POE question

[centuryMN 0]

Hello,

My wife and I are looking for flights from Beijing to Minneapolis and are not any direct flights. I am wondering if 2.5 hours in Chicago POE is long enough for her? I've heard that new immigrants can take much longer than returning immigrants and citizens to pass the POE. Thank you for the help.

[bigdog 377]

I have heard Chicago was fairly painless, see some reviews but LAX 3 to 4 hours, waiting with little to no questions.

[TBoneTX 47,094]

The general recommendation is to leave 3 to 4 hours between flights, 4 hours being better. The international flight could arrive late; the immigration lines could be long; luggage pick-up could be messed up; there may be the need to transfer terminals for the connecting flight; etc.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

I have often gone through Chicago and needed exactly 2.5 hours to get through to my next connection as a USC.

There are long lines,luggage needs to be claimed and rechecked,customs, change terminals,find next gate, numerous passport checks at various areas and on and on.

It can be very overwhelming and the stress of making it in time is not worth it. I advice at least 3-4 hours.

[bigdog 377]

If you have extra time have a cool drink better than being stressed..

[Darnell 8,479]

in the end, if you miss the flights because of POE operations, go to the ticket counter of that airline at the airport, explain all - usually they will put you on the next flight out for no additional charge.

[stevo222 18]

I fly out of ORD all the time (live local). The international flight arrival terminal is separate location from the three domestic terminals. Customs lines can vary, depending on if you are unluckly and another international flight gets there at similar time. You can count on international flights being 747 or similar, so they dump 300+ people into the customs lines at once. I would leave 3.5 to 4 hours between flights if you have the choice, to avoid stress. That all being said, if you did miss your connection, Darnell is right, the airline would have mercy and book you on another connection for no charge (but possible big inconvience!). Good Luck to you!

[sunshine_84 11]

Hello,

My wife and I are looking for flights from Beijing to Minneapolis and are not any direct flights. I am wondering if 2.5 hours in Chicago POE is long enough for her? I've heard that new immigrants can take much longer than returning immigrants and citizens to pass the POE. Thank you for the help.

I would recommend to leave around 4 hours gap between two connecting flights for 1st POE. This will give some relief to your wife to catch connecting flight on 1st POE as mostly all people do get little bit nervous at 1st POE.

BTW my brother's wife had her 1st POE few years ago on Chicago and it took her around 1.5 hours to finish the whole process.

Edited June 11, 2012 by smart84