US Immigration delays due Budget cuts

[ShaneN]

This is probably more the time-frame I am anticipating. If I cleared TBIT at 0800, do you think I would have enough time to get to Terminal 6, check-in, clear security etc to make a 0945 departure. I have heard about long delays getting through security screening. I am flying F with Alaska Airlines, so presume there would be priority check-in, but not sure about security?

If Alaska is similar to AA, should not be a problem. The good part of my experience this morning is that it took less than 10 minutes from AA priority checking to the First Lounge. Left TBI at 8, lounge by 8:25. Flying F and OW emerald helped of course. The general security queue at T4 extended out the door.

 

[TheRealTMA]

. I am flying F with Alaska Airlines, so presume there would be priority check-in, but not sure about security?

There's priority checkin and priority security for Alaskan T6

 

[zig]

Thanks for the feeback and suggestions everyone.

I've missed my Alaskan airline flight in that time frame. My tip, walk between the terminals if you're able, the 7 minutes to do that briskly is faster than waiting for the bus.

Thanks, was thinking I would walk between terminals - good to know it will be quicker.

Very unlikely you will not be able to make the 0945 flight, but if you feel that say it is 0850 and you are nowhere near to the front of the line, I would just go to the US citizens line and tell them that you were directed there and show them the details of the next flight that you have (there is only a 1% chance that the CBP officer will even question why you are in the US line in the first place)

Thanks for the suggestion, will keep this in mind kempvet.

Most major airlines now have check-in counters at TBIT arrivals.

I have been trying to find out if AS has a counter at TBIT. Would be great if they did, to be able to get rid of luggage.

If Alaska is similar to AA, should not be a problem. The good part of my experience this morning is that it took less than 10 minutes from AA priority checking to the First Lounge. Left TBI at 8, lounge by 8:25. Flying F and OW emerald helped of course. The general security queue at T4 extended out the door.

Out the door - that's horrible! Checked AS website and it appears that there is priority security in T6, so that should help.

 

[zig]

There's priority checkin and priority security for Alaskan T6

Thanks TheRealTMA, I missed your post when I last replied. I saw on the AS website today that they had this, but it is good to get confirmation.

 

[mel-world]

How about when you exit YYZ (presumably via an US port)?

I returned yesterday after a month's vacation in US and eastern Canada. A mixture of flights in F, J and Y on (in order VA, VS, AC, AS and VA again back to MEL). We went thru US or Canadian immigration at LAX, YYZ, two road borders and YVR and additionally security at SFO, EWR, YQB and YHZ between April 20 and May 18.

I can report that there were no excessive delays anywhere on our itinerary, except in MEL on the way out. MEL immigration is becoming a real problem, especially during the peak hours and the busy days. Why they cannot use an automatic clearance for Australians as per arrivals is beyond me. The Y line is often quicker than the 'Express' line even though they rarely have more than a half of the desks working.

Overseas, I do have to admit that I timed flights away from the morning and evening peaks as much as possible but the arrival and transfer in LAX was painless as already reported. Obviously, when accessing the express security lines, it was a little faster but the longest delays were on leaving EWR and YYZ and the longest immigration line was at YYZ and at one of the land borders into Canada.

All in all - not nearly as tortuous as I was expecting.

 

[Paddy55]

Looking at next year's travels over the weekend and was looking at travelling on one of the BA flights from LCY - JFK simply because US customs/immigration is cleared fairly quickly in Shannon, Ireland, and TRs I've read seem quite positive. My experiences coming into JFK is worse than LAX especially as the terminals and waiting areas are grottier than LAX is at least is a relatively comfortable place to wait now.

Unfortunately J Milesaver AAwards don't seem to be able to be used on these flights (BA 1 & BA3) :evil:

 

[greenfrog86]

Just landed on QF93 from MEL into LAX and because I'm connecting to the QF JFK service we got express cards and the customs line for this really was express (unlike the Australian experience often is). Baggage is very well identified and if traveling onto NYC your baggage is marked business and available separate to other bags. This is regardless of class of travel.

I must say that the economy section upstairs means for a fast exit from the plane which gives a good head start...

 

[Emkay]

Stick with your booking - QF93 arrives reasonably early; you are in Business, and finally should you misconnect (which I doubt) AA will re-accommodate you anyway.

How smooth was that! My best ever entry through LAX this morning. QF93 landed LAX at 6:30AM and as we taxied off the runway the ex-Sydney QF A380 was already docked and the ex-BNE 747 was just docking. But even as the last arriving of the three QFs, I was off the aircraft by 6:45 and out of TBIT by 7:00 - admittedly didn't have to collect any luggage but the longest line at immigration had about 10 in it, as they were directing visitors to the US citizens lines. Was in the Flagship Lounge in T4 by 7:20, 90 minutes before my onward connection boards. Thanks again for the great call, Serfty!

 

[kempvet]

I went through TBIT off Q11 on May 21, looked at the clock when I arrived at passport control, 0930, next time that I looked at the time it was 1030, I was already on the 405 Freeway after collecting a rental car at Budget, guess it just depends on a lot of factors, luck being the most important.

 

[kempvet]

It is worthwhile for all travelers to the USA being aware of their public holidays and when they occur, the last Sunday in May is memorial day long weekend, and there are another couple that creep up on you, Presidents day and also Martin Luther King Jr day but the big one apart from Christmas and Easter is Thanksgiving which can give people a 4 day long weekend. You need to be aware of these times if you have connections less than 3 hours, you can always expect considerable delays just before these days, even at the passport control area, many US people will travel for 2 or 3 days to central America and the Caribbean.

