Security procedures in US airports if just passing through

[spongerob]

Do passengers traveling from one foreign country through a US international airport then continuing on to another country have to go through the standard US border controls and customs inspections like everyone else? Example, flying from Acapulco through LAX then on to Vancouver with no stay in the US planned.

[Haligonian]

Yes. You will have to go through Immigration, and then pick up your bag, then go through customs, and then re-deposit your bag onto the transfer belt for the airline you are flying, and then go through TSA security to get to the air-side departure gate for your flight to Vancouver. It is best to ensure your bag is checked through to final destination (make sure the carriers you are flying interline) when you check in, and if at all possible, try to keep your connections in one terminal.

[spongerob]

Thanks, that's what I thought, but wasn't positive if they had a way to let "through" passengers avoid the ever-so-enjoyable experience of arriving at a major US airport at the same time 4 or 5 others flights have arrived from overseas and going through the various screenings. We'll be up your way next fall, by the way, on Caribbean Princess.

[Loganeski]

Depending your nationality you even might need a visum for a connection in the USA.

[6rugrats]

Depending your nationality you even might need a visum for a connection in the USA.

 

Very true. You can check this here:

 

http://www.nwa.com/services/timatic.

[FlyerTalker]

Thanks, that's what I thought, but wasn't positive if they had a way to let "through" passengers avoid the ever-so-enjoyable experience of arriving at a major US airport at the same time 4 or 5 others flights have arrived from overseas and going through the various screenings. We'll be up your way next fall, by the way, on Caribbean Princess.

At one point, there were some airports that had dedicated international "transit" areas, where connecting passengers could remain in a sterile area before their connection. However, those were a victim of new security and immigration rules. As a side note, Iberia used to run a mini hub operation at MIA, connecting passengers off flights from MAD to a number of Latin America destinations. With the requirement for immigration procedures, the hub shut down and IB stopped their local operations out of MIA.

[Globaliser]

Do passengers traveling from one foreign country through a US international airport then continuing on to another country have to go through the standard US border controls and customs inspections like everyone else?

The US system -almost uniquely - makes almost no provision for people who are travelling from one non-US country to another via a US airport. Even if you don't want to enter the US, you are almost always forced to do so just to reach the flight that's going to take you straight out of the US again. And some airports have got so bad that airlines have had to take pre-emptive measures. Air New Zealand, for example, found that it was losing so many Auckland-London passengers from its Auckland-LAX-London flights to other airlines that did not fly via the US, that it had to negotiate additional traffic rights to set up a brand new Auckland-Hong Kong-London flight.

[rich40245]

Depending your nationality you even might need a visum for a connection in the USA.

Not involving the US, but before the Czech Republic was part of the EU, I saw a family (apparently not US citizens) in ATL try to board an AirFrance flight to Paris, where they were to connect to Prague. They were not allowed to board, as they had no visa for the EU. They argued that they were just 'in-transit' to Prague, but that made no difference.

 

Rich