Blumie

Well, in this case n=0, cause when I post about what my experience has been, as I've done in this thread, what your experience has been is of no concern to me (although you clearly should feel free to share it). But in my experience, upon return to the US I get through both immigration and customs in 5 minutes or less more often than not.

(BTW, I've waited in plenty of long immigration and customs lines outside of the US. However, I am posting about my experience as a US citizen returning to the US. Also, as I always am in F or J, I am always at or near the front of the line, so my risk usually is limited to throngs arriving on other flights that precede mine. I've waited upwards of 45 minutes to clear immigration in BOS on occasion for that reason, but still the customs line was non-existent.)

Of course none of this really matters to the OP: how ever long it takes it will take. Once through immigration, however, he can asess whether it's worthwhile sticking around to retrieve his bag or just running for his connection. There certainly are times when the bags already are on the belt by the time you clear immigration.

skywalkerLAX

I dont see where the problem is arguing about our experience with customs.

Personally I arrived in LAX at 3 different time a day and it ranges from no wait at all (early morning from Asia) to moderate (afternoon LH flight) to absolutely horrible (evening Flight on LX).

It obviously depends on the time you arrive and the respective combination of other flights arriving with you. Flights from Asia are the worst as most passengers require Visa and documentation, european flights are most often easy. But if a 747 from China is in front of you then good luck.

That said, I take LAX over ORD/IAD any day !

MellieAZ

DH and I were returning from Barbados in mid-December. One of our bags was mis-routed and never arrived in Miami. We missed our connection to DFW waiting for it so we could clear Customs. Two AA agents told us we should have gone on to catch the connection - they would have taken sent the luggage on to us later. They said they frequently do this and Customs doesn't interfere but you don't know when the luggage will arrive home. You have to file a missing report (but only when you reach your final destination) which takes time but at least you can do it form your home airport.

BTW - our bag turned up 2 days later at JFK (I guess JFK and MIA look alot alike). It took another 36 hours for AA to deliver it us but it arrived intact and nothing was missing.

I'd feel more comfortable doing this heading home and after I carefully packed the luggage. I was very worried about some of our trip mementos, inexpensive but irreplaceable.

SAN_Finn

I would think the only thing to consider is if you will lie to the customs agent. I fly almost always with just a back pac and almost always especially at LAX get asked "is that all you have". At that point I would consider twice what to tell a federal employee?

I've forgotten to claim a bag once also and it arrived the next day intact so besides above I don't think there is a problem especially if the bag is not very important to you.

Dr. HFH

At least you were on the way home. I was on LAX-LHR as the first leg of a three week around the world trip, and my checked bag went to JFK instead. Luckily, JFK baggage put it on a LHR flight before I landed in LHR and it arrived only a few hours after I did.

Steve M

Good point, although we're all trying to answer the OP's question, so all experiences are valid.

I've never seen a separate line at US Customs for those that have nothing to declare. In every situation I can remember, there was one line or set of lines for all travelers, regardless of amount of baggage or whether or not they had anything to declare. So, the fact that one has no baggage and nothing to declare has almost nothing to do with the amount they must wait at US Customs, as the wait is driven by who's in front of them. In the case of multiple lines, there is the "supermarket line" problem where you must pick a line, and whatever line you pick seems to go slower than the others, but this has nothing to do with Declare / Nothing to Declare.

I have seen the separate "Declaration / Nothing to Declare" or "Red Lane / Green Lane" concepts in other countries' Customs inspection, but not the US. Blumie, could you share with us which US airports you've been able to take advantage of a separate "Nothing to declare?" line at Customs?

Steve M

It's no business of Immigration authorities, as the only thing they must determine to make an admission decision is whether the traveler is a US citizen (ignoring the other duties they have). But it most certainly is the business of Customs officials, which is what we're talking about in this thread. Imagine if you flew to London from the US for 2 days, and upon your return had 4 pieces of checked baggage, and declared on your Customs form that you had not acquired anything abroad. It would be more than suspicious that you had traveled from the US to London for 2 days with 4 pieces of checked bags, and the Customs official would at the very least want to see what was in the bags in order to determine that you weren't actually importing goods acquired abroad. This is but one example of why how many bags a US citizen has when entering the US is most definitely the business of the authorities.

JJeffrey

Exactly, although I'm sure the customs/immigrations officials have 'seen it all' being in their positions.

I did a quick turn mileage run to NRT some years ago, upon arriving back to DFW the customs officer couldn't believe that I went to Japan for 4 hours, for miles, with only a briefcase. I was of course sent to secondary screening.

BStrauss3

Um... remember one of ICE's initiatives a couple years back, "One face at the border"? The agents are supposed to be cross-trained to perform (and are expected to perform) all duties. So while you might not be suspicious from an immigration perspective, if you are suspicious from a customs perspective, they will direct you for further screening.

JDiver

A roller bag and laptop bag should be more than sufficient to satisfy questions, other than a direct one like "is this all of your baggage?" We traveled for one month through seven countries with exactly that amount of baggage (nothing checked.)

Link to video of packing light method.

seawolf

Guess they have never been to IAD either in the afternoon.

RachelG

I have gone through customs probably over a 100 times--have never been questioned about a lack of luggage (usually I just do carry on). Last summer, my luggage missed the connection in BRU due to a baggage handlers strike. It showed up in TUL 3 days later. Obviously had been looked through, but had gone through customs all by itself!

My teenaged son did get hassled by customs coming back from Tahiti. I think they thought he was a drug smuggler since he was travelling alone (he had to come home because of school schedule). He only had a backpack, and they went through it VERY thoroughly.

geoman244

Just what I was going to say!

ktakahashi

This past December I routed NRT-DFW-LGA. I had a 1:45 connection and was rolled over on to 2 different flights. The issue was not baggage claim in DFW, it was immigration. If you are on AA0060, it gets in while 2 or 3 South American arrivals (which tend to be US citizen/resident heavy). We had to wait about 25 minutes to clear immigration. Once through all the bags were out on the belt. Customs was fairly a breeze (hint stay to the left). AA rebooked my on both next flights in succession. Not sure how many DCA routes by LGA was fairly pain free. Hope this helps ... and yes, go to the JL First Lounge (if you have status or an F ticket).