Average time to go through customs and immigration at the U.S. POE?

[Karen_and_Jay 2]

My fiancee and I only have 2.5 hours between flights at our Minneapolis port of entry. Is this enough time for her to clear customs and immigration? Our return flight travels from Manila to Tokyo to Minneapolis, and I'm a little worried we won't have enough time, especially if we arrive late in Minneapolis.

Your thoughts?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Allow not less than 4 hours at busy airports or be prepared to take the next available flight.

[pushbrk 12,104]

Allow not less than 4 hours at busy airports or be prepared to take the next available flight.

A YUP.

[DouglasFiel 53]

I fly international all of the time... I have only had an issue once. Incoming flight was delayed... That given...

1. Minneapolis is not a major point of entry. So, number of potential international flights needing to clear customs is less.

2. They (The airlines) have minimum connection times for all airports. They can not book tickets that violate the airport

minimum connect time.

3. Lots of flights out of there... If you miss one,, easy to get another.

My two cents,,, and believe me,,, it is not worth much more.

Regards,

[Zen Den 18]

My fiancee and I only have 2.5 hours between flights at our Minneapolis port of entry. Is this enough time for her to clear customs and immigration? Our return flight travels from Manila to Tokyo to Minneapolis, and I'm a little worried we won't have enough time, especially if we arrive late in Minneapolis.

Your thoughts?

it's risky but doable, and if you can't change it anymore, try to be first in line at the poe, collect your luggage fast so you can get into inspections/immigration right away and pray for less people on your flight good luck and god bless!

[pushbrk 12,104]

I fly international all of the time... I have only had an issue once. Incoming flight was delayed... That given...

1. Minneapolis is not a major point of entry. So, number of potential international flights needing to clear customs is less.

2. They (The airlines) have minimum connection times for all airports. They can not book tickets that violate the airport

minimum connect time.

3. Lots of flights out of there... If you miss one,, easy to get another.

My two cents,,, and believe me,,, it is not worth much more.

Regards,

For general international travel the above is good advice but it is not good for people who require immigrant processing at the POE, including K1 visa holders.

I've never had a connection time under two hours but have had to overnight three times in the last three international trips, (all on the return flights from abroad) because there WAS no next flight out until the next day and none of THOSE connections were shorter than three hours. One trip had two of the three overnights. I got home a day and a half late.

Not trying to rain on the OP's parade. That ticket is bought. Others will read this thread and Gary's advice is spot on.

Edited May 22, 2010 by pushbrk

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

If you get a CBP officer who knows what they're doing with a K1, then you shouldn't be at the immigration counter more than 5 or 10 minutes. Customs will probably take as long as it always does at that airport. Where you'll probably spend the most time is at baggage claim.

I learned a little trick from watching the airport personnel in San Francisco, Taipei, and Ho Chi Minh city. If they handle bags the same way in Manila and Tokyo, then this may also work for you.

I noticed that the first bags that were checked in for a flight got placed on the first luggage cart, and got loaded into the baggage hold of the plane first. Conversely, they were the last bags to come off the plane when it arrived at it's destination. The people who checked in early for their flights, and only flew one leg, ended up waiting the longest at baggage claim for their bags to come onto the carousel. First in, last out.

If I checked in late for my departing flight in HCMC, then my bags were among the last to be loaded onto the plane. When I changed planes in Taipei, my bags were among the first to come off the plane (I actually watched this happen) and among the first to be loaded onto the next plane. Consequently, my bags were among the last to come off the plane in San Francisco, which left me standing at the carousel for almost an hour (a 747 can hold a LOT of luggage!).

On my last three trips, I was able to work this out to my advantage. I checked in for my flight as soon as they opened the check-in counter. When I arrived in San Francisco, my bags came onto the carousel within 5 minutes of the time the carousel started. Just remember - first in, last out, and the order is reversed each time you change planes.

[TBoneTX 43,043]

Just remember - first in, last out, and the order is reversed each time you change planes.

Jim echoes a buddy of mine -- who used to sling bags for Continental Airlines. Do the engineering to figure out what will be first on the baggage cart, last on the plane, etc.

A wrinkle can occur when multiple baggage carts have to be used, or the bag staff has to empty one loaded cart and then return to the plane to retrieve more bags. Also, if TSA picks your checked bag for inspection (planned, random, or training), it can miss the flight entirely. This happened to me on the last trip to Ecuador, with just one flight there daily from the U.S. Fortunately, I was spending the next full day in the arrival city and was able to retrieve the suitcase from the next day's flight; otherwise, it may never have caught up with me.

Interestingly, after most of my domestic flights (which tend to be nonstops), my bag is either one of the first five to appear on the carousel, or one of the very last, si man.

Regarding the OP's original question, I echo the good Pushbrk who echoes the good Gary. (Are there a lot of echoes in here, si man?)

Edited May 22, 2010 by TBoneTX

[payxibka 10,044]

depends on the time of day.... you can look at CBP.gov and it will show you the average wait time at a POE during the day

Over the last 30 days in MSP the average wait time is about 20 minutes and the longest anyone had to wait to get through primary inspection was about 46 minutes...

moving thread

Edited May 22, 2010 by payxibka

[Florianns Man 7]

Hello, I live in the Minneapolis area and I am surprised that you are having to have MSP as your port of entry. I have been doing a lot of airline price shopping to be ready for my honeys arrival. It seems I can get a much cheaper flight through Chicago as the POE but I am going to pay extra because I don't want her to be rushed while trying to get everything accomplished.

From what I have learned the MSP process is very smooth and quick, the airport is also smaller than some of the other possibilities. What airine is she using?? Delta??

[mrs. wife! 3]

Sometimes you don't even get your luggage when you are connecting flights.

My POE will be Dulles (DC) and then off to Newark. Both airlines will be United. Do you think I'll have to get my baggage in DC and check them in again?

[HappyRs 8]

Sometimes you don't even get your luggage when you are connecting flights.

My POE will be Dulles (DC) and then off to Newark. Both airlines will be United. Do you think I'll have to get my baggage in DC and check them in again?

Yes... it doesn't matter it's the same airline. The luggage is checked in again at POE

[payxibka 10,044]

Sometimes you don't even get your luggage when you are connecting flights.

My POE will be Dulles (DC) and then off to Newark. Both airlines will be United. Do you think I'll have to get my baggage in DC and check them in again?

whenever you pass through a US POE you collect your luggage, go through customs and then re-check them for your next/final destination

[mrs. wife! 3]

I didn't know that! Thanks guys!

[Karen_and_Jay 2]

Thanks everyone for the advice, but I'm a little worried now. I guess I have no choice but to see if we can make our connecting flight. But if immigration only takes 15-30 minutes, then what is the big worry?

Where you'll probably spend the most time is at baggage claim.

I don't understand. I don't travel by plane much, so that is probably why.

But whenever I've had to get off a plane and re-board another, I've never had to pick up my luggage & carry it to the other plane. When does this happen? I booked my flight entirely with Delta, so I expect that they will transfer my bags from the Tokyo-Minneapolis plane to the Minneapolis-Newark plane for me, since that's happened on every multi-city itinerary I've had so far. So if I don't need to wait for my luggage, then is there really a danger of us missing our flight?

Edited May 23, 2010 by Karen_and_Jay