New World Record - Time to Clear US Immigration

[SLF3]

I'm looking for a new world record for queueing at US immigration: my contribution, club class, 2 hours in Houston January 3rd. State class, one hour deducted for economy.

Colleague, 3 hours, Houston, club class, January 11th.

Also, a record for queuing to leave the US: my contribution, also Houston, December 13th, 1.75 hours.

[FormerFlyer]

At the other end of the spectrum........went from seated on plane to seated in rental car (after collecting checked luggage too) @ MIA within an hour on Dec 1st inbound from LHR.

cheers ;)
FF

[P-T-Gamekeeper]

Boston - Jun04

Kept waiting in Jetwalk for 2 hours with pregnant wife and 250 other non-US citizens, waiting to Queue for another 1:30 in immigration itself.

250 people, 35 deg C, no water, no toilets, ........... The land of the free!

[Bob Upndown]

My partner - early Dec 04 off a VS flight in MIA - 4 hours from a/c door to airport terminal exit.....

More justifcation for my entirely personal trade embargo on the US. Used to love travelling there; now the Gestapo, sorry Dubya adminstration has made entering the country akin to an interogation, time for me to take my pennies and spend them where I'm not unders suspicion of being a terrorist and treated as such.....Muppets :mad: :mad:

[zed3]

Cleared immigration at LAX in 10 mins (a/c door to bag claim) last November and the three of us in 20 mins (idem ditto) last July ! Maybe I had luck ? OK Business cabin so first off and stiff walk overtaking other flights pax. Never really had big problems .

[BRUpax]

It's all down to luck with regard to the number of intl arrivals at a given moment. I too had a pretty rapid exit at LAX last March. A few months before I was astounded to make it from a/c door to hire car in 30 mins at Newark, but I was in Business and we were the first intl arrival. Some airports are definitely better than others and even prior to 911 airports such as MIA & JFK weren't the quickest.

[MarkD]

On landing cards- BA YYZ-LHR announced non-UK citizens didn't have to complete landing cards if transiting to another EU state.

What they didn't mention is that another EU state (Ireland) is part of the Common Travel Area and thus pax enroute Ireland should complete the landing card or will be required to do so at T1.

If Bealine is listening perhaps he could pass that on to someone at BA cabin training?

{Edited to add - Skynet (soon to be resurrected apparently) are touting the Shannon Airport US preclearance as a selling point}

[Final 3 Greens]

Well the answer seems pretty clear, vote with your feet.

I have just declined an assignment in the US, because I don't like the way their government and agencies do things anymore; I still very much like the majority of US citizens that I meet.

In my case, it means that I am not earning US dollars, but in many cases it means that you will not be spending US dollars.

The choice is your.

I believe that the US is basically a great country and that things will change in time, but until then I'll go elsewhere, with some regret.

[Avman]

Just said pretty much the same in another thread in R & N (BA flight turned back by US). I don't think things will change though. They'll just get worse and worse and they'll completely kill their economy. 25 years from now the US will be a third world nation :} :E

[MarkD]

Apparently Air Canada is doing well on Asia<->South America routes esp. Japan because pax are using YYZ and YVR to transfer as opposed to US airports...

[manintheback]

I know this started off as the USA but cant we add on Delhi - PLEASE!.

Landed at 00:45, Air India blocking the gate we needed. So we waited..........and waited.4 hours 40 minutes later I exited the airport.

Anyway worst queue for US immigration, last year, Chicago. 2 hours and 5 minutes.

And exiting the US, has to be Miami last August. Security queues for 5 minutes shy of 2 hours.

[speedbird_heavy]

25mins aircraft seat to taxi. DUB-SNN-BOS with Aer Lingus. Apparently Shannon has US immigration pre clearence, so to avoid queueing, fly via Shannon;)

[flyblue]

My record is 4 hours to complete the pax boarding of a 747 in MIA. :(

[TightSlot]

Well, I can only relay my experience as crew. We are usually whisked through US Immig, in recognition of our tired status, with minimal time-wasting and bureacracy. Immigration staff are courteous, helpful and considerate, and go out of their way to make you feel welcome to the USA. Customs officers are always polite and respectful. As the first Americans we meet, both kinds of officers are ambassadors for their country.

I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what that would look like in print, to see if it sounded any more convincing - it doesn't

[SLF3]

Don't get me wrong, I have done it in record time to (Atlanta, Houston of the late BA flight, Philadelphia....). But am I going to bring my family to the US on holiday this summer - no way. I don't think we should extend the competition to any airport in the world, because not all of us have the opportunity to experience the delights of Delhi, Mumbai, Moscow etc., but many of us get to visit the Land of the Free. Is it fair to compare Rotterdam (5 minutes, gate to taxi, including cash from an ATM) with a US gateway - obviously not. Anyway, keep going - 4 hours in coach seems to be the record, but there must be someone out there......