Flying to the USA

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

Is YYC still following that ridiculous rule that you can't enter US Customs more than 2 hours before your plane's departure time? I went through that crap in November when I was back for American Thanksgiving and it was the most inefficient plan possible.

Just curious how it was inefficient? Was your flight delayed because of it?

When I went down in December the security guy was telling us that they used to have at least 1 flight per day delayed because they were waiting for somebody who had to get through immigration/security; and now it was never.

It makes sense, and I could see how security and customs takes their breaks according to flight load. Why should people who's flight leaves in 30 minutes have to wait behind dozens of people who's flight doesn't leave for 3-4 hours?

I am usually early for flights, but a couple of times I've been the guy running for the plane. Last time it was because my buddy who was driving me- his car broke down; then Deerfoot was at a crawl. Stuff happens.

[jjbouma]

Does anyone know what the recommended time of arrival is for US-bound flights now? Is everything back to quasi-normal or are there still long lines to go through customs?

[evilcougar]

Originally Posted by jjbouma

Does anyone know what the recommended time of arrival is for US-bound flights now? Is everything back to quasi-normal or are there still long lines to go through customs?

I just came back from Orlando. Going there was fine, i was about 2.5 hours early and all was good, had time for a drink before the flight. And customs was pretty quick. Coming home was a different story. They only had one wicket open in the Orlando airport for Westjet regular check ins and one for online check ins. It ended up delaying the flight, and we were 2.5 hours early for that one as well. The line through security was brutal as well. Took about 40 minutes to get through there.
In the wake of that they sent my luggage to Ottawa instead of Calgary. So, that was annoying. But, in the end it worked out.

Also, the carry on thing was totally fine. I had my laptop and my purse with me and it was all good.