United Airlines/ O'Hare question

Rick Blaine wrote:
Yep. It's always been US law, but they've tightened up the implementation since
9/11.


NOP. Prior to Bush regime, there were many examples of passengers being
able to transit via the USA to a 3rd country without being given full entry
into the USA. Canada to South Pacific did that via Honolulu without pax
going through US formalities.

And there was also the concept of a transit visa/visa waiver which didn't
require passengers to first queue up at a US embassy/consulate to
pay/obtain a visa before travelling.

Iberia had a mini hub at Miami for flights from Spain with pax connecting
to flights to south ameria.

Rick Blaine wrote:


Since all passengers are required to be screened at their first touchdown point
in the US, it's no big deal to proceed over to a domestic terminal for the
continuation of the flight.

Of course, if you first flight number xxx is late, there is no guarantee
that you are going to make a connection to the second flight xxx..

Nobody wrote:

In terms of keeping the same flight number, it essentially (but 100%
garanteed) ensures that passengers booked on flight X will make the
connection for the second leg should X be late. Also simplifies
things from the point of view of reservations/ticketing and capacity
management.

Not necessarily! There's a Qantas flight which lands in LA, but then
continues on to NY. Passengers have to get off and go through customs and
immigration, and then get back on the same plane at the same gate and have
the same seats. However, they have to go outside and re-enter and go through
security. The time I did this, it was horrific. The line came down the
escalators, into the main foyer, snaked back and forth, out the doors, down
the footpath and doubled back on itself in the gutter. That's where we ended
up, wondering how the hell we were going to make it back onto our aeroplane!

Luckily, Qantas people were running up and down the line, calling out for
passengers on that flight. We were marched up the footpath to the next
terminal (which was deserted), went through security there, and then got on
a bus that took us across the runway tarmac area to the gate, we went back
inside from there, and rushed to our plane. What an adventure. I'm sure
quite a few people got left behind.



--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

ant wrote:
Nobody wrote:

In terms of keeping the same flight number, it essentially (but 100%
garanteed)

I meant to say NOT 100% garanteed)


Not necessarily! There's a Qantas flight which lands in LA, but then
continues on to NY. Passengers have to get off and go through customs and
immigration, and then get back on the same plane at the same gate and have
the same seats.

Foreign airlines do not have their own domestic gates, so they have nowhere
to go, so they stay at the internationla gates. US airlines have most of
their operations at the domestic terminals where they have plenty of gates,
so they prefer to move to their domestic terminal instead of renting the
intl gate for a longer period.

Jeff Hacker wrote:

: A friend will flying UA 882 from Narita , reaching O'Hare at 14:23.
: Then leave O'Hare for Toronto by UA 1108 at 15:50
:
: Although the connection tight, we are trying to figure out if it is
: possible to meet them for a few minutes.
:
: Incoming international arrivals use Terminal 5 (Customs). After exiting
: customs, passengers have to take a train to United's Terminal 1 area
: (Concourses A,B,C and part of E) - so if you meet them outside customs, you
: can accompany them as far as security at the domestic terminal (Toronto
: flights originate there).

Are passengers able to check their luggage through from Tokyo to
Toronto? Or do the need to pick it up in Chicgao and re-check it?

AKT wrote:

Are passengers able to check their luggage through from Tokyo to
Toronto? Or do the need to pick it up in Chicgao and re-check it?

If the airline does both Japan-USA and USA-Canada, or if there is
interlining between the two, they will tag your luggage in Tokyo all the
way to Toronto.

When the plane lands in Chicago, all luggage is taken out and sent to the
customs area. Passengers picks it up, clears customs, and then would
recheck the luggage. Since it is already tagged to toronto, it is just a
matter of depositing it on a connecting luggage belt that is normally just
before or just after the exit into public areas after customs.

In message Nobody
wrote:

Rick Blaine wrote:

NOP. Prior to Bush regime, there were many examples of passengers being
able to transit via the USA to a 3rd country without being given full entry
into the USA. Canada to South Pacific did that via Honolulu without pax
going through US formalities.

Did the Canadian travelers go through US customs on the Canadian side?

In Calgary (and many other airports), you go through US Homeland
Security on the Canadian side, before you board. This is fantastic as
it means you can be out of the airport 15 minutes after you touch
ground.

DevilsPGD wrote:
Did the Canadian travelers go through US customs on the Canadian side?

Nop. before the follies, passengers could get off the aircraft and remain
in an isolated section of the HNL airport without going through immigration
or customs. Luggage was transfered directly from aircraft to aircraft
within this area. (flights from canada connected to flights to australia
and flights to new zealand/fiji). This allowed passengers to travel to the
So-Pac without any entry requirements into the USA.

At one point, the USA did post a guard at the jetway to visually check
passports. But that was the extent of it.


In Calgary (and many other airports), you go through US Homeland
Security on the Canadian side, before you board. This is fantastic as
it means you can be out of the airport 15 minutes after you touch
ground.

This has been the case for a long time for trans-border flights. And it is
also the case for AC flights from canada to Australia where each customer
must be able to fully enter the USA (from visa point of view) even though
they have no intention of touching US soil).

Iberia threathened to move its hub from miami to Havana because of this.
Not sure what happened to this issue.


Note that pre-clearance in canada may seem great, but it cuts both ways.
You need to get to the airport sooner to go though customs/immigration
before you board.

JF Mezei wrote:

Not only that, but also obtain a visa if the person does not have a
passport from a diminishing list of countries not required to have a visa
to enter or pass through the USA.

Diminishing? The current Visa Waiver Program list has 27 countries. Which ones
have been removed?

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wi...html#countries