Queues for pre-immigration at Dublin

xabi_a

Has anybody done the USA pre-immigration at Dublin recently? I'm traveling on Saturday and was just wondering what the queues are like.

I did it in August and I really needed the 3 hours they recommend. But it might be a bit quieter now...

BuffyBot

Traffic will have subsided a little, but it will depend on your departure time and how many flights are departing in and around that time.

athtrasna

It's better to be safe than sorry. They still recommend three hours so I would allow that. They have fewer staff on the gates off peak so queues can actually be longer than in the height of summer

iusedtoknow

I've been through everything in 30 minutes, and through in 2.5 hours - the 2.5 hours was last october, the 30 minutes was a February.

Play it safe...I'd still go with 3 hours.

Wompa1

Took 2.5 hours for me about two weeks ago. Also, every time I've flown to the US out of Terminal 2 the Aer Lingus kiosks have pointed me to go to the desk and the line there has been long too

whitey1

Impossible to know...I went through on Aug 20th and the Immigration part alone took about 2 hours. My buddy went through a week later in about 30 minutes, and someone else I know went through a week after him and it took her more than 2 hours.

It was all very stressful.....and they ended up holding our flight for about an hour to get everyone through. I travel a lot for work stateside, and I would have to say I have seldom witnessed such mayhem in an airpory

iusedtoknow

whitey1 wrote: »

Impossible to know...I went through on Aug 20th and the Immigration part alone took about 2 hours. My buddy went through a week later in about 30 minutes, and someone else I know went through a week after him and it took her more than 2 hours.

It was all very stressful.....and they ended up holding our flight for about an hour to get everyone through. I travel a lot for work stateside, and I would have to say I have seldom witnessed such mayhem in an airpory

it's funny isn't it (not "ha ha") but the pre-clearance is often seen as a convenience, but the majority of times, i prefer going through border control in the US, especially if it's my final destination. There is something to be said for sitting at the gate calmly (or lounge...if lucky enough) and deal with immigration the other end. It's rarely more than 45 minutes anywhere I've flown into.

athtrasna

Thing is the check in time for us flights was always 3 hours even before pre clearance. It's not an extra delay

endofrainbow

I went through Pre-Clearance on August 30th and it was a MESS. There were 5 kiosks open for 3 departing flights (within 35 minutes of each other). Made it to the gate with just 10 minutes to spare. Flight was delayed for 35 minutes to allow those caught in Immigration to make it through. It took 45 minutes in line in the Immigration Hall.

There were no Customs Forms handed out at check in/bag drop so I think some people weren't aware that there was Pre-Clearance leading to a bottle-neck when they realised they had to have the form completed.

I would allow at least 3 hours - better to be waiting at the gate than miss the flight.

Dave1442397

I went thru on August 25th. We got to the airport at 8am for an 11:30 flight. There was no line at check in and only a couple of people ahead of us at the security checkpoint. We got to immigration and there was a huge line, with people being called for flights that were waiting, etc. It was 10:20 by the time we got to the gate, and they started boarding at 10:40.

We sat in the plane while they waited for people held up at immigration, and finally departed an hour late. We still got to PHL 15 minutes early, which was nice.

biddywiddy

iusedtoknow wrote: »

it's funny isn't it (not "ha ha") but the pre-clearance is often seen as a convenience, but the majority of times, i prefer going through border control in the US, especially if it's my final destination. There is something to be said for sitting at the gate calmly (or lounge...if lucky enough) and deal with immigration the other end. It's rarely more than 45 minutes anywhere I've flown into.

This.

Almost every time I've pre-cleared in Dublin in the last couple of years, the whole thing has been a big stressfest. I always arrive at least 3 hours before departure, but get caught in the early morning exodus of US-bound flights. I've also been in the situation described by other posters, where, due to queues at check-in, security #1, pre-clearance and security #2, the flight is delayed and passengers are rushed through security #2.

I can't fly direct to where I live in the US and, when booking flights, I always choose to pre-clear in Ireland and connect in the US. I always think it "so handy" to get it all done in Dublin.

I'd still prefer Dublin pre-clearance over connecting in Heathrow and clearing immigration in the US.

OP - as others have said, I'd give yourself at least 3 hours. Best case scenario, you have time to buy a pricey coffee and panini once you're through.

ProudDUB

iusedtoknow wrote: »

it's funny isn't it (not "ha ha") but the pre-clearance is often seen as a convenience, but the majority of times, i prefer going through border control in the US, especially if it's my final destination. There is something to be said for sitting at the gate calmly (or lounge...if lucky enough) and deal with immigration the other end. It's rarely more than 45 minutes anywhere I've flown into.

