Changing Terminals in BOS
 

We will be arriving on an IcelandAir flight (origin CDG but making a brief stop at KEF) at 5:50 pm on Sunday 12/10 into Terminal E. We will need to clear customs, reclaim our bags, and change to Terminal C to check in for a 8:32pm JetBlue flight to ATL. I hardly ever fly in and out of BOS--anyone have any insight into whether we will be pressed for time? We both have precheck. The IcelandAir flight shows an arrival delay of less than 10 mins typically, and the JetBlue a typical departure delay of 20-40 mins. Again, haven't been in BOS in ages and Sunday nights can be rough so any insight is appreciated.

The key factor is how long it takes to get through immigration. That depends heavily on your citizenship/immigration status. Can you share that with us?

Other than that, you should be fine. However, you wrote "clear customs, reclaim our bags." That happens in the opposite order: after you clear immigration, you reclaim your bags and then clear customs. You then emerge into the Terminal E arrivals hall. To reach Terminal C, walk through the central parking garage. It's well signed. You go up a few levels in E to a bridge, then follow the Terminal C signs and go back down to the departure level.

You can walk from Terminal E to Terminal C directly, without going thru the garage.

The connection is actually quite close to the Icelandair gates in Terminal E and near the lower numbered JetBlue gates in C.

Thank you for your response Efrem. We are US citizens. I'm hoping that will be a plus in terms of getting us through the whole process quickly (although neither of us have Global Entry).

I grew up on the Canadian border, so to me immigration/customs sort of collapses into a mere formality that we always called 'customs' as we drove back and forth several times a week, although of course that has all changed in the last 16 years. But you are right, I should have distinguished.

Sounds like we should be ok on time though...? Boyfriend had to be talking into the late Sunday night return and I don't want the wrath of his boss if we miss our flight Sunday night :)

Barring a significant delay arriving into BOS you'll be fine on time.

Even without Global Entry, BOS has both the automated passport control (APC) kiosks and supports the Mobile Passport phone app (MPC); either will be faster than the old "stand in line for a human" desks. I suspect MPC is faster, but haven't actually tried either because I have NEXUS/GE.

2.5 hours should be plenty for you.

I've used the automated passport kiosks several times. There is usually very little wait to get one and almost no wait to see an agent after you get the printed slip. However, there are probably still a few older passports in use that don't have the electronic information you need to use a kiosk. Here's hoping neither of you has one, but the whole process is so much faster these days because most arriving passengers have them that I wouldn't be concerned with your transfer time.