Stopovers & U.S. Immigration

sideswipe

Hi,

I wondered if people on here might be able to clarify something for me, as I'm not 100% sure this is correct or not.

I'm planning a trip to San Diego next year and it looks almost certain that I will have a stop over at somewhere like Atlanta or New York, and I've been told that I should make sure it's at least 3 hours. What I've been told is that if I have a stop over less than 3 hours there is the possibility that I won't make it through immigration in time for my connecting flight, and that as far as the airline is concerned is my responsibility so they would not let me get a later flight without buying a new ticket.

Does this sound correct? and if so do people agree that I should allow 3 hours?

Also, if I did allow 3 hours but my flight was delayed 2 hours leaving me only an hour to get through immigration, would the airline take any responsibility if I still missed the connection? or would I still have to purchase a new ticket?

Thanks for any help, I'm not quite up to speed on the does and don't of scheduled flights, connections and stop overs.

d61mts

If you book a ticket all the way through to your final destination, the airline won't strand you without help at your stopover. If they're willing to sell you a flight with a connection time of less than 3 hrs its their responsibility to get you through to your final destination, and will take the hit if immigration had huge queues (not sure exactly on the situation though if you had to be held up at immmigration for a long time due to issues with your visa if you had one).

There's no 3hr cutoff rule, just general advice incase of delays - see how many onward flights there are to your destination that day if you're worried, as potentially it could be a long wait untill the next availiable flight - or perhaps even overnight. Similarly if the first flight is delayed, given you have a ticket all the way through, they're responsible for putting you on the next availiable flight they run to your final destination. If there are loads of people on the connecting flight they may even speed you through or hold the flight.

What they won't do however is leave you stranded in your mid point stopover refusing to fly you to your onward destination - they could only do this if you bought a flight to New York for example, then a seperate domestic ticket across to your final destination. If they let you book it then they're responsible for making sure you get where you've booked to.

peachyprice

Also do bear in mind that once you get through immigration you will have to collect and re-check in your luggage for your next flight. I wouldn't like to leave any less than 3 hours.

sideswipe

d61mts wrote: »

If you book a ticket all the way through to your final destination, the airline won't strand you without help at your stopover. If they're willing to sell you a flight with a connection time of less than 3 hrs its their responsibility to get you through to your final destination, and will take the hit if immigration had huge queues (not sure exactly on the situation though if you had to be held up at immmigration for a long time due to issues with your visa if you had one).

There's no 3hr cutoff rule, just general advice incase of delays - see how many onward flights there are to your destination that day if you're worried, as potentially it could be a long wait untill the next availiable flight - or perhaps even overnight. Similarly if the first flight is delayed, given you have a ticket all the way through, they're responsible for putting you on the next availiable flight they run to your final destination. If there are loads of people on the connecting flight they may even speed you through or hold the flight.

What they won't do however is leave you stranded in your mid point stopover refusing to fly you to your onward destination - they could only do this if you bought a flight to New York for example, then a seperate domestic ticket across to your final destination. If they let you book it then they're responsible for making sure you get where you've booked to.

Yeah, that is what I thought, it just put a doubt in my mind when someone told me if the delay is due to long queues at immigration it's your own problem if you don't make your connection, but then why would airlines sell tickets with short stopovers for international flights, it just didn't ring quite true.

sideswipe

peachyprice wrote: »

Also do bear in mind that once you get through immigration you will have to collect and re-check in your luggage for your next flight. I wouldn't like to leave any less than 3 hours.

I know what you mean, immigration can be quiet one minute then very busy the next. I've only ever been on one flight with a stopover which was in 2008 when I landed at Newark on my way to D.C., I had a 3.5 hour stopover and it took me about an hour to collect my luggage and clear immigration, but there was another full flight that had come in behind us as well who were still waiting.

One thing I did come across was a website that gives you min, avg, and max immigration waiting times at U.S. airports for 2009. You can look at this by month, day of the week, and even by the hour. So it gives me an indication what the situation may be like, but it also shows me which airports have lower waiting times, so I could plan my stopover at an airport where I think there would be smaller queues, like Seattle which looks to be quieter than Atlanta or JFK.

dzug1

sideswipe wrote: »

why would airlines sell tickets with short stopovers for international flights, .

They sell them where experience shows they work 90% (or some other suitably high figure - I don't know precisely what it is) of the time. And take the hit the rest of the time.

ferf1223

dzug1 wrote: »

They sell them where experience shows they work 90% (or some other suitably high figure - I don't know precisely what it is) of the time. And take the hit the rest of the time.

Is that true? I hadn't realised that...funny because I've seen airlines offering very short connections we know from experience would be nearly impossible to make (and avoided them).

My rule is 2 hours - nothing less. I'm happier with 3, but I can accept 2.

Is this the site you found, sideswipe?

http://apps.cbp.gov/awt/index.asp

I think it's hilarious they spelled Cincinnati wrong.

neilbond007

ferf1223 wrote: »

Is that true? I hadn't realised that...funny because I've seen airlines offering very short connections we know from experience would be nearly impossible to make (and avoided them).

My rule is 2 hours - nothing less. I'm happier with 3, but I can accept 2.

Is this the site you found, sideswipe?

http://apps.cbp.gov/awt/index.asp

I think it's hilarious they spelled Cincinnati wrong.

I'm surprised Cincy is on there at all. The airport is nearly dead

ferf1223

neilbond007 wrote: »

I'm surprised Cincy is on there at all. The airport is nearly dead

Is it? when I lived there it seemed quite busy (not relative to a London airport, but for regional US airports), though I suppose it's been 9 years so a lot can change.

Maybe it's because it always seemed to cost 2x as much to fly from Cincinnati than it did to drive to Indy and fly from there.

richardw

What happens if you go via Canada? Do you need a transit visa or do you enter Canada? as well as doing US immigration at SAN.

London (LHR)
Depart 12:05
Terminal 3
to Toronto (YYZ)
Arrive 15:00
Terminal 1
3,544 mi
(5,704 km)
Duration: 7hr 55mn

Flight: 857
Economy/Coach Class , Meal, AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-300

Toronto (YYZ)
Depart 17:25
Terminal 1
to San Diego (SAN)
Arrive 19:25
Terminal 2
2,154 mi
(3,467 km)
Duration: 5hr 0mn

Flight: 779
Economy/Coach Class , Food For Purchase, Airbus A319

dzug1

richardw wrote: »

What happens if you go via Canada? Do you need a transit visa or do you enter Canada?

London (LHR)
Depart 12:05
Terminal 3
to Toronto (YYZ)
Arrive 15:00
Terminal 1
3,544 mi
(5,704 km)
Duration: 7hr 55mn

Flight: 857
Economy/Coach Class , Meal, AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-300

Toronto (YYZ)
Depart 17:25
Terminal 1
to San Diego (SAN)
Arrive 19:25
Terminal 2
2,154 mi
(3,467 km)
Duration: 5hr 0mn

Flight: 779
Economy/Coach Class , Food For Purchase, Airbus A319

You will go through US Immigration and customs in Toronto airport.

I'm not sure if you enter Canada or stay airside. If you have a British passport it makes little difference - you don't need a visa anyway