Young person (16) travelling alone UK to Florida - a few questions!!

sfjnet1956

Hi
Of course I will look online at the various travel and government websites but I am hoping MSE will be able to provide some real life experience advice.
My son is 16 and will be travelling for 2 weeks on his own in June from the UK to Pensacola Florida (to visit family friends).  He has never flown without parental accompaniment before so we want to make sure we know as much as possible in advance so he can be prepared.  He will be travelling from Heathrow to either Atlanta or Newark and then changing planes for the internal flight to Pensacola.  We are OK with the UK end of things (checking in etc) unless you have special advice for a solo young traveller, but we need advice about what he can expect on the US side:

1)    For either Atlanta or Newark, what is the process like from de-planing to reaching the arrivals area?  My son will be travelling with his passport (obviously!) plus details of in-bound and return flights, a letter of confirmation from his parents that he is travelling with our permission, and a letter from the family in the US confirming that he will be staying with them during his visit (along with their contact details, etc).  Will this be enough for US immigration to process his arrival without any hassle?  What is the actual process at Atlanta or Newark – i.e. as an international traveller would he speak to an immigration officer in person or is it automated somehow?  NB- we know about the ESTA required in lieu of a visa so that he can travel to the US in the first place.

2)    He will have to change planes internally and we will try to book the same airline for both legs of the trip but this may not be possible.  I’m assuming that he would have to go through immigration, collect his suitcase from the baggage hall, pass customs, go to the departures area of the airport, find the check-in desk for whatever airline he will be taking for the second leg and check in as normal?  I know this is probably super-obvious but worth checking just in case anyone has special advice about Atlanta or Newark.  I’m guessing that even though he is a foreign national he won’t have to go through any special procedures to board the second flight – i.e. just go through security and to the departure gate – and of course he should just have to collect his suitcase and go at the Pensacola end (no special checks as it’s an internal flight)?

Sorry if it seems a bit of overkill, but we want him to be as ready as possible so there are no surprises.

Thanks

bobbyhibs

hi
Not 100% the same  as your son,. but  we have done something similar (though we  were like 25 and 31 at the time)..what we did was edi-newark-vegas with newark being our connecting flight to vegas..we had the same airline (united) 
question 1.it would be like most airports  . you depart the plane and go to imagration..as far as i recall.im sure there were  2 different parts.one part for us citizens and the other part for international travellers..this is where you  son goes to...there are   airport people about so your son  can easily ask. He will then   get in line to speak to immigration officer in person  who will ask  for his passport. maybe ask a few questions (what are you doing  in the usa where you are staying etc) he will then  be asked to give his finger prints  onto a machine and all is well he goes through to grab his bags
question 2..i dont really remeber all the details here  as it was back in 2015 we did this trip but i recall going through imagration grabbing our bags and i think we went through  like connecting  flights area with our bags..speaking toa bagage handler  guy whom scanned our bags (think we got a bit of paper) and we  went  through sercurity and then waited  a couple of hours for our flight.Its a bit hazzy  though  sorry!
However you  do it i would advice leaving a good  2 and a bit hours ( maybe a lil longer here?) between flight landing- flight 2 ,leaving and prehaps  with the same  airline  (if the worst was to happen with delays or anything)
hope this may be of help

gingerdad

If you're worried just book him as a UM - the airline will ask anyway due to his aged - from 11 years old used to do trips like this to the middle east every six weeks - didn't have UM for long but the helped getting to no the systems

TELLIT01

The only potential issue I can foresee is if separate flights are booked and the first flight is delayed causing the 2nd to be missed.  There will be no help from the 1st carrier, and if a non-refundable ticket is purchased for the 2nd flight he could end up stranded at the intermediate airport in the USA.

shaun_from_Africa

If your son isn't too used to travelling through major airports then I would suggest Newark instead of Atlanta.
Although Newark is busy, Atlanta airport is an absolutely massive place (passenger numbers wise, it is the busiest airport in the world) and depending on the arrival and departure gates (domestic and international are in different terminals), there can be quite a journey between the two. There is a train shuttle but this does get very crowded at times.

I've flown into Atlanta twice and transited through a few times and the crowds at immigration still amaze me. 

bagand96

sfjnet1956 said:

2)    He will have to change planes internally and we will try to book the same airline for both legs of the trip but this may not be possible.  