I tend to agree with this. I suppose it all depends on where you are flying into and when. Going thru Customs & Immigration at O'Hare and JFK can be pretty grim, especially when it is busy, or you have a connection to catch. But I have also gone thru C&I at Atlanta, Boston, Philly, Raleigh Durham & Seattle and I have often breezed thru in under 15 minutes. There are loads of staff telling you where to go, what queues to join etc etc and there are generally loads of agents manning each checkpoint. The set up in Dublin is a bit of a joke shop in comparison.

Rashers72

Amazed to hear all these stories about pre-clearance in DUB. Went through it and Shannon over the years, and it was a breeze. I would have paid extra just to use it. Am flying to LAX next year, and going via LHR with BA, purely based on cost, but was dreading the immigration at LAX. Seems I might not be any worse off.

JackieChan

I'm just back from a trip to LAX via ORD.
We arrived in Dublin airport at 8am for 11:30am flight.
With so much time we didn't mind the queues for security.

The mayhem was for connecting flights in O'Hare. Even with 1hr 45 mins layover we only made our connection with 15 mins to spare as the security checks there took quite awhile to get through even with staff balancing the load in different security areas. The terminal change is only a few mins with the ATS so that's great.

So pre-clearance is great if you have a connecting flight but so-so if you are flying direct.

Personally I'd prefer to have them than not and give myself the 3.5hrs to be safe.

spideog7

JackieChan wrote: »

I'm just back from a trip to LAX via ORD.
We arrived in Dublin airport at 8am for 11:30am flight.
With so much time we didn't mind the queues for security.

The mayhem was for connecting flights in O'Hare. Even with 1hr 45 mins layover we only made our connection with 15 mins to spare as the security checks there took quite awhile to get through even with staff balancing the load in different security areas. The terminal change is only a few mins with the ATS so that's great.

So pre-clearance is great if you have a connecting flight but so-so if you are flying direct.

Personally I'd prefer to have them than not and give myself the 3.5hrs to be safe.

Only flying through ORD, normally if you've gone through preclearance you get to land at the domestic terminal so you don't have to go through security again.

ProudDUB

spideog7 wrote: »

Only flying through ORD, normally if you've gone through preclearance you get to land at the domestic terminal so you don't have to go through security again.

I have often had to go thru another security check, upon disembarkation from both pre cleared and non precleared flights. Homeland Security just don't trust non US airports to do as good a security check as they can.

On precleared flights to the US, I have also landed in the international terminals far more than I do the domestic ones. This is to facilitate the above checkpoints, as well as the airline I presume. It is easier for them to fly into & out of the same gate, if they are using the same plane for the return journey and they need to get it turned around as quickly as possible.

iusedtoknow

ProudDUB wrote: »

I have often had to go thru another security check, upon disembarkation from both pre cleared and non precleared flights. Homeland Security just don't trust non US airports to do as good a security check as they can.

On precleared flights to the US, I have also landed in the international terminals far more than I do the domestic ones. This is to facilitate the above checkpoints, as well as the airline I presume. It is easier for them to fly into & out of the same gate, if they are using the same plane for the return journey and they need to get it turned around as quickly as possible.

On "pre-cleared" flights, i've always rolled into a domestic terminal (jfk) and walked to the the next gate (or in the case of delta...back to the same gate) to carry on the domestic leg.

Whenever I've been in ORD wasting time for my iberia flight to Madrid, i've seen the aer lingus plane being towed from one part of the terminal to the other - but it could just depend on how busy the airport is at any time

whitey1

Just flew from Heathrow to Boston yesterday.....took about 20 minutes to clear customs and Immigration in Boston. I'd take that any day of the week over what we were put through in Dublin back in August.

The day we went through.....both rooms downstairs were completely full.....so we were held upstairs with probably 1,000 other people. Then they let maybe 20 people go down at a time to be confronted by another complete mob scene of 2/3,000 thousands of people waiting in line, (most of who think they are going to miss their flights.)

Our flight was leaving at 11:50 so we got to the airport just before 9:00 am. We breezed through baggage and security. So good so far.....we then grabbed a quick breakfast (as we had driven up from Mayo at 5:00 am). As we were wrapping up I took a gander downstairs to see what the line for immigration was like (per clearance in Shannon usually took about 20 mins) and sprinted back up in a panic.

We got into line @ 10:05 am and it was 11:40 before we got to our gate. All the time we were in line there were last calls for people and threats to remove their bags coming over the airwaves.

In 20 years of going back and forth, this was without doubt the worst I have ever experiencec

kevohmsford

Went through Immigration in Dublin Airport 3 weeks ago on a Saturday morning. Queues were pretty bad. Was flying at 12.30pm so was a busy time of the day. Took about 1.5 hours in total.

xabi_a

Thanks all for the inputs - looks like I helped a few people get things off their chest:-)

I'll give it the 3 hours anyway, although when they start calling people through to skip the queue to make their flights, it does make you wonder why you bother...

