Layover

[Lansbury 19]

So in assisting someone who is asking about how much time to allow for their arrival and immigration procedures you want to split hairs over the exact time an aircraft lands. I say she needs to allow for certain "extras" and not just look at ticket times and think that they give an amount of time she has available. That I believe is sound advice based on working at an airport. I do not think it helpful to quibble over 10 minutes or so when the person is trying to leave enough time, not cut it as short as possible.

[Dwarf_Ogress 0]

Marlon had a 4 hour layover in Miami today but it took about 45 minutes to be cleared by immigration. It's always better to have at least a 3-4 hour layover just in case. (My travel agent advised me on this and I am very grateful!)

[curiousn 0]

Oh, my, we've started quite the heated discussion here, it seems.

Well, whichever times are listed on the tickets, planes can always be late as well - and either way, I'll try to leave 3-4 hours. That should do the trick.

Thanks to all of you guys for the help!

Oh, and FutureMrs, congrats on being united again. I see you're in Arizona, too - that's where I'm headed.

Edited September 7, 2007 by curiousn

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

That's interesting, elmcitymaven, I was under the impression that we could go through the USC/GC line. Last time we were in the States (in the midst of the IR-1 process but on a tourist visa) they actually told us to switch to that line from the non-USC line we had been in. Just based on the fact that I was with my USC spouse.

Anyone else? Which line should it be? I suppose this is a small detail but it's one that could make a lot of time difference, I think.

I thought we would go to the USC line, but when I asked the officer which line we should go into (I made it clear I was a USC and he was on an immigrant visa), we were told ALL visas go to the non-USC/GC line. This was the case for Newark, but could be different for other airports/terminals/cranky crowd control officers.

[Lansbury 19]

I thought we would go to the USC line, but when I asked the officer which line we should go into (I made it clear I was a USC and he was on an immigrant visa), we were told ALL visas go to the non-USC/GC line. This was the case for Newark, but could be different for other airports/terminals/cranky crowd control officers.

I was told when my visa was issued in London that when I entered the US I went to the non USC line. The immigration staff at some airports let you use the USC line if you are with a USC anyway, SFO is one, so I guess with a visa some are just nicer than others.

Don't expect to use the USC line but if you do accept it as a perk so to speak, I think is the best expectation.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Don't expect to use the USC line but if you do accept it as a perk so to speak, I think is the best expectation.

I couldn't agree more! In the end, it's only a matter of a little extra time, and going through this process we're all experts now with waiting a little longer!

[curiousn 0]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I ended up going for about 4.5 hours, as the next alternatives were 3 and 6. I thought 4.5 was a nice middle road.

Thanks!