Mind_Zenith

First off, I'm not sure in which forum to put this post, so if a friendly admin could move it around if it's not here, that'd be great lol

In less-than-two-months, I'll be doing a Sydney to Denver flight, where I pass through LAX. I'm wondering, where do I do customs etc.? The travel agent initially said LAX (which was a bit worrying since I only have about 1.5 hours between flights), and then when she noticed I'm going into Denver International Airpt, she said I would do it there. But i don't know, is that really what's likely to happen, or am I just gonna have to rush at LAX?

Thanks very much!

bzcat

You enter immigration and custom at first port of entry in the United States so it is at LAX. If you are flying QF or VA from Sydney, it is at TBIT. If you are flying UA, it is at T7. If you are flying DL, it is at T5.

Based on your final destination, I assume you are leaving LAX on UA. Due to the short connection time, you will only make this connection if you are flying UA on both legs as there is no terminal change involved.

If you are flying QF, VA, or DL, or a mix of 2 different airlines, it is time to rebook.

Mind_Zenith

Thanks! Yes, just don't mind me leaving out important information... lol

I am flying all the way with UA. I assume I need to collect my baggage and put them through customs at LAX (last time I did, but that was with two different airlines�and a few years ago). Through customs and immigration in less than two hours... that's gotta be an experience

HighPotter

Flying UA, you will transit Immigrations and Customs through UA's Terminal 7. You will have plenty of time to make your connection.

HP

HkCaGu

The customs hall is actually in T6. But your LAX-DEN flight may depart from T6 or T7. Transfer any duty free liquids into checked bags and drop them off before you emerge into the public area. After you're out, go upstairs and go through security in T6 or T7 (they're connected). Two hours may very well be barely enough time to connect. However, there should be more flights later in the day.

SoCal

A travel agent said you'd go through Immigration and Customs at DEN???? I wonder if they deal much with people buying international flight tickets. Tell them to phone United Airlines to confirm. If they won't, do it yourself. I've never heard of such a thing. Presumably the agent would not have been able to book the flights if 1.5 were not a legal connecton time for international-to-domestic flights at LAX. It sounds like a tight connection, but if it's a legal connection time I doubt UA would change it without a fee.

Unless you have a truly uniique situation, it'll be at LAX were you'll go through Immigration (that's the wild card since you don't know how many other flights arrive at the same time and how many people will be in your line-- citizens/permanent residents or others), then to the baggage carousel to get your bags, then Customs (usually just a matter of handing over the form you will have been given on the plane and filled out and had initialed by the immigration officer, but you could get pulled aside for secondary inspection, whether due to questions about your form or bags or just at random), then you hand over your bags to a transit desk, then proceed to the gate for your next flight, after passing through security. Good point about remembering to put into your checked bags anything you bought in duty free shops that isn't permitted in carry-on bags for U.S. flights (my wife forgot about some hand creme she bought in duty freeon a flight from Brazil and forgot about it until after we'd handed over our checked bags at the transit desk and were passing through security at ATL-- she lost the creme).

If somehow you miss your connecting flight, and that's a possibility with such a short connectiontime, go to a UA customer service desk in the terminal. They will put you on the next flight that has available seats in your fare class. That may not be the very next flight. Since DEN is a UA hub there will be lots of flights, so I doubt you'd have much of a wait. If you have to overnight, UA may pay for a hotel, but only if the delay was their fault (not due to weather, Immigration delays etc.).

Mind_Zenith

Very sorry I haven't been able to get back to you guys. I'm going to have the TA call UA and ask them if it is enough time, and then possibly look into changing it to the next flight (I would expect them to foot the bill... we'll see). I called myself and spoke to a customer service agent who said I should have plenty of time, but I still want my TA to confirm.

I'll keep you guys updated.

Thanks for all the replies!

SoCal

Good luck. I'd be very surprised if they'd change your flight at no charge unless either what you have is not considered a "legal" connection time and/or they had changed your flight time and so reduced that connection time But they should still put you on the next flight with available seats at no charge IF you do miss that early flight. Even if the next flight is filled and you have to wait a bit longer, I'd think odds are good you'd get to your destination the same day. Hopefully your TA now knows where you'll go through Immigration and Customs.