hobo13

All of my bumps have been domestic (except for MSP-NRT on NW years ago, and even that was leaving the US). We're flying EZE-IAD shortly after the new year, and all the flights seem close to F0C0Y0 -- I'm guessing things are pretty full. And we have some flexibility.

So what is the best way to go about this? Do you volunteer at the front counter? At the RCC? At the gate? If you get VDBed at the gate, does it cause issues going back through immigration? I guess our new ARG reciprocity fee is good for 10 years, so that shouldn't be an issue.

The reason I ask, is that we were on the VDB list for SYD-SFO 2 years ago (CNZ!). They thought they would need us, and asked us to wait pre-immigration, basically at the front counter. Well, we waited, and waited, but in the end, all we got was a rushed trip through security, and not enough time in the Koru Club! I guess I learned my lesson, and am trying to figure out how you are supposed to do the international VDB.

Please tell me the mechanics of how this works.