shimps1

I am trying to get GE, but given my home airport is apparently a small town, I have found it is nearly impossible. The nearest interview location is an 8 hour round trip drive away, and the soonest appointment is in March.

Anyway, I have a connection coming up through IAH, UA6025 connecting to UA1622, with a 1 hr 11 minute connection in between. 1622 is IAH>PVR, so I do have to be at the gate a bit early for it since it's INTL.

If I take advantage of the Terminal E GE interview location, is this a doable proposition, or am I in over my head here? There is an appointment available, but it starts at 9:15AM, and 1622 departs at 9:50AM. Any idea on where 6025 usually arrives, and 1622 usually leaves from?

laxmillenial

It's doable.
I did my GE interview at IAH during a 1 hour layover. The interview itself took all of 5 minutes; appointment was on time.

emcampbe

I guess it depends on your level of risk, but seems like there’s a pretty high risk of failure somewhere down the line here. The GE office is landslide, right? Even if everything is on time and it literally does only take you 5 minutes, that leaves just 30 minutes to clear security and board. But since PVR is international, if you are not at gate ready to board at T-30, you can be offloaded. It won’t necessarily happen, but it’s possible, especially if the flight is full and there are standbys. I wouldn’t take that bet.

kale73

Your PVR flight will probably depart from E, but it could be C. UA 6025 will almost certainly arrive at a B gate. Recent flights with that number are ex-ABQ, which is incidentally where I had my GE interview (after a 3.5 hr one-way drive). What is the origin of your UA 6025?

ETA: If your inbound RJ is late (or the "gate" is occupied when it arrives on time, things can go downhill pretty quickly.

IIRC, the GE interview center in E is airside, right next to Ruby's.

shimps1

Inbound 6025 from DSM. This isn't until late April.

You're correct, terminal E location is airside.

kale73

So your arrival (likely at Terminal B) is scheduled for 8:39 AM, your international departure (likely from Terminal E) is at 9:50 AM, and you have a GE interview (in the Terminal D/E connector) scheduled for 9:15 AM? As mentioned above, you are expected at the gate for an International departure at T-30, which in this case means 9:20 AM. The GE interview isn't terribly long, but it is going to take longer than 5 minutes. And I, for one, would not like to be sitting in front of a CBP officer answering questions while constantly glancing at my watch / phone and fidgeting to get out of there.

Is it "doable"? If your inbound is early and your outbound is significantly delayed, sure. If everything is "on schedule" not a chance.

LondonElite

My interview started 30 minutes late.

TWA884

And I was accommodated more than half hour early when I arrived well before my appointment time due to unexpectedly light traffic.

Duck1981

I also did mine in IAH - even without an appointment, a friendly customers office took me to another counter where my interview was done. Total time 5min.

flyerCO

Dont count on UA1622 taking off from E. It could be the furthest C gate. Only UA international arrivals always landed at E.

Is there a reason you can't/ don't want to do enrollment on arrival when re-entering the country? It would also mean no worries on needing to get rebooked. If you get delayed UA will simply rebook you at no cost due to CBP delay. However if you run over and miss on way out, they could charge you to rebook. On way out there's no needing to clear CBP so no reason for you to be delayed there.