JackieChan

spideog7 wrote: »

Only flying through ORD, normally if you've gone through preclearance you get to land at the domestic terminal so you don't have to go through security again.

Since we were transferring flights we had to leave international terminal(T5) and go to a domestic terminal(T1 for us) and join security queues there, that's where the delay was.

BuffyBot

Rashers72 wrote: »

Amazed to hear all these stories about pre-clearance in DUB. Went through it and Shannon over the years, and it was a breeze. I would have paid extra just to use it. Am flying to LAX next year, and going via LHR with BA, purely based on cost, but was dreading the immigration at LAX. Seems I might not be any worse off.

You might live to regret that assumption. LAX can be absolute hell. last time I flew BA there we landed right behind a Korean A380 and an Emirates fight. No surprise the place was a zoo. LAX has never been a breeze but that was the worst I had ever seen.

Mars Bar

I went Shannon - New Ark - L.A.X - New Ark - Shannon and it was great doing the pre-clearance apart from only having 20 minutes between L.A.X and New Ark on the way back. Just as well that all you have to do is hop off one plane and walk 2 minutes to the next terminal! It wouldn't have been possible without pre-clearance and arriving as a domestic flight in New Ark.

Rashers72

Anybody experienced this yet at LAX?
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/news/lengthy-queues-at-lax-to-shorten

Mars Bar

Rashers72 wrote: »

Anybody experienced this yet at LAX?
http://www.travelweekly.com.au/news/lengthy-queues-at-lax-to-shorten

Yep. Scanned my passport and had my tickets printed at the kiosk in a matter of a minute. Still had to wait for someone to tag my luggage though so I don't see how it can be as short as 11 minutes. They need more staff if they want it done in 11 minutes. The line beside me was held up for ages as some technologically impaired woman couldn't get it working with one of the asian languages.

Rashers72

Mars Bar wrote: »

Yep. Scanned my passport and had my tickets printed at the kiosk in a matter of a minute. Still had to wait for someone to tag my luggage though so I don't see how it can be as short as 11 minutes. They need more staff if they want it done in 11 minutes. The line beside me was held up for ages as some technologically impaired woman couldn't get it working with one of the asian languages.

You don't know what airlines can use them? I know it's about the terminals really...

Nelly 21

Rashers72 wrote: »

Amazed to hear all these stories about pre-clearance in DUB. Went through it and Shannon over the years, and it was a breeze. I would have paid extra just to use it. Am flying to LAX next year, and going via LHR with BA, purely based on cost, but was dreading the immigration at LAX. Seems I might not be any worse off.

We went through immigration in lax this year with no problem. While the queues were huge there were loads of officers working in the kiosks and most people breezed through. The queues constantly moved. When we got to the desk, yer man just took the prints, the picture and stamped our passport and waved us on!!!

Our problem was with London heathrow, (we flew dub... Heathrow... Lax) they lost our luggage and couldn't tell us for 5 days where it was. Going through customs in heathrow was a nightmare. Slow, rude people. An older lady was ahead of us and was a bit confused with the whole process. The staff were so unpleasant to her. It was like a slow cattle mart!!!!

Mars Bar

Rashers72 wrote: »

You don't know what airlines can use them? I know it's about the terminals really...

Terminal 7 in LAX is United Airlines so they can use them anyway.

Rashers72

Nelly 21 wrote: »

Our problem was with London heathrow, (we flew dub... Heathrow... Lax) they lost our luggage and couldn't tell us for 5 days where it was. Going through customs in heathrow was a nightmare. Slow, rude people. An older lady was ahead of us and was a bit confused with the whole process. The staff were so unpleasant to her. It was like a slow cattle mart!!!!

Did you have to recover your bags in Heathrow? I was hoping to check mine straight through to Dublin from SFO/LAX, and only collect them in Dublin? Flying both legs with BA. Never actually done a US to Europe flight, except direct to Dublin. Have checked bags straight through MCO-Newark-DUB...

circular flexing

Rashers72 wrote: »

Did you have to recover your bags in Heathrow? I was hoping to check mine straight through to Dublin from SFO/LAX, and only collect them in Dublin? Flying both legs with BA. Never actually done a US to Europe flight, except direct to Dublin. Have checked bags straight through MCO-Newark-DUB...

Your bags should be checked straight through.

Nelly 21

Rashers72 wrote: »

Did you have to recover your bags in Heathrow? I was hoping to check mine straight through to Dublin from SFO/LAX, and only collect them in Dublin? Flying both legs with BA. Never actually done a US to Europe flight, except direct to Dublin. Have checked bags straight through MCO-Newark-DUB...

No you haven't to worry about bags, that's all done for you but you go through scanners obviously and they can check your hand luggage! They'll tell you in Dublin when you give in your luggage that your bags are gone straight through!

