Estimated US airport time from one plane to another

Planning my Pubcon trip

[lammert]

Heading for Pubcon and currently in the process of booking the airplane. The booking sites give me several options which because of my international depature all have at least one intermediate stop at an international airport in the US. Stop times vary anything between 30 minutes and several hours. It has been more than ten years ago since my last visit to the US and things have changed quite a lot since then. I therefore don't know which option to choose.

How many time do you currently need on an US airport for the whole process of immigration procedure, getting to the new gate and security checks? 30 minutes seems to less to me, but what would be a realistic time?

[engine]

In my experience, you need to allow 1.5 to 2 hours, and sometimes, that can cut it fine. Certainly, no less than 1.5 hours. I would go for 2 hours or more, knowing how things out of your control can make all the difference. For example, I have experienced all of these delays, and often more than one or two: Flight departure delays, delayed landing, waiting for a gate to disembark, walking/running to immigration, huge lines at immigration (big tip - have all your paperwork completed before you join the lines), once through, pick up luggage (if it's there), go to customs (potential delays), hopefully, they'll wave you through, travel to next flight, and hope there's no delay.

HTH

[LifeinAsia]

I'd definitely allow at least 2 hours. Much better to have to sit a wait for your next flight for an hour or so instead of half a day because you just missed your flight from not allowing enough time. Much cheaper too.

Plus, think of it in terms of Murphy's Law- the more time you allow between flights, the faster you'll get through Immigration and the closer your connecting gate will be; the less time you allow, the more likely the lines at Immigration will be long, your bags will get misplaced, and your connecting gate will be the furthest possible distance away.

[engine]

Yes, and only once have I ever been at gate 1 - oh, what a treat.

[LifeinAsia]

I forget which airport it was, but they tricked people and made gate 1 the farthest from everything.

[J_RaD]

if you are coming from overseas yea you better have atleast 2 hours so you can go thru 100 security checkpoints and LONG LINES. I always allow this for myself coming home, such a process ugh!

[Hoople]

Most of the previous responses are for a single flight. They are true if you have to cross the airport and be screened a second time by security. Avoid NY/NJ airports for connection as long delays (landing and gate assignment) are the norm.

BUT - if your connecting flight is inside the same security zone/wing of the airport then only time you would need is to de-plane, walk to the new gate and check in. Of course flight and ground delays add to this.

By using an American owned airline company it's highly likely for your connecting flight to be inside the same security zone/wing of the airport at many airports. Some airports however do isolate the international and thereby the in USA connections are time consuming. Best to inquire ahead of time!

De-planing complications can be minimized if you are nearer to exit(s). At some airports the gate design for the largest planes influences which of the two exits is the primary exit (which one gets the elephant trunk); sitting between them will lessen the de-plaining time ;-)

I was once a 2m mile a year air traveler, no longer ;-(

[LifeinAsia]

Unless things have changed, I thought you were required to process through immigration/customs at your first port of entry into the States, even if you are connecting on to another city with the same airline.

I've pretty much tuned out all the arrival announcements at this point, and the last few times I've flown back to the States on U.S.-owned airlines, so maybe it is different now.

[Rugles]

I thought you were required to process through immigration/customs at your first port of entry into the States

That is correct.

[weeks]

Two hours. And pray that is enough.

[lammert]

Thanks for all the responses. I travel a lot by plane, but most to low-risk countries. The schedule I have chosen has 2.5 hours between arrival and departure. Hopefully that's enough. Both flights are operated by United Airlines and the connection point is in Chicago. Arrival and departure seem to be in two different terminal buildings, which means I'll probably have to pass some extra security points.