Immigration Wait Times in LA

[TotallyOz]

My recent Bangkok to LA trip was fine. But, arriving in LA was a mess. The long wait time to get through Immigration took over 45 minutes. Once I had my bags, the wait time was another 35 minutes. Every time I fly into LA, this is the case. When I go through Detroit the wait time is never this long and if I enter through SF or NY, the wait times are also much less. Do other experience these long wait times for Immigration when returning to the USA? What about other countries? Is it the same time frame to get into the airport?

[Bob]

I've come back annually (or more than once a year) for many years through LAX and, while it took about 30 minutes at the end of this past April, it usually only takes about 15 minutes for me. In past years, I entered the country through Detroit and that also never took too long (usually 10-20 minutes). And, yea, once through immigration and after promptly getting my suitcase, I experienced for the first time at least a long (20 minutes?) wait to get through the customs deal (which pissed me off as all you do is hand them a piece of paper and keep moving). They had several lines set up to get out of the place and I never experienced that before.

 

As concerns Suvarnabhumi (yea, I realize you didn't ask about it), I've never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes to get through immigration and that's somewhat surprised me as I usually arrive about 11AM on EVA. Probably better then than during the late night rush of falang visitors.

[kokopelli]

The only time I had a long wait was in Seattle. It seems a plane load of Indians had recently arrived and Immigration was carefully screening them at length. These Indians were the type with beards, turbans, and in traditional attire. Normally foreigners go to a different line then US passport holders, but, in this case, they allowed them in the US line. A real nightmare.

[Guest beachlover]

Are there any really bad times to arrive in Bangkok? I've arrived in the morning, afternoon and evening before.

 

I never waited more than 5-10 minutes at worst to clear the immigration line. It seems pretty efficient. If you have checked baggage it doesn't matter anyway, since the bags usually take 15-20 minutes from stopping to come out.

 

I'm usually in a cab within 15 minutes of landing and checked into my hotel room within the same hour.

[Guest]

I have never had an issue arriving in Bangkok. It is usually pretty fast to get into the country.

[atri1666]

I have never had an issue arriving in Bangkok. It is usually pretty fast to get into the country.

 

Same me. Always fast track.Never more than 2 minutes.

[Guest cdnmatt]

I avoid LAX like the plague, and will spend an extra couple hundred on the flight just so I don't get routed through that airport. By far the worst airport I've ever been to.

 

It's the only airport I've ever been to, where even if you have a connecting flight, you're still required to go through immigration & customs, plus pickup your bags. While departing, they don't have two separate directions for connections & arrivals like every other airport in the world. Everyone is forced to go through immigration, regardless.

 

What happens if you have a 9 hour layover, like I once did? Airline won't allow you to check-in until 3 hours before your flight, so I was stuck lugging around my laptop, huge bag of crap for everyone back home, plus a duvet cover for some odd reason.

 

Had to lug that crap around for 6 hours, due to LAX regulations. What a pain. Plus the little mini-interview with US immigration, just so you can get back to Canada, and have another mini-interview with Canadian immigration, who are wondering why you're a single male who's spent so long in SE Asia.

 

Boycott LAX!

[Guest]

It's not just LA....

TYLER BRULE

[Guest beachlover]

For a developed country, which is supposed to have its shit together, the US sure makes a bad impression on inbound tourists/travelers. Every person I've spoken to after a trip there has complained about the airports and customs officers there.

 

A mate of mine just returned from a work trip there... He said the whole airport security check process wasn't just bad on the international arrival/departure. He had 13 domestic flights, which were very tedious too... He was well ready to leave the country by about the 6th flight.

 

What's even more clever is this idea they have of attracting more tourists to the US by taxing existing tourists so they can pay for a marketing campaign.

 

I wonder if they realise how ridiculous this sounds to the rest of the world who are thinking of traveling there?

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-10-11-us-travel-tax_N.htm

To entice more international travelers to visit, U.S. tourism officials and lawmakers may start charging some who do make the trip an extra $10 for the privilege.

 

The money collected will be used to create and fund a non-profit company that will market the USA as an attractive destination for tourists, business travelers and students.

.....

Only visitors from countries not required to have entry visas for up to 90 days of travel in the U.S. — most European countries, Australia, Brunei, Japan, Korea, Singapore and New Zealand — will be required to pay the fee. Travelers only have to pay once in a two-year period, regardless of the number of trips.

[Guest frodo]

Although I have never had a problem connecting to and from Canada via the USA, now I always avoid the USA just because you have to go through Immigration and retrieve your luggage before catching your connecting flight. I connect through either Hong Kong or Japan.