 

[kempvet]

How smooth was that! My best ever entry through LAX this morning. QF93 landed LAX at 6:30AM and as we taxied off the runway the ex-Sydney QF A380 was already docked and the ex-BNE 747 was just docking. But even as the last arriving of the three QFs, I was off the aircraft by 6:45 and out of TBIT by 7:00 - admittedly didn't have to collect any luggage but the longest line at immigration had about 10 in it, as they were directing visitors to the US citizens lines. Was in the Flagship Lounge in T4 by 7:20, 90 minutes before my onward connection boards. Thanks again for the great call, Serfty!

I went through on May 21, it was the first time out of the 20 to 30 times that I have been through TBIT that I have ever seen 5 CBP officers serving the line, so I think that there may be some sort of effort to increase number, but I guess that the clincher may be that the furloughs from the Sequester have finished, meaning that there are more CBP officers on deck.

 

[ShaneN]

the longest line at immigration had about 10 in it, as they were directing visitors to the US citizens lines.!

Exactly what happened when I arrived on 18/5 on QF107 from Sydney. The later arrivals from Melbourne and Brisbane were redirected to the US citizens queues. The Sydney passengers were first to arrive and last to leave. A bit more thought needs to be given to how these queues are managed.

 

[HKGNZL]

Went to PHL via a stopover in YYZ. Was warned by many that the US immigration based in YYZ has now a long queue time. Lined up for 60 min even in non-peak time. There were many 'queue managers' employed. According to them, they had to ensure the US citizen queue wait time is shorter than the foreign passport line. When that was not the case, they diverted a lot of windows to the US queue which upset some in the foreign line. Colleagues arriving to PHL via LHR reported a two hour line at immigration upon arrival. Felt particularly sorry for those with kids - when they had to go to the loo, they risked losing their spot in the line.

 

[Dnicoll]

Arrived LAX Fri 24 May on QF11 in F. Was nervous about long delay but walked briskly and got thru immigration and T4 security and into T4 Qantas Club in only 30 minutes. Just beat the bulk of the passengers from Shanghai coming from the other direction into the immigration hall.

 

[kempvet]

Arrived LAX Fri 24 May on QF11 in F. Was nervous about long delay but walked briskly and got thru immigration and T4 security and into T4 Qantas Club in only 30 minutes. Just beat the bulk of the passengers from Shanghai coming from the other direction into the immigration hall.

Come to think of it, I guess that this is the key to a fast process through immigration, if you get caught behind a couple of Asian flights, likely there will be 250 people per queue with extra time for visa checking and also endless confusion if there is a language issue (usually you hear announcement for Chinese speaker to station 6 etc) plus great confusion with the finger printing procress all considerably adds to the time for processing

 

[matty744]

Arrived in 19/5 on QF11. In J so towards the front of the bulk of people. After the marathon walk from the new gates, arrived to a empty hall. first in line and seen straight away. Thought I was home free but seems the officers may be on a go slow as its was almost comical how slow each and every movement was. looked through every page on the passport then went and re asked questions from the customs form. wanted to see departure itinerary, did fingerprints twice. so all up ended up taking over 5 mins to actually be allowed to continue on. Thought it may have just been me, but speaking to others in the AA lounge after, seems it was similar for most people. still through fairly fast but the the lines were all packed when I looked back when I was leaving so it pays to walk fast off the plane.

 

[kempvet]

Thought I was home free but seems the officers may be on a go slow as its was almost comical how slow each and every movement was. looked through every page on the passport then went and re asked questions from the customs form. wanted to see departure itinerary, did fingerprints twice. so all up ended up taking over 5 mins to actually be allowed to continue on.

Would say that this is routine, when lines were very slow, this happens, I guess when time permits, delve deeper, also they know they are on CCTV, the one which works the least, first to be laid off, who knows?

 

[farawaymum]

I have been through LAX before but always arriving on Qantas direct from SYD- last year (May) I had a horrendous experience taking almost 3 hours to get through immigration etc.

This time (next week) I am travelling on AA170 from Tokyo (Narita) to Las Vegas. Flight has a "technical stop" in LAX (T4) and obviously I will have to clear immigration etc. Although the flight number is the same there is also an aircraft change from LAX to LAS. The scheduled layover is only 1 hour 30mins. It seems like this connection is doomed?
I have read there is no real fast track connection process in LAX so in all probability will end up being put on a later AA flight.Any experiences of this scenario??

Update on the outcome
Arrived on 20/5
Handed a boarding pass for onwards flight to LAS in a magic orange sleeve coming off the Tokyo flight. Everything from then on was expedited,but I did have to keep up a fast pace - walking from terminal 4 (where we landed), then funnelled to TBIT for immigration through a rabbit warren of walkways,answered the usual what I am doing here questions etc at both immigration and customs, handed back the bags to AA, and then directed out onto the street to walk back to T4.Then completed rescreening still with orange envelope in hand and had about 15 minutes in the Flagship Lounge.

 

[Hvr]

A good outcome, I think the airlines know when to be proactive.

Another crossing point where there can be delays is at Niagara Falls, when I returned to the USA recently from Canada the guide requested we be ready nice and early. We were five minutes early and headed for the rainbow crossing.

We were the second bus with 20 travellers on board. Through fairly quickly but a queue soon built up behind us. We went through and saw various sites on the USA side. As we prepared to leave the area we looked back and saw >10 buses waiting to come through.

The guide said that 'in the season' they can wait more than three hours in the queue.

 

[cirqueboy]

At YUL yesterday at 11:30, only around 20 odd people in the immigration line. Through in 20 minutes (fastest ever for YUL!)

US Immigration have a new toy at YUL they are trying out. They scan your boarding pass and then show you your baggage on a screen and ask if that's your baggage. The immigration officer said that they were trying it out at YUL. Anyone else seen this at other entry points? First time for me. I last went through YUL about a month ago and it wasn't installed.