sammy7

Dear Guest,

From 15 January 2015, all Etihad Airways guests flying to any of our U.S. destinations – Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. - will have access to Abu Dhabi International Airport’s United States Preclearance facility located at Terminal 3.

This facility enables guests flying Etihad Airways to preclear the U.S. Customs and Border Protection formalities before boarding their flights in Abu Dhabi. Upon arrival in the U.S., guests will be treated as though they are domestic arrivals. Shorter connection times are possible for onward flights in the U.S., with luggage arriving to the final destination.

And with the addition of Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks, U.S., Canadian and eligible Visa Waiver Program international travelers can experience even shorter wait times and faster processing when passing through Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Check-in for all flights to the U.S. will close 120 minutes before departure for passengers who are commencing their journey in Abu Dhabi. Guests are requested to report to the United States Preclearance facility not later than 60 minutes before departure.

As the first facility of its kind in the region, guests flying to all our U.S. destinations can now look forward to more of our award-winning hospitality, and worry less about long queues.

For further information visit: www.etihad.com/uspreclearance

yabadoo

Does anyone know when the First & Business Class lounges in the US departure gates area (after pre-clearance) will open? Was there 10 days ago and there was sign saying it was under construction.

SeeBuyFly

So to transfer in AUH to a US-bound flight, I must collect my luggage, pass Customs, hand my luggage back to EY, and wait for it a second time at the US gateway?

I am not transferring to a domestic US flight, and I have Global Entry, so preclearance in AUH seems to be an inconvenience for me. Am I missing something?

SeeBuyFly

One more question: my itinerary (and also the airport's web page) show the EY flight coming into ORD Terminal 5. But if we have been pre-cleared, why is it coming into the international terminal?

Wouldn't connections be smoother if it came into T3 (for AA) or any domestic terminal, rather than non-walkable T5?

erik123

It seems all US bound flights are 1 hour+ delayed each day and GE/travelling c or F only cuts the wait by a little , so it will be a significant inconvenience.

HAF

Travelled MAA AUH SFO yesterday ... Preclearance is like a maze... Had to get through security twice, had to wait for my bags to be located so that the agent can show them to me on a picture.... I have global entry and I was not connecting at sfo so I saw no benefit at the preclearance just a hassle going through many steps that were not necessary causing extra stress during the transfer at AUh ... Most stressful was the etihad representative at the airport trying to help the transferring passengers but in reality slowing everyone down :

SeeBuyFly

What does that mean? You don't collect your luggage, you just see a picture of your luggage?

vj_rama

That would be great if it is true. The terminal F lounge is set to open in April, but I was not aware of lounges opening after preclearance. Can anyone confirm this?

SeeBuyFly

Found some answers in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...l#post24032567

erik123

Was on EY103 yesterday. Prelclearance worked well despite my trepidation. You are told to leave the lounge 90 minutes before departure - but I left about 60 minutes before and even that was too early. Very short lines and am GE so breezed thru in about 10 minutes.

The lounges after preclearance are not yet open and I suspect won't be for 1 month or more. Flight was on time so that helps.

No issues with premium lines - though in my experience EY does not handle premium lines well and often doesn't enforce it at all.

SeeBuyFly

Good to know, thanks! A bunch of flights from the Indian subcontinent (and maybe other points east of AUH) arrive around midnight, so I would guess that later is better for preclearance.

Why do you think the lounge will open in a timescale of months? Usually, everything is always years away.

erik123

I connected from DEL. No idea about lounge - there's a partition with a photo of a lounge so I assume there's work going on.

Amenuse

Hi Friends,
It might be amply clear but i want to know that if i complete CBP Pre Clearance at Abu Dhabi would i have to do a second round of Pre Clearance after landing US from AUH? Or can i go as a "domestic passenger" as stated in CBP website. I have this question because my flight from AUH to Chicago E151 lands in Terminal T5 in Chicago which is an international terminal.Thanks!

SeeBuyFly

It is amply clear that you do not have to be cleared again, but you have a good point about the T5 arrival.

It is possible to arrive in T5 and be routed around immigration/Customs. But this means you lose one of the major benefits of preclearance, which is to arrive in T1/2/3 and not have to take the train or pass security in order to catch another domestic flight.

My guess is that EY is trying to get a gate in T3 but it is not finalized yet. Or it has been finalized but not reflected in your itinerary or on the web. It is not easy to get an open gate in T1/2/3.

My itinerary, for a June trip, does not specify the terminal at ORD (it specifies the terminal for all other airports I am going to or passing through). This means they don't know; everything is subject to change. I certainly hope we won't be arriving in T5, even though I know we won't have to go through Customs/immigration again.

Is your flight in the near future? Please report your experience here after arriving at ORD.

Rusdude

Per this, last AUH-ORD flight did indeed arrive at T5.

P.S. FYI, according to this page the flight to ORD leaves and arrives about 70 minutes late on average