First Time To US

paul7g

Hi, i am traveling to the US (New York) for the first time, and i have a few questions.

01 - my Aerlingus flight departs 10:30am, so what time would i need to be at the airport for?

02 - i'm checking in a bag, so does that mean i don't need to print my boarding pass (as they will do it at check in)?

Thanks, P.

grimm2005

paul7g wrote: »

Hi, i am traveling to the US (New York) for the first time, and i have a few questions.

01 - my Aerlingus flight departs 10:30am, so what time would i need to be at the airport for?

02 - i'm checking in a bag, so does that mean i don't need to print my boarding pass (as they will do it at check in)?

Thanks, P.

I'd get there at least 3 hours in advance for transatlantic flights as you'll have to go through US pre-clearance and checking in your bag, but I'd probably give it 3hr30mins myself to grab breakfast and browse duty free.

As for checking in, you never need to print a boarding pass with Aer Lingus, that's just optional. You can go to one of the kiosks in the airport or the check in desk, which is your best bet as you're checking in bags anyway.

paul7g

Ok great, thanks a lot.

AppleBottle

Definitely at least 3 hours before-hand as the other poster suggested. They tend to close the gates pretty earlier if I remember correctly. And you have to go through Dublin security, US pre-clearance and then US security (like the Dublin security a second time!)

If you was using one of those Kioski, have the booking reference because you will need that to check in with your bags. It's sounds obvious but I've been there and seen people searching for their reference. :P

Another thing that was recommended to me when I first went (while I don't think strictly needed) is to have a copy of your ESTA form with you. I've never been asked to produce it but I have been asked have I completed it. I tend to always have my copy with me. I have mine ready to be printed for when I go in a couple of weeks.

endofrainbow

no need to print your ESTA as it is already linked to your API

solerina

I would advise you to check in via the Kiosks...much faster than joining the booking line and you just have to go to the bag drop then.
I agree you should arrive in T2 at least 3 hrs prior to departure, queue to check in, queue for security and then queue again for US pre clearance....don't wait about in the shopping area or you could be late !!

Paul_Hacket

I go back and forth all the time (been living in New York for 20 years). I've hardly ever arrived more than 2 hours ahead of my flight. It doesn't take that long to get through, if there are ridiculously long lines at either security or at Immigration Control you can just tell an official that your flight is leaving soon and they'll expedite you. I haven't had to do that in years though.

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

I go back and forth all the time (been living in New York for 20 years). I've hardly ever arrived more than 2 hours ahead of my flight. It doesn't take that long to get through, if there are ridiculously long lines at either security or at Immigration Control you can just tell an official that your flight is leaving soon and they'll expedite you. I haven't had to do that in years though.

This isn't great advice imo, In recent times there have been dreadful delays at preclearance. My last two flights to the US were delayed by an hour waiting for passengers to get through the lines. Relying on being allowed to essentially skip the queue isn't a good idea as they may not either want to or be in a position to assist you.

endofrainbow

It's passengers arriving at the airport with the bare minimum amount of time dawdling in the bar, browsing in the duty free that lead to these delays. why should they be allowed to skip the lines ?

grimm2005

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

This isn't great advice imo, In recent times there have been dreadful delays at preclearance. My last two flights to the US were delayed by an hour waiting for passengers to get through the lines. Relying on being allowed to essentially skip the queue isn't a good idea as they may not either want to or be in a position to assist you.

Not to mention the OP isn't a frequent transatlantic traveler, so should give themselves plenty of time so they can relax as they won't be used to the extra steps involved.

Uno my Uno.

endofrainbow wrote: »

It's passengers arriving at the airport with the bare minimum amount of time dawdling in the bar, browsing in the duty free that lead to these delays. why should they be allowed to skip the lines ?

I have also heard stories of people being refused entry by the TSA for attempting to skip the lines at preclearance. the US authorities don't mess around, and are quite happy to refuse to allow people to travel, it's best to be on time and have everything in order.

Paul_Hacket

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

I have also heard stories of people being refused entry by the TSA for attempting to skip the lines at preclearance. the US authorities don't mess around, and are quite happy to refuse to allow people to travel, it's best to be on time and have everything in order.

I travel back and forth about four times a year and have done so since the early 90s. Arriving two hours before the flight has been more than ample for me, every single time. Security is rarely more than about 15 mins and if you politely ask they will expedite you if there is some sort of ridiculous delay in the line.

