I am arriving on a Lufthansa flight from Munich to Vancouver where I will be connecting to SFO on United. On my Lufthansa flight will I be getting a Customs Form or do I go to the Automated Passport Control Kiosk and swipe my passport and enter the questions on the kiosk?

How do I bypass Canadian Customs and go directly to the US Transborder Control? Do I need to retrieve my checked luggage and check it back in after customs like on a US flight or will my bag be automatically transferred to my United flight? I have over 2 hours to make the connection so I was wondering fi I have time to use the Plaza Premium Transborder Lounge at YVR?

Thanks for the info as this is my first time pre-clearing. BTW I'm arriving on a Wednesday in May around 4 PM.

There is a thread on this in the LH forum. You actually have to enter Canada and then go to CBP pre-clearance because LH IT isn't up to the task of giving the necessary data to US/CBP:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufth...xperience.html (see page 4).

The automated kiosks do eliminate the need to fill out the blue form.

As Ari mentioned, check out the other thread. Unfortunately, you will be required to clear CBSA (Canadian immigration and customs) and pick up your bags. There is no bag drop after customs for US connections - you'll have to carry your bags up to the US pre-clearance check-in area and drop you bags off there.

As for time to use the lounge - you're arriving during a pretty quiet time it looks like. Looks like a flight from PSP, LAX and HKG arrive into YVR around that time, so CBSA shouldn't be too bad by 4pm.

US Pre-clearance is pretty quiet around that time, except the security line before CBP is variable. Sometimes, they only have one lane open at that time, so it may take you 10-15mins to get through security. Once you're through security, if you are a Canadian or US citizen, you can use the Automated Passport Clearance Kiosks (or Global Entry kiosks if you have Global Entry). No customs form required for APC kiosk. I haven't seen a long line-up in the Pre-Clearance area around that time, except during the holidays (Victoria Day, Memorial Day).

It'll probably take you about an hour to go through all that? Doesn't leave you with much time to enjoy the lounge.