment center. Less intimidating than it sounds — schedule it, do it once, done for five years.
If you take even one international trip every few years, get it. It pays for itself the first time you use it.
CLEAR — $189/year CLEAR replaces ID verification at security with biometrics — fingerprint or iris scan. Gets you to the front of the security screening line faster, though you still go through the TSA process itself. CLEAR plus PreCheck is the fastest combination through domestic security.
Worth it for some. Genuinely optional for others. Most expensive of the four.
Mobile Passport Control (MPC) — Free The one nobody talks about. MPC lets you complete your declaration on your phone before you land, then use a dedicated immigration lane on arrival. No interview. No fee. Download the CBP One app, set up your profile, fill it out on the plane.
I've timed it personally — from the immigration hall entrance to outside the booth: under four minutes. The general line was backed up well past 45.
One honest note: not every participating airport runs a fully dedicated MPC lane. Some blend MPC users into a shared line, which cuts into the advantage. At airports with a true dedicated lane — Houston Hobby included — it's real. At others, results vary.
But it's free. There's no reason not to have it set up.
How They Work Together
Fly a few times a year, occasional international trip: Get PreCheck. Download MPC before your next international return. About $85 and 20 minutes of setup total.
Travel internationally with any regularity: Get Global Entry. It includes PreCheck, covers you at immigration, and you can still use MPC when Global Entry kiosks are backed up. $120 every five years.
Fly constantly and value every minute in the airport: Global Entry plus CLEAR. You'll move through domestic departures and international arrivals faster than almost everyone around you.
The Texas Traveler Angle
Most of my clients are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A fair number fly Southwest out of Love Field or take a one-stop connection to save money on international fares. No judgment — I do both.
What most people don't think about: if you're already connecting, your return airport is a choice. And that choice matters when you've been traveling all day and just want to get home.
Texas airports worth knowing:
DAL (Love Field) — no international arrivals; Southwest international routes connect through HOU or elsewhere
HOU (Houston Hobby) — MPC available; my preferred return connection on Southwest international itineraries
DFW — Global Entry and MPC both available
IAH (Houston Bush Intercontinental) — Global Entry and MPC available; IAH connections can be a grind even on domestic flights — factor that in
AUS (Austin-Bergstrom) — no MPC; I avoid routing international returns through Austin when I have a choice
(Verify the current full list at cbp.gov before you travel — it does expand)Plan something worth talking about
What About Cruise Ports?
If you know anything about me and how I got into the travel business, you know I love a good cruise. The water. The entertainment. The everything-is-just-there environment where the hardest decision of the day is which pool to sit beside. Cruising is where my passion for travel turned into a career. So when we talk about traveling, of course we’ll talk about cruising!.
MPC is available at four U.S. cruise ports — Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale), Miami, Port of Palm Beach, and Port of San Juan. Galveston and Port Canaveral are not on the list.
Honest reality for most cruisers right now: facial recognition has changed disembarkation dramatically at major ports. For the past several years, on sailings of every size, I've walked off with thousands of fellow passengers and not stopped moving until I was outside the terminal. MPC at cruise ports is a useful backup — particularly at smaller or older terminals where facial recognition isn't fully deployed — but it's not the difference-maker it is at airports.
What is a difference-maker: your passport.
If you're on a closed-loop itinerary — same departure and return port — you're technically allowed to sail with just a birth certificate and government-issued ID. A lot of people do. I don't recommend it.
Facial recognition, MPC, and Global Entry all require a passport. No passport means the general line — on a ship with thousands of other passengers. That's a long morning. And that's before you consider needing an emergency flight home if something goes wrong mid-trip.
Travel with your passport. Every time.
The Bottom Line
PreCheck: get it.
Global Entry: get it if you travel internationally at all.
CLEAR: personal call.
MPC: it's free, it works, and it only helps you where it's available — which is exactly why I route my connections around it.
Check whether your arrival airport has MPC before you book your next international return. If you're already connecting anyway, it might be worth pointing that connection somewhere better.
And if you're flying home from Cancun on Southwest? I'll see you at Hobby.
This is exactly the kind of thing I help clients think through before they leave home — not just where you're going, but how you get there and back. Reach out anytime.
Billy Miller | Miller Travel Group | #WhyStayHome