When you get inside it usually takes about another 15 mins to get through immigration. If you're getting close to your flight's boarding time they WILL bring you to the front of the line at immigration - I see them do this with people literally all the time, often with them pre-emptively asking people in the queue what time their flight leaves.

The times I've spent longest in lines at Dublin airport are on the rare occasions I get there extra early. If you're there 3 hours before your flight you will stand for ages in the check in line and much longer at security/immigration.

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

I travel back and forth about four times a year and have done so since the early 90s. Arriving two hours before the flight has been more than ample for me, every single time. Security is rarely more than about 15 mins and if you politely ask they will expedite you if there is some sort of ridiculous delay in the line.

When you get inside it usually takes about another 15 mins to get through immigration. If you're getting close to your flight's boarding time they WILL bring you to the front of the line at immigration - I see them do this with people literally all the time, often with them pre-emptively asking people in the queue what time their flight leaves.

The times I've spent longest in lines at Dublin airport are on the rare occasions I get there extra early. If you're there 3 hours before your flight you will stand for ages in the check in line and much longer at security/immigration.

All I can say is that our experiences are very different. On my most recent flight last October I spoke to one passenger who had waited in line at emigration for 21/2 hours. 40 minutes after our take off time we still hadn't pushed back and the pilot came on to tell us that 40 passengers were still in line for Immigration, the pilot also told us that this had happened several times recently. there were also a number of passengers on our flight who had been been booked on an earlier flight which they had missed because they were stuck in line waiting to clear Immigration.

When I fly I arrive 3 hours before take off, i go through Security, have some breakfast, buy a bottle of something in the Duty Free and then head straight through customs and Immigration. I have never had a significant wait at Immigration. From talking to other passengers it seems that the queues form latter in the morning and can be quite significant.

Given our different experiences i think it is very poor advice to tell someone they needn't worry about time and will be able to skip queues etc, there is a very good chance they won't and their travel plans may be severely disrupted as a result.

iusedtoknow

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

All I can say is that our experiences are very different. On my most recent flight last October I spoke to one passenger who had waited in line at emigration for 21/2 hours. 40 minutes after our take off time we still hadn't pushed back and the pilot came on to tell us that 40 passengers were still in line fort.

It really depends on WHEN your flight is. If you are in the last batch of US bound flights that all checkin around 10am, then yes...there can be lines - but 2.5 hours is a lie or at least an exaggeration. I travel through Dublin twice a year - always at the christmas rush and usually in the summer rush.

The longest I have ever waited for CBP checks is 30 minutes, and I saw people being pulled up ahead of us because they were going to be late for their flight BUT had a couple of bags of duty free with them.

When going through Immigration in the US (which I prefer), I've entered via LA, SF, Chicago and Philly. All of those times i have never waited beyond 15 minutes.

2.5 hours and no dawdling is usually the best way to go about it.

Uno my Uno.

iusedtoknow wrote: »

It really depends on WHEN your flight is. If you are in the last batch of US bound flights that all checkin around 10am, then yes...there can be lines - but 2.5 hours is a lie or at least an exaggeration. I travel through Dublin twice a year - always at the christmas rush and usually in the summer rush.

The longest I have ever waited for CBP checks is 30 minutes, and I saw people being pulled up ahead of us because they were going to be late for their flight BUT had a couple of bags of duty free with them.

When going through Immigration in the US (which I prefer), I've entered via LA, SF, Chicago and Philly. All of those times i have never waited beyond 15 minutes.

2.5 hours and no dawdling is usually the best way to go about it.

Maybe I have just been unlucky but the fact is delays do happen and they can be bad. Why risk major hassle or even missing a flight for the sake of leaving the house 30 minutes later?

Better off to be relaxing in the cafe beside the gate with a nice cup of coffee than running through the airport just so you can have a second cup of tea in your own kitchen!:cool::cool::cool:

Paul_Hacket

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

All I can say is that our experiences are very different. On my most recent flight last October I spoke to one passenger who had waited in line at emigration for 21/2 hours. 40 minutes after our take off time we still hadn't pushed back and the pilot came on to tell us that 40 passengers were still in line for Immigration, the pilot also told us that this had happened several times recently. there were also a number of passengers on our flight who had been been booked on an earlier flight which they had missed because they were stuck in line waiting to clear Immigration.

When I fly I arrive 3 hours before take off, i go through Security, have some breakfast, buy a bottle of something in the Duty Free and then head straight through customs and Immigration. I have never had a significant wait at Immigration. From talking to other passengers it seems that the queues form latter in the morning and can be quite significant.

