JHIN

What’s a real minimum connection time for SFO, coming off of Iceland Air to an Alaska flight? Looks like from landing the last Alaska flight would give me 70 minutes. No global entry here either.

eponymous_coward

Kacee

Separate tickets? No GE? 2 to 3 hours. And hope you don't get stuck in this: Immigration Mayhem at SFO

jinglish

ExpertFlyer says international-to-domestic MCT at SFO is an hour and forty-five minutes, and that's the minimum you'll find on a single ticket, where the airline is reasonably certain that you'll make your onward connection and is willing to accept the minor risk that you won't. Give yourself plenty of buffer time--three hours bare minimum. Hell, I have a TP-to-DL "connection" across separate tickets coming up next year, and I gave myself a good five hours between arrival and departure. My flight from LIS could be substantially late, and I'd still make my connection with some time to kill in the Sky Club, and if it's not, I have time to take the BART into the Mission and get a burrito.

eddiehuang97

If no GE + separate tickets I would suggest a minimum of 3 hours for your connection.

garykung

You are not going to make it for sure, even with the best case scenario.

1. You will be most likely arriving at ITA. AS is in T2. It takes at least 10 minutes of walking/or AirTrain from ITA to T2.

2. Due to the design of ITA, some planes may need additional taxi time.

3. Immigration and customs takes you at least 20-30 minutes.

4. You still need to go through TSA at T2.

Your 70-minute connection is now 10 minutes or less. Do you really still want to bet this?

minhaoxue

garykung

It won't help OP because OP's purported connection is way below the MCT established by many airlines.

eponymous_coward

Yeah, the line to see a passport officer (non-Global Entry) was stupid long when I was there earlier this summer, for both US passport holders and non-US passport holders. And as you said, the distances to get to AS's terminal aren't trivial. Mobile Passport doesn't help you skip the lines, it just makes it go faster once you get to the officer.

If OP doesn't mind risking a night at SFO at their own expense and having to plead their case to be put on standby for an AS flight the next morning (worst case scenario: "No, your ticket's dead, go buy a walkup ticket"), since they said " the last Alaska flight"... OK, sure. All on the OP to decide what acceptable risk is. But this isn't an easy-peasy connection. There's a real risk of not making that onward flight with just 70 minutes.

Flying for Fun

Mobile Passport is a mobile app that enables travelers entering the United States to submit their passport information and customs declaration form to U.S. Customs and Border Protection via smartphone or tablet and go through the inspections process using an expedited lane.

On mobile passport there is a separate queue so you get to see the officer much faster than those without it. When arriving in SEA I stop to do my Nexus/Global Entry declaration at the kiosk while my partner, who has made his declaration while still on the plane, walks on by. You can make your declaration up to 4 hours before arriving at the US Point of entry. I go through the Global Entry queue and he goes through the Mobile Passport queue. We are cleared through customs within a minute or two of each other and sometimes he gets through before me. It is the same at LAX, SFO, MIA, JFK, PHL, PHX... and also works at some marine ports of entry like MIA & FLL.

James

be_rettSEA

Yes, and, some airports (not all) have separate customs lines once you've made it through the immigration step and collected baggage. As far as I know, mobile passport doesn't help you out there at all. With GE, I've bypassed a line at least a hundred people long and basically walked right out after handing my slip to the agent.

Flying for Fun

There is no stop at immigration. The expidited queue is in Customs. In SEA you come down the escalator into immigration, keep going past the Global Entry kiosks and down the escalator to baggage claim. You claim your bags if any checked and head through the mobile passport queue. The customes officer is your first and only contact from the plane to landside. It really is quite efficient.

James

eponymous_coward

I didn't see anyone getting to run past me at GE at SFO (everybody was getting held up in lines, though the GE one was smaller), but OK. No, really, SFO immigration and customs was a zoo when I was just there earlier this month. 70 minutes isn't a safe connection, given that it's obviously below MCT, even with something that gets you through customs and immigrations in 10 minutes, any kind of significant delay is gonna blow it, as mentioned, just because of how spread out the international operation is at SFO, and how far it all is from AS's gates at T2, plus a reclear of TSA at T2. Unless you like running through airports (and maybe some folks do; in the end risk is up to the individual), bake in long connection. T2 isn't a terrible place to kill time if by some miracle you get a 70 minute connection...

garykung

No need to argue Mobile Passport, GE, etc.

Let me end this once and for all - even without immigration and customers, it takes about 5 minutes from A6 (the usual gate for Icelandair) all the wait to the airside exit.

Whatever time saved is not sufficient for this crazy planning to be workable.

Flying for Fun

I don't disagree with you at all. 70 minutes in SFO isn't going to work no matter how you want to "slice or dice" it.

My point, was to illustrate that Mobile Passport is an expedited service, doesn't require a stop at immigration and has a dedicated queue at customs. In SEA you can be off the plane and landside in 5 minutes without checked bags.

The last time we arrived internationally in SFO was March and the process, I believe, was the same.

I am fine with people not utilizing the service. It keeps the system slim & trim.

James