FlyerTalker01565

Aw, shoot. But exactly, that was a very welcome offer! Again, SAS could take note here.

It's off-topic, though, and I am not popular with the internetpowers that be, so let's close it here.

fassy

HrrHrr... that would mean they would need to introduce some proper first class cabin in the first place - which will never happen. Even more these days where more and more carriers eliminate First class cabins. What should they do for you if you fly full flex J with them? Upgrade to the jumpseat? Even though the experience is nice - the comfort isn't too great....

GUWonder

I don't want CBP PreClearance at ARN. It will likely mark the end of my travel party's ability to arrive with as little as 61 minutes before my departures to the U.S. and still reliably make the non-stop flights from ARN to the U.S. And for my mostly Swedish travel parties from ARN to the U.S. on non-stop flights, the processing times at US POEs have become far better in different ways than they can be made to be at Schengen Zone CBP PreClearance facilities unless spending a lot more money per passenger to process such passengers.

If I'm going to miss a flight on an ARN-US trip, I would rather be at the US gateway hub for a U.S. airline when I misconnect than at ARN. Especially on peak travel dates.

I have serious doubts that DUB's patterns and ARN's patterns are alike enough to say that DUB and ARN will turn out the same way for my flights. Then again, DUB has never been and is unlikely to ever be my home airport, so I care more about not seeing ARN CBP PreClearance turn out like YYZ in the early morning or like AUH.

It's rather telling: that DOH management has changed its mind and said they don't want this; and that DXB has shifted positions too to say it has not been convinced that this would make sense for them. While I'm certain the DOH and DXB passenger patterns are different than DUB, SNN and ARN, I have little doubt that I don't want any additional CBP PreClearance facilities in the "Old World".

In a related thread:

w0r1dtrave1er

Wow that is rather telling. My experience is dated, I haven't flown into the US for 9 month, and that was on UA69 and GE worked fast at EWR. I haven't seen the non-GE kiosks in action, but I've heard they work great.

I think the upstairs of F-pier is a nice place to wait, as opposed to the pre-cleared area of DUB. I really enjoyed my pre-cleared connection experience at ATL (coming from DUB) and LAX (coming from YVR).

I fully understand what you're saying about checkin cutoff times being changed and agree with you.

I however disagree about missing flights, for me I'd rather miss the first flight than miss a connection in EWR/JFK/ORD/OAK/FLL/LAS/SJU. When I miss a connection I usually end up in a Y seat because the US carrier has already upgraded FC to capacity. And for a transcon that really bites. Star will reroute me in biz through FRA (to LAX) and skyteam through AMS/CDG.

For me, the added time at the start is worth the ease of connection. However for my nonstop origin/departure flights, I'd prefer to use GE at the US POE.

FlyerTalker01565

Maybe they could learn when they sell full-fare Plus-seats, my friend.

MrCharming

The problem with the pre clearance @ DUB is that all the flights mostly depart at the same time and the area is very small. It's not out of the ordinary to queue 1h+ just for the passport. Last time I was in queuing for 1.5h. Was quite nice when I arrived at ORD though

CPH-Flyer

No pain no gain? ;-)

So you have to spend 1 to 1.5 hours for the process in DUB to save 0.5 to 1 hour in the US?? With the new automated flows in the US, I will do my utmost to avoid flying from pre-clearance airports.

FlyingMoose

ARN has nowhere near the same amount of LH flights, I would imagine it will be brief and efficient.

I'm wondering if they'll have two places with pre-clearance or move LH flights from pier-B to pier-F or vice versa.

WorldtravellerExtraordinaire

My guess is that fewer flights equals fewer CBP officers.

I'm pretty sure that the increased MCT will screw up a lot of domestic connections, so it is not all happy days...

It has already been decided - lower floor in the F-pier will become pre clearance facility.

CPH-Flyer

I am sure DUB and AUH imagined it to be brief and efficient....

I doubt they will have two locations in an airport the size and US bound traffic amount of Arlanda. They need to close a section off, and I could imagine this to be a permanent thing, rather than just when flights depart.

gnaget

Aha, but it is the foreign airport that pays for the facility including salaries for the lardass CBP personnel. If you go back to the comments by the CPH managing director 6 months ago about why it was a bad idea, he estimated that CPH had to cover USD 10 million in salaries for 50 guards or USD 200k per head. (That's not unrealistic with COLA and housing benefit; a US govt bureaucrat got $108,000 in housing allowance in Tokyo a few years ago, for example.) Also a trecifret millionbeløb (in DKK?) for the facility.

Then the guy took a stab at the Swedes (which I always enjoy) regarding the fact that ARN is a government owned airport but CPH is private and has to look at the bottom line and this makes no sense from a business perspective.

Another issue with ARN is that the US flights leave pretty early so cutoff for check-in and baggage drop is going to be 08:25 for 10:25 dep and that means many people will get there around 08:00 or earlier, which is perfect to create bigger crowds at security for the Euro short-haul peak. Brilliant.

Then what about a Swede who wants to connect from a domestic flight. That is not going to be possible for many routes because of new MCTs.

Personally, I find the ARN-US routes to be too early with the current set-up because I have a 75 min drive to the airport. I always fly LH to FRA around 13:00, which means an easy connection at FRA and arrival to a quiet airport in the US outside the late afternoon arrival peak. And with GE I am out of there in 10-15 min from wheels down.

The Danes have a good expression for preclearance: hul i hovedet.

gnaget

What does LH have anything do with this? They operate from what was formerly known as the A pier and obviously don't fly to the US from ARN.

Lower F is currently Schengen, so where do all those flights go? There are not enough gates in A and B.

GUWonder

"LH" there was meant to be a reference to "long-haul" flights, perhaps specifically to US-bound flights?

That is what AUH thought given how few US-bound flights they had using the CBP PC facility. And it was a case of being "brief and efficient" so much so that DOH and DXB have backed off from wanting CBP PC at the hub airports for QR and for EK.

I am not welcoming CBP PC at ARN. It will mess up my parties' trips more than it will improve them.

Here is an indication of how the US G prioritized where it wants to push for these arrangements:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24922527-post18.html

Small (governmental) pigs are generally easier to push around than big (governmental) pigs.

GreatDane

While I was initially disappointed to hear CPH won't go for pre-clearance after having read the pros and cons here , as well as experiencing vastly improved processing on arrival into the US I must agree - paying for CBP processing in Europe is indeed 'hul i hovedet'

GUWonder

Fewer flights equal fewer CBP employees. And that generally translates into fewer CBP employees available to as cheaply ramp up staffing at the facility for even expected peaks. That in turn generally comes with increased processing time and increased variance in processing times, ceteris paribus. Not a good thing for frequent passengers like myself or those in my travel parties.

I'm glad that CPH is not going to jump on the bandwagon as fast as ARN or OSL, even as I wish that none of these airports would jump in on this bandwagon.