Given our different experiences i think it is very poor advice to tell someone they needn't worry about time and will be able to skip queues etc, there is a very good chance they won't and their travel plans may be severely disrupted as a result.

From your own statements once you're through security flights do not take off until people clear immigration. In other words - the plane will not leave unless you literally just go AWOL so his travel plans are not going to be severely disrupted. In order for a plane to take off without you once you are checked in they have to take your bags off the flight and it's a massive hassle for them.

If you're standing in immigration and your flight is boarding, just tell one of the officials who are marshalling the line - that's what they're there for. They will bring you directly to the front of the line as they do not want to keep planes sitting at the gate because of problems in immigration. Thus, unless you are completely stalled at securits, two hours is more than enough. And even then security will nearly always expedite you too if you speak up.

If you're the kind of person who isn't capable of informing an official that your flight is about to board while standing in a long line then maybe you will have problems, otherwise all I can say is that in probably 100 cross Atlantic flights, two hours has been ample for me. For a newcomer maybe they should consider an extra half an hour for peace of mind.

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

From your own statements once you're through security flights do not take off until people clear immigration. In other words - the plane will not leave unless you literally just go AWOL so his travel plans are not going to be severely disrupted. In order for a plane to take off without you once you are checked in they have to take your bags off the flight and it's a massive hassle for them.

If you're standing in immigration and your flight is boarding, just tell one of the officials who are marshalling the line - that's what they're there for. They will bring you directly to the front of the line as they do not want to keep planes sitting at the gate because of problems in immigration. Thus, unless you are completely stalled at securits, two hours is more than enough. And even then security will nearly always expedite you too if you speak up.

If you're the kind of person who isn't capable of informing an official that your flight is about to board while standing in a long line then maybe you will have problems, otherwise all I can say is that in probably 100 cross Atlantic flights, two hours has been ample for me. For a newcomer maybe they should consider an extra half an hour for peace of mind.

Some flights do leave, there was couple on my flight to JFK whose flight to Orlando had left without them and because we were delayed by over an hour they had missed their rearranged connection*.

Telling an official that your flight is boarding won't be of much help if everyone else ahead of you is also trying to board flights that are boarding.

I will never understand why people are so determined to sail so close to the wind when it comes to getting to the airport, one delay and what has gone from a pleasant start to your holiday is a sprint through the airport. and as you're "being expedited" through the queue because you didn't want to turn up on time, everyone else behind you is being made late.

Maybe queuing is just for Russians and arriving on time is for fools but I'd rather that than have to explain to a stony faced TSA agent that I should be allowed through quickly or ahead of others because I wanted to stay in bed for an extra 30 minutes that morning or tell Aer Lingus Customer Service that they should have held the plane because I couldn't make up my mind about what to use my Duty free allowance on.

As others have said, arrive on time and don't dawdle. If nothing else that is just being considerate of other passengers.








*they could have made it if they had ran or even just hurried but they weren't the running type and preferred to stand around complaining loudly.

Paul_Hacket

Arriving at an airport two hours before a flight is not "sailing close to the wind" in my opinion. You pay a huge chunk of tax on the cost of your flight ticket in order to pay the airport's charges and TSA's and Homeland Security fees, if they can't process you in less than half an hour or so at a checkpoint then you are entirely within your rights by bringing the fact that your flight is leaving soon to their attention.

From your previous posts you clearly seem to enjoy going to a café, getting duty free, etc. I don't do that. It's cheaper to buy alcohol in the states than it is at duty free and extending my time at the airport by having a meal etc. is the last thing I want to do. If you really need to do these things then yes, you need more than two hours.

As I've said, over the course of well over 100 flights over the past 20 years to the US I've never come close to not getting on board by arriving two hours in advance. Am I just a statistical fluke? And if you're not willing or able to bring the fact that your flight is closing to the attention of an official in a line then yes, you should get there, I don't know - why not six hours in advance? The rest of the people in the line are not all about to board.

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Arriving at an airport two hours before a flight is not "sailing close to the wind" in my opinion. You pay a huge chunk of tax on the cost of your flight ticket in order to pay the airport's charges and TSA's and Homeland Security fees, if they can't process you in less than half an hour or so at a checkpoint then you are entirely within your rights by bringing the fact that your flight is leaving soon to their attention.

From your previous posts you clearly seem to enjoy going to a café, getting duty free, etc. I don't do that. It's cheaper to buy alcohol in the states than it is at duty free and extending my time at the airport by having a meal etc. is the last thing I want to do. If you really need to do these things then yes, you need more than two hours.

