kileysmom

Hi, I have a friend flying into the US probably on BA and probably in F but, if not, in J. She has a choice of airports - JFK, ORD, ATL, IAD, MCO and MIA. She'll be flying on a Monday in October. Any suggestions to avoid a long queue at passport control? Is one airport generally better than the others? Seems to me I've read on here that MIA is awful????

Thanks for your help!

bryand83

I would pick ORD

missdimeaner

My longest waits have always been at JFK.
Arrived on BA115 on Thursday...we were an hour late arriving and had the misfortune to be behind a Cathay Pacific flight. We were in J but still had to queue for around half an hour, maybe a bit longer.
I wouldn't have wanted to be at the rear of the plane...we could see the queue go right up the 'ramp' and beyond.
Best time at JFK was about 15 mins which is quite acceptable , worst was just over 2 hours.
I think being a smallish terminal it doesn't have the same immigration desk/staffing levels as maybe terminal 8.

I don't know if I've been lucky at ORD but I never seem to wait that long, especially now they have the machines.

I have no experience at the other airports.....have you considered BA1 ? You can pre-clear in Shannon and arrive as a domestic.

ENTP

BA1 LCY-JFK would give pre-clearance at Shannon.

darthlemsip

I wouldn't - minimum of 90 minutes whenever I've done it.

ATL would get my vote, but JFK can be quick if you're lucky (fastest I've done was 20 mins from plane door to taxi. Saturday last week was two hours and I was the first person in the queue from our plane - at one point there were zero agents serving the non-residents line)

QueenOfCoach

I have a German friend who comes here every year, flying on the same flights. He enters the US in ORD.

2013: Waited 2.5 hours.
2014: Waited 2.5 minutes.

You never know.

madfish

Have a look on here

http://awt.cbp.gov

tooblue

I'd go for ATL.

Oaxaca

If your friend doesn't have checked luggage, ORD has a dedicated line in T5 that took me 2 mins when going through there last year. Don't know about the regular lines.

http://www.flychicago.com/business/E...spx?ItemID=857

JFK T7 just depends on whether another flight comes in at the same time or just before. If not, F/J pax don't usually have to wait too long.

UKtravelbear

Surely any time 'saved' at the quick immigration airport will soon vanish by having to travel onto somewhere else?

Your friend should travel to the airport that is closest to her final destination.

Often1

This. What matters is total travel time. OP hasn't provided the final destination, but the notion that someone would fly through a given POE to save 30 minutes at CBP and then spend more than that waiting for a flight and more time that in the air, is beyond me.

To the OP - If the length of the line really is a point of obsession for your friend, the things that will matter most are time of day and day of week.

kileysmom

Of course, it doesn't help the overall travel time much to get through passport control in 10 minutes but I'd rather be in a comfortable lounge or bar than standing in a line! Maybe that's just me.....anyway, I'm meeting her somewhere along the route and we're spending a couple of weeks on holiday all over Florida. She'll be arriving on a Monday afternoon most likely at her entry point. Thanks for the input and any further thoughts will also be greatly appreciated!

joejet

Fly into TPA it is the easiest entry into the USA CW only though no First. From plane door to hire car in 20 mins or less on the last 10 or so trips, in J (with checked luggage) The only time it took longer was when a thunderstorm stopped the baggage being unloaded for 30 mins.

Tim_T

San Diego is as good as Tampa - smallish airport, no first cabin, few international flights that arrive at the same time as the BA. A good choice on the west coast.

kileysmom

She's flying from Gothenburg to London so that makes TPA a bit more difficult as it appears she could only go from LGW. We'll certainly look at it with an overnight in the UK maybe. It's always like some giant puzzle, isn't it?