I would strongly advise against booking separate connecting flights.  Book it all on one connecting ticket.  That way the airline are responsible for getting him from London to the final destination in the event of any delays or disruption.  If you book a separate connection and the first flight is delayed significantly, then he could be stranded at the connecting airport, as the airline would have no responsibility for onward travel.  Assuming it is Pensacola International Airport he weill travel to (PNS), there are plenty of connecting tickets available from London.


In the USA, you must clear Immigration and Customs at your first point of entry.  Process for a connecting flights:
- Disembark first flight, and proceed to Immigration
- Clear immigration.  At most airports with an ESTA this is via automated kiosk now where you answer all the questions, then you proceed for a quick check with an immigration officer.
- Proceed to baggage hall and collect checked in luggage (the bag will be tagged to the final destination, but you need to reclaim it)
- Collect bag, follow signs for connecting flights, and then drop bag off.  This is usually a dedicated bag drop for connecting flights, as it's already tagged it is literally just dropping it back onto a belt
- Continue to follow signs for flight connections, pass through airport security back into departure lounge

On a connecting flight the bag drop and security is usually a dedicated area just for connections, you do not need to go right back out to check in desks etc.

gettingtheresometime

In my experience baggage reclaim was after clearing customs but some are before - New Orleans being an example.
Also we found you can only use the kiosk if you've gone through customs before on the same esta.

sfjnet1956

Hi
I posted a more general question a short while ago and received some helpful advice but now l'm hoping for something more specific.
My son is 16 and will be travelling for approx 2 weeks on his own in late June/early July from the UK to Pensacola Florida (to visit family friends).  He has never flown without parental accompaniment before so we want to make sure we know as much as possible in advance so he can be prepared.  He will be travelling from Heathrow to Newark on United Airlines and where he will be changing planes for the internal flight to Pensacola.  I'm hoping for some info on the actual process of doing the connections at Newark, both arriving in the US and leaving again.  I think I understand (have never done myself obviously) but if someone could confirm from their experience it would be great.  Does it go as follows? (one extra request, if possible please avoid including horror stories of when it may have gone wrong for you - I've read so many on Tripadvisor already that it's turning my hair white!)

1)    On arrival in Newark he goes from the plane to the immigration.  I think he would use an electronic machine to read his passport, and then go to an immigration desk to speak to an officer who will ask about his stay etc?

2) Once through immigration he would collect his suitcase at the baggage carousel and then go through customs?

3) This is the part we're most unsure of.  If he has a connection I think that instead of going into the main airport and checking in to the second flight he would instead go to some sort of special "connecting flights" area.  Is this right?  The international flight lands at one terminal and the connecting flight leaves from another so how would that work - i.e. would he take his luggage to the domestic terminal and go to a connecting flights area?  

4) I'm not sure if he would have to go through proper security/baggage checks for the connecting flight even though he'd already done so on the UK end, is flying from with the same airline and (maybe) won't leave the secure area?  I could be totally mixed up about this.

AND RETURNING!

5) When he takes the first (internal) flight from Pensacola to Newark would he do the whole security thing at that stage or would it wait until he boards the transatlantic flight (or both?).  

6) I'm assuming the process is the reverse of arriving in that he leaves the internal flight, collects his bag and goes through customs to a connecting flights area (different terminal)?

So sorry for all of this but even though he's 16 he's still our little kid and I want him to be as ready as possible (I want to write out a point by point list for what he has to do when and where so he won't be overwhelmed).  .

Thanks

bradders1983

Its effectively the same thread as before

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106024/young-person-16-travelling-alone-uk-to-florida-a-few-questions#latest

sfjnet1956

bradders1983 said:

Its effectively the same thread as before

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106024/young-person-16-travelling-alone-uk-to-florida-a-few-questions#latest

Yes, but I'm  hopeful that someone with personal experience of transit through Newark will be able to answer my queries specifically!

silvercar

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/new-york-city/1300612-complete-guide-ewr-newark-liberty-international-airport-outdated.html
He will be fine, everyone will speak English (sort off). Worth investing in a 3 network SIM if he doesn't already have, as that allows data in the USA coming of his UK allowance.