Originally Posted by
Steve M
Some thoughts:
- There is usually not that long a wait for int'l baggage, if any, since you have to wait to get through Immigration inspection before you get to baggage claim.
- Depending on the size of your carry-on and length of stay, the Customs inspector may question your lack of luggage appropriate for your trip.
- You'll have to wait in whatever line there is to pass through Customs inspection anyway.
So, I don't think in most cases you'll save much time at all, probably less than 5 minutes.
I've been traveling internationally for 20 years and my experience has been very different from yours:
- Certainly if one has to wait a while to clear immigration, the wait for checked luggage should not be bad. But the vast majority of times I've been able to get through US immigration in a matter of minutes. The walk from the gate to the immigration hall is usually a lot longer.
- I never have had a customs inspector question the size of my luggage. On my last trip, earlier this month to London, the inspector at BOS must have seen me walk through the customs hall without stopping to retrieve checked luggage, and he asked me if I had all my bags I think more as a courtesy (there must be plenty of inexperienced travelers who are not familiar with the procedures) than out of suspicion.
- I never have waited in a customs inspection line in the US that was more than 60 seconds long.
Bottom line: it could be a 5 minute difference, as you suggest, or it could very well be a 20-30 minute difference. (BTW, I once did exactly what the OP proposes to do. Because of a delay, I had 30 minutes to make a connection to BOS from MIA. But I was fortunate that I had a companion who could claim and recheck my bag (her connection was later). I arrived at BOS and, knowing the odds that my bag made my flight were slim, left the airport and returned later that night and found my bag waiting for me.)