Connection times in Atlanta

On 6/28/2010 6:53 AM, Binyamin Dissen wrote:
On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:30:38 +0000 BlackEyes
wrote:

:In most cases your luggage will already be checked all the way through,
:so you won't even need to go through security again.

Can one pass US customs in the UK, like they can in Canada?

In my limited experience (once at Gatwick, more recently at Heathrow),
and as far as I can tell, there are no US customs facilities for
departing passengers in the UK. Canada is one of the few places where
one clears US customs abroad.

I've flown from Winnipeg to the States several times (the most recent
being about 20 years ago), and my experience with US Customs was
consistently unpleasant, something that hasn't happened anywhere else.
I've wondered if it's an unpopular post and the customs agents would
rather be stateside, but my two trips out of Calgary have been OK.

I've actually had customs people at O'Hare tell me, "Welcome home!"

Louis

On Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:36:59 -0600, Louis Krupp
wrote:

On 6/28/2010 6:53 AM, Binyamin Dissen wrote:
On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:30:38 +0000 BlackEyes
wrote:

:In most cases your luggage will already be checked all the way through,
:so you won't even need to go through security again.

Can one pass US customs in the UK, like they can in Canada?

In my limited experience (once at Gatwick, more recently at Heathrow),
and as far as I can tell, there are no US customs facilities for
departing passengers in the UK. Canada is one of the few places where
one clears US customs abroad.

I've flown from Winnipeg to the States several times (the most recent
being about 20 years ago), and my experience with US Customs was
consistently unpleasant, something that hasn't happened anywhere else.
I've wondered if it's an unpopular post and the customs agents would
rather be stateside, but my two trips out of Calgary have been OK.

I've actually had customs people at O'Hare tell me, "Welcome home!"


Hi

When flying from the UK, you cannot pass through US customs at the
departure airport.

The departure procedure from the UK is to check in, go through normal
airport security, then wait in the departure lounge until you are
called to your gate.

On arrival in the US, you first pass through US immigration. I seem
to remember that you then have to reclaim your baggage (after
immigration and even if you are checked right through); you then pass
through US customs with your baggage, after which you re-check it in
if you have an onward flight; baggage re-check counters usually being
located immediately after customs. Even if you have an onward
internal flight and your baggage is checked right through, you always
reclaim your baggage at your first landing on US soil then re-check
it.

After all that, you are then free to sprint to the correct departure
gate (probably in a different terminal) for your internal flight.

Perhaps I have just been lucky, but in many trips to the US, I have
never had an unpleasant experience with US immigration. I even
remember one November when my wife and I were merely in transit
through the US (our schedule from Belize to England meant a one night
stay in Houston) and I stated that our "purpose of visit" was just
passing through on our way home, the US immigration official jokingly
suggested that my wife and I spend the entire winter in the USA where
it was warm, rather than flying back home to cold and wet weather in
the UK. Normally I would never attempt to be flippant but I couldn't
resist replying, "You are hopefully about to give me a visa valid for
90 days. On day 91, when I haven't flown home you will be the first
person trying to find me." He just grinned and stamped my passport.

As I say, I would normally never joke with any immigration official
anywhere in the World - especially the USA - but he started the banter
and it was obviously going to be appropriate to make a joke back.
Normally I take immigration seriously and try to be as helpful as
possible - a touch of mild humility goes a long way in smoothing one's
entry into a country.

Regards

KGB