Rashers72

Nelly 21 wrote: »

No you haven't to worry about bags, that's all done for you but you go through scanners obviously and they can check your hand luggage! They'll tell you in Dublin when you give in your luggage that your bags are gone straight through!

Was more thinking about on the way back...

iusedtoknow

Rashers72 wrote: »

Was more thinking about on the way back...

you won't have to worry about them - as long as the flights are on the same booking code, you put them on at one end and collect them at dublin

The Black Oil

Went through at about 10am during the second week of Sept. Queue was about 40 minutes.

The Mig

I'll let yous know what it's like when I'm going through on Thursday :cool:

Nelly 21

Rashers72 wrote: »

Was more thinking about on the way back...

As long as your flights were booked in the same booking (same code) you'll be fine and won't have to worry about bags. However when you get to heathrow there's a lot of walking to do! Depending on how long your stopover is you need to make the most of your time. When we were there we had a 2 hour stopover and barely made it to the gates.

circular flexing

Nelly 21 wrote: »

As long as your flights were booked in the same booking (same code) you'll be fine and won't have to worry about bags. However when you get to heathrow there's a lot of walking to do! Depending on how long your stopover is you need to make the most of your time. When we were there we had a 2 hour stopover and barely made it to the gates.

That will change of course when BA move DUB flights to Terminal 5.

The Mig

The Mig wrote: »

I'll let yous know what it's like when I'm going through on Thursday :cool:

Was on the Orlando flight with Aer Lingus yesterday and was 5 minutes going through

aaronm13

Just gone through there and took about 45 minutes. As we got to the top of the line more desks opened so would speed up but the crowd was getting much bigger.

MadsL

Wife went through earlier this month. 2.5 hrs, and she's a US passport holder.

Ruu

I went through Dublin a few days ago about 9am and it took about 30 minutes. There was a few other US flights at the same time, some people in the back of the queue had to be rushed through by a gate agent because they were running late.

Snoopy1

Ruu wrote: »

I went through Dublin a few days ago about 9am and it took about 30 minutes. There was a few other US flights at the same time, some people in the back of the queue had to be rushed through by a gate agent because they were running late.

When I went through in may in took 15 minutes to clear immigration
The problem was check in.
That took over an hour and it was chaos, no order whatsoever.

Ruu

It can be a nightmare, took forever to get everyone on board for ours.

percy212

Have to say I haven't had any bad experiences with check in or immigration in Dublin. Been lucky so far. Up to one hour max if memory serves. What drives me BONKERS however is the second security checkpoint after immigration. I just took my shoes off twenty minutes ago lady!

One place I will never go again soley based on the airport check in and security experience in Lisbon, is Portugal. A nightmare from hell that I wouldn't go through again if I was paid.

Snoopy1

It's so chaotic everyone queuing for aer lingus line
I'd checked in online with us airways but I still had to que with everyone else for luggage, which was pointless. There were no signs no onw to help just pure chaos.
I always give myself at least 3 hours. And the minute they announce pre clearance is open for my flight I leg it down. And always fill out your forms before you get there.

jaykayathome

My flight leaves at 6.35 a.m, and i'm leaving myself an hour and a half to get from car to plane. It's been ok so far as i think it's just a little earlier than most of the morning flights, but after reading this thread, i'm getting nervous!

percy212

At that time of the morning you won't have any problems....have a great trip!

athtrasna

jaykayathome wrote: »

My flight leaves at 6.35 a.m, and i'm leaving myself an hour and a half to get from car to plane. It's been ok so far as i think it's just a little earlier than most of the morning flights, but after reading this thread, i'm getting nervous!

Not a hope. The airport is crazy busy at that hour, security can take 45 minutes or more. Plus they usually start boarding US flights an hour before takeoff. Is an extra hour or two in bed worth missing your flight for?

iusedtoknow

jaykayathome wrote: »

My flight leaves at 6.35 a.m, and i'm leaving myself an hour and a half to get from car to plane. It's been ok so far as i think it's just a little earlier than most of the morning flights, but after reading this thread, i'm getting nervous!

There aren't any Direct US flights at that time of the morning....this topic is only about going through US immigration for flights going direct to the USA from Dublin.

In reality though, there are a lot of flights at that time of the morning to UK/Mainland Europe...so I would still go with the two hour from car to plane

jaykayathome

oops got my times mixed up! But you're right, i'd better review the situation!

xabi_a

OP here - my pre-immigration in Dublin was fine in the end. The big problem I actually had was on my return: I was coming from Dominican Republic and transiting at JFK. I had to go through immigration there, and stood in one huge queue for 3 hours.

It's a pain to have to go through immigration anyway for just a transit, but 3 hours queueing is unacceptable in my view. There were older people and young children there too. I'll avoid any transit through the USA in the future.