As I've said, over the course of well over 100 flights over the past 20 years to the US I've never come close to not getting on board by arriving two hours in advance. Am I just a statistical fluke? And if you're not willing or able to bring the fact that your flight is closing to the attention of an official in a line then yes, you should get there, I don't know - why not six hours in advance? The rest of the people in the line are not all about to board.

I wasn't talking about you specifically but if the minimum time stated by the airline is 3 hours before, then I would consider arriving 2 hours before to be cutting it fine, you are after all, an hour late at that stage.

I'm quite sure no one would have a problem with alerting an official to the fact that they are in danger of missing their flight but it is quite conceivable that they might not be in a position to help them, what then? I'm not saying it is going to happen only that it happened last time I traveled and that I have heard several reports of it happening on other occasions. Why risk going through that? To avoid spending time at the airport? its a total false economy of effort in my opinion.

Paul_Hacket

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

I wasn't talking about you specifically but if the minimum time stated by the airline is 3 hours before, then I would consider arriving 2 hours before to be cutting it fine, you are after all, an hour late at that stage.

I'm quite sure no one would have a problem with alerting an official to the fact that they are in danger of missing their flight but it is quite conceivable that they might not be in a position to help them, what then? I'm not saying it is going to happen only that it happened last time I traveled and that I have heard several reports of it happening on other occasions. Why risk going through that? To avoid spending time at the airport? its a total false economy of effort in my opinion.

Airlines ask you to be at an airport three hours or more before flights these days in order to cover their asses and make up for the fact that some people are incapable of getting themselves from checkin to the departure gate without wandering around in duty free for half an hour, stopping for drinks at the bar, etc. If you're not going to do this nonsense and are capable of alerting an official that your flight is boarding in the event of there being an unusually long line at security etc. then you simply will not have a problem.

If an official were to refuse to help me for some completely bizarre reason then I would find and politely ask another one. However this has never happened me (and I speak as someone who travels a LOT for both business and pleasure). It's not their job to cause problems, it's their job to help you and pretending to posters on here that they are capricious and/or deliberately unhelpful is false.

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Airlines ask you to be at an airport three hours or more before flights these days in order to cover their asses and make up for the fact that some people are incapable of getting themselves from checkin to the departure gate without wandering around in duty free for half an hour, stopping for drinks at the bar, etc. If you're not going to do this nonsense and are capable of alerting an official that your flight is boarding in the event of there being an unusually long line at security etc. then you simply will not have a problem.

If an official were to refuse to help me for some completely bizarre reason then I would find and politely ask another one. However this has never happened me (and I speak as someone who travels a LOT for both business and pleasure). It's not their job to cause problems, it's their job to help you and pretending to posters on here that they are capricious and/or deliberately unhelpful is false.

Unless you were flying to the US on the same Saturday I was last October when every Flight to the US was delayed by over an hour because of delays at Immigration. On that day you would have had a serious problem.

Obviously you're some sort of Uber traveler who never gets delayed and has only ever dealt with helpful people at the airport but the OP, who has never traveled to the US before, asked how many hours before the flight he needed to be at the Airport. The answer to that, as stipulated by the airlines and dictated by sensible planning is three hours. Telling him that he only needs two hours because you only need two hours (after having traveled to the US so extensively, as you have been at great pains to point out.) is bad advice.

OP give yourself some breathing room and get to the Airport Three hours before your flight, you should have no problem. Two hours might be fine, but I wouldn't do it myself as you may not have enough time if you are delayed at some point.

FatherTed

I like two and half hours myself

sunshine and showers

Decent travel insurance is your best friend when going to the States. Hopefully you'll never need it, but just in case!

ProudDUB

I've been traveling to/from from the States for years & I would definitely tell a newbie to give themselves 3 hrs. We've all been newbies at some stage or other and made newbie mistakes.....going to the wrong terminal, having to repack over weight bags, joining the queue to do X when you should be in the queue to do Y, standing in an unnecessary queue just because other people are, walking down the wrong corridor and having to retrace your steps etc etc. We've all done things like that, especially if we are tired from a early start, or stressed out, or traveling thru an unfamiliar airport.

Frequent travelers may have the whole process down to a very finely tuned procedure. They know exactly what they are doing, exactly where they are going & exactly how long it will take to get there. A rookie won't. I am not saying the the whole process is so involved that its inevitable that mistakes will be made, but when it is your first trip, its nice to have some wiggle room built into your schedule, just in case.

