How much time to allot for POE on her flight to USA??

[rockhouse 1]

Hi all, I'm trying to work out the schedule for my fiancee to fly here to Texas. Her POE (Point Of Entry) will be Los Angeles. How much time should i try and schedule for her when she arrives in L.A., before she continues on to Texas?

I really have no idea what's involved at the POE, or how long it will take....could someone please give me some first-hand experiences to give me an idea of how i should schedule her flight to allow her enough time at the POE?

Thanks alot.

[payxibka 10,045]

depends on the time of date as well as the location

go to cbp.gov and look at the airport POE waittimes

[SomeoneElse 0]

Hi all, I'm trying to work out the schedule for my fiancee to fly here to Texas. Her POE (Point Of Entry) will be Los Angeles. How much time should i try and schedule for her when she arrives in L.A., before she continues on to Texas?

I really have no idea what's involved at the POE, or how long it will take....could someone please give me some first-hand experiences to give me an idea of how i should schedule her flight to allow her enough time at the POE?

Thanks alot.

Hi, When i flew from Taiwan to LA (Point Of Entry) I had 4 hours before my flight to Dallas texas. It gave me time to go through immigration and everything that needed to be done before my next flight.

Maddy.

[Otto 83]

In most cases, anything less than about 90-minutes is pushing it (time of day and airport does matter).

[rockhouse 1]

Any others have experience at LAX? I wonder how long the line will be...every time i'm in that airport i can't believe how many international travelers are there.

[thepizzadude 26]

We had 3 hours between flights at Atlanta and still missed flight by 15-20 mins. And the time to go through the actual visa check-in was 15 mins...the line however was horrendous.

I would say 4 hours to be certain especially if she is traveling alone and may not be accustomed to an airport as large as LAX.

[GD21 0]

I normally get through in about 45 min when I do immigration in LAX but that's from the front and I'm still in line for at least 30 min just to get to the immigration counter. So many planes come in there it's really a crapshoot. If she gets there where 4 other planes arrive there'll be 1200 people plus those who arrived earlier trying to go through and it'll take forever or if she arrives at an odd hour she may just be heading there with the other 300 on her flight and she may fly right through. So there's no certain answer it's totally variable.

My advice is allow 3 hours. Better she waits for an hour and a half at her gate than she misses a flight and has to do standby to get on a later one. Done that before and that's a pain in the a**!

[AbbynSheryl 0]

Hey rockhouse , hope u know that she does not have to go to LAX for POE . u can arrange to have POE either dallas or houston for her. she is coming from cebu and u can get a flight from cebu to tokyo and tokyo to dallas or houston, my wife did POE guam bcz that is the easy POE and hardly ever anyone have problem there, i dont know which city u r in texax but look for the near airport first and see how quick u can get her there without traveling to LAX.just check the shortest route on the online ticket search and u will see lot of options, good luck. abby n sheryl

[DouglasFiel 53]

Personally I would try to avoid LAX (Most of my co-workers think the same -- Slow, inefficient and rude)... However, the airlines will allow the correct "Legal" connect time when connecting through an international POE. LAX 2 hours should be fine.

Going to Central Texas... If using American Airlines there is a Tokyo - DFW connection and If using Continential there is a POE of Guam/Honolulu (our choice)...

Good Luck,

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Ahmed came to Okla thru Chicago, had no problems i think we schedule 3-4 hours just to be safe

[Old Dominion 26]

Ditto on avoiding LAX and choosing a flight to the international airport in Texas that is closest to you. That way you can be right there for her!

[el cordobés 0]

Please be informed that, at LAX, there is a long walk from the international terminal to where the domestic airlines are. Hence, I would suggest that she takes Continental all the way to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

[XR600SM 0]

No way I would send my fiancee through LAX. Seems Continental through Guam is a no brainer for a Texan. Shouldn't take but a few minutes to get through immigration and plenty of filipinos around.

[Rocky_nBullwinkle 6]

The plane arrived before 8pm on a Saturday night at SFO. I was the last one through customs and that was 2 1/2 hours later. I finally met my fiancee at the arrival area 10:30. I think we were the last international flight. When I cleared immigration, my bags were waiting for me at the custom's office. I had no trouble with customs. There was just a long line because everybody gets off the 747 at the same time. That's a lot of people.

[calico1 1]

Any others have experience at LAX? I wonder how long the line will be...every time i'm in that airport i can't believe how many international travelers are there.

Came thru LAX last fall, our flight had 435 people aboard, and between finding your luggage " if it is not checked thru" and the customs counter people "immigration" is far right lane..it was a packed house..3 hrs. is a pretty safe allotment. I am in the same boat as you are, as my wife will be flying about nov.15 from CDO mindanao..and she is already confused enough..so we will probably stick with PAL and LAX..as wife continues way north to WASH state, LAX isn't really that bad..just very congested at certain times. There are several other carriers, and several POE's but do what makes you both feel most comfortable...Best luck, safe journey and again Congrats on your visa.