Originally Posted by
QueenOfCoach
Having said that, from my direct experience there is no way to accurately predict the time needed to clear immigration and customs. Sometime the lines are long, sometimes they are short. It depends on how many jumbo jets arrive at the same time, how many BCP personnel are on duty and if your fellow passengers ahead of you in line have their documents all in order.
From year to year, getting off the very same LHR to LAX flight I can see widely varying immigration lines. It is simply not predictable.
in the last few years i've flown into LAX from taipei, hong kong, tokyo and seoul and the immigration line wait is always YMMV. it's impossible to predict. i've had anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours when we had to evacuate the terminal.
i would guess that you're safe with a 2.5 hour stopover though. my average wait time would probably be around 20-30 minutes.