Paul_Hacket

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

Unless you were flying to the US on the same Saturday I was last October when every Flight to the US was delayed by over an hour because of delays at Immigration. On that day you would have had a serious problem.

I think we're pretty much done with this as it's gone beyond tedious and we clearly just have different point of view. All I'll say is the fact that you say the flight was delayed for an hour only demonstrates my point that planes don't just take off if people are caught in a long line in cases where immigration is going unusually slowly. In cases like that it's homeland security and/or the airport's fault and they don't just start hauling your luggage out of the hold cause you're not at the gate.

Having said that, I literally can't remember the last time it took me more than half an hour to get through either security or immigration or security in Dublin, tops. So it clearly isn't something that happens at all commonly. As I said previously maybe a newbe needs a little longer than two hours, others really do not provided you don't get distracted with duty free etc.

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

I think we're pretty much done with this as it's gone beyond tedious and we clearly just have different point of view. All I'll say is the fact that you say the flight was delayed for an hour only demonstrates my point that planes don't just take off if people are caught in a long line in cases where immigration is going unusually slowly. In cases like that it's homeland security and/or the airport's fault and they don't just start hauling your luggage out of the hold cause you're not at the gate.

Having said that, I literally can't remember the last time it took me more than half an hour to get through either security or immigration or security in Dublin, tops. So it clearly isn't something that happens at all commonly. As I said previously maybe a newbe needs a little longer than two hours, others really do not provided you don't get distracted with duty free etc.

Fair enough, how unfortunate that you weren't on hand to explain that to the group of people who were on my flight to JFK because their flight to Orlando had left without them because they were stuck in the queue for immigration.

My only point throughout has been delays can and do happen and it is sensible to allow time for that. Other peoples experience may vary.

BabysCoffee

I give myself 3hrs+ to check in and go through immigration. I generally don't need all of this time but for the sake of half an hour I don't like to take the risk.

Paul_Hacket

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

Fair enough, how unfortunate that you weren't on hand to explain that to the group of people who were on my flight to JFK because their flight to Orlando had left without them because they were stuck in the queue for immigration.

My only point throughout has been delays can and do happen and it is sensible to allow time for that. Other peoples experience may vary.

Oh? And did they explain to immigration that their flight was boarding and yet they were still refused to be expedited? Literally NEVER seen that happen and I've seen people moved to the top of the line dozens of times. Or were they (more likely) just really late and/or too meek to speak up? Sorry if I don't take a second hand story you heard on a plane as evidence superseding 20 years of personal experience of making this trip multiple times per year myself.

athtrasna

If the airlines say three hours I arrive three hours before the flight. It's my hard earned money that paid for it and I'm going to make sure (in so far as I can) that I get on it. Being stressed in a queue is no way to start a long flight.

It drives me crazy when people think they know better and rock up late expecting to jump the queue. If everyone followed the airlines 's advice the whole process would run so much smoother

Uno my Uno.

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

Oh? And did they explain to immigration that their flight was boarding and yet they were still refused to be expedited? Literally NEVER seen that happen and I've seen people moved to the top of the line dozens of times. Or were they (more likely) just really late and/or too meek to speak up? Sorry if I don't take a second hand story you heard on a plane as evidence superseding 20 years of personal experience of making this trip multiple times per year myself.

I don't know what they did or didn't do but meek they weren't, I'd be pretty sure everyone within shouting distance knew all about their flights. And hey we're all just strangers on the internet here, you can accept my experience or not, there isn't anything I can do about it. I would say though that for someone who is supposedly a very experienced traveler you are surprisingly resistant to even the idea that delays can happen and sometimes can't be helped. You must be truly blessed if your travel always goes so easily.

Paul_Hacket

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

I don't know what they did or didn't do but meek they weren't, I'd be pretty sure everyone within shouting distance knew all about their flights. And hey we're all just strangers on the internet here, you can accept my experience or not, there isn't anything I can do about it. I would say though that for someone who is supposedly a very experienced traveler you are surprisingly resistant to even the idea that delays can happen and sometimes can't be helped. You must be truly blessed if your travel always goes so easily.

Oh, so they were the shouting types? Well maybe that was their problem right there.

I never said "delays don't happen" or any of the other straw man nonsense you're claiming. What I said was if you're in the immigration area with a reasonable amount of time to spare and things are slow the staff will expedite you. You think otherwise, fine.