Stuck In Customs and My Plane Is Leaving: Help!

Archived Comments:

• Searched - October 28, 2009

  U.S. Customs & Immigration are the worst among all developed nations. They are rude, arrogant and arbitrary. Entry to no other developed country is as unpleasant as entry to the U.S., whether you are a lawful resident or a visitor. While many are polite, many are rude and behave like they are not accountable for their behavior and actions - because it appears they are not.

• Mwyss - October 28, 2009

  In reply to the above--remember NO other country has as many illegal people, including terrorists, trying to sneak in--either to harm us or just live here & steal our jobs!! They have to be extremely careful--how many from Guatemala [where the writer was coming from] do we deport each WEEK? And how many drugs do CBP grab every day!!

• Rich - October 29, 2009

  Ray's problem isn't with officious C&I inspectors, whose job is to make life difficult for travelers. Ray's problem was scheduling 45 minutes between connecting flights. This isn't safe in a small airport let alone one like Houston.

• Cajun_Sister - October 29, 2009

  It is insane of anyone to schedule an international flight arriving into the US with a connection time of only 45 minutes. You KNOW you will have to clear customs, immigrations or some type international checkin process. This looks to me like poor planning on the traveler's side who is trying to blame others for his short-sighted organization. Like so many others, rules and regulations are for everyone else and not for you. I travel internationally numerous times a year and never schedule a connection time of less than 2 hours. Yes, sometimes you can get through the process in 10 minutes but you cannot count on it.

• ethniccook - October 29, 2009

  45 minutes is entirely too little time for a layover including customs and immigration. I always allow 2 hours or make sure that there is another flight to catch if you miss your connection.

• stanleyjust - October 29, 2009

  Much worse timewise than customs is the TSA. You have no control over how long the TSA line will be and can spend an hour or more on it. Even when we heard our names being paged by the airline, TSA would not move us to the front of the line and we missed out flight requiring a five hour wait until the next flight.

• Carl Unger, SmarterTravel - October 29, 2009

  To be fair, the reader did not say he scheduled a 45-minute layover, just that he "had only 45 minutes." His flight may have arrived late or been rescheduled by the airline from a more reasonable layover to a short one.

• truebluebruin - October 29, 2009

  I once had a flight delayed due to mechanical delays from Guatemala, only to arrive late and making me miss my connecting flight in Miami. I had no problem going to the airline desk and let them know what happened. I was treated well, and given a free transfer voucher for the next flight, free food vouchers & transportation, and free hotel as the flight missed was the last of the day. However, Ray is the 5th person I hear complaining about CBP in Houston. I even had a mild hard time there as well. I personally think it has nothing to do with being careful with illegal people trying to "sneak in" as Mwyss commented. Illegal people wouldn't be able to even fly in the first place without a visa. I think Houston staff are just plain rude. Houston we have a problem.

• call me skeptical - October 29, 2009

  Whether Ray only had 45 minutes (or even an hour, as advised by ST - come on, how much difference can 15 minutes make at a big airport?), the fact that the inspector appeared to be in no hurry with his inspection (as if he had NO IDEA that Ray had a limited time to make his connecting flight) demonstrates his abuse of the power given him with his position. If they do "special processing" with every person who seems nervous (which a lot of people are just because they're uncomfortable flying) or agitated (which a lot of people are just from being tired after an international flight, some of which are really LONG trips), they'd be doing "additional" screening for MOST international passengers. What about terrorists who aren't nervous at all? As for people smuggling drugs, isn't that why they have drug-sniffing dogs? Some customs inspectors do enjoy abusing their power over their "customers" - not all of them, absolutely, but look at the smugness expressed by the CBP official, t hat they're essentially untouchable and are not answerable to us people under their control (who happen to be the ones who pay their salaries!). As for "how many are deported each week," well, how many? And so what? Does every Latino-appearing passenger from a Latin American country get the third degree? They might be illegal, after all. I myself, fortunately, have never encountered any of these power sadists, not here or in any other country, but I've seen this happen to other passengers. It's deplorable and inexcusable. What a way to say "Welcome home" or "Welcome, visitor"!

• dennis - October 29, 2009

  If flying from international origin to US airport and there is no direct flight try to arrange a connection outside the US.That way your luggage is automatically transfered and your first contact with customs is at your final destination.However,this does not work for connections made in Canada . Indeed,that can be a real horror story.Avoid connecting in Canada for flights to US!

• I love to travel - October 29, 2009

  Uh, Rich, I beg to differ with your ridiculous assertion that a customs inspector's job is to make life difficult for travelers. His or her job is to help keep our country safe. Being "officious" - or any other euphemism for RUDE you want to throw in there - doesn't do the job. Professionalism does.

• Vacation traveler - October 29, 2009

  I agree that some US Customs and Immigration wokers are arrogant and rude. My family and I travel every year to Aruba. Aruba is one of only a handful of countries where US customs takes place before leaving Aruba. Some of these workers really have 'attitudes' and do abuse their power. They are the ones being rude, arrogant and obnoxious while the Aruban cusotms officials just couldn't be nicer whether you are entering or leaving Aruba. Just another example of Americans acting badly. Americans living in paradise (Aruba) no less!

• 4dabirds - October 29, 2009

  My personal experience has been: there are vast differences in how frustrating the process is from location-to-location... ie. PHX and LAS are far less frustrating then say LAX and HOU. Places like PHX and LAS, have facilities that are dealing with far less numbers of people/property and a smaller range of destinations. Perhaps this factors into their ability to maintain a positive outlook, and an understanding, but yet professional demeanor... On the upside... one of the agents we routinely deal with out of LAS always looks you square in the eye, shakes your hand, and says, "Welcome Home." There is just something about the way he goes about it that makes you feel both patriotic and special for being here - a very nice touch to what can seem like a lengthy ordeal. :)

• lawthomas - October 29, 2009

  These days, Customs is usually the formality of handing in the Declarations Form to the officer. When custom's officers stop and inspect luggage, it means they suspect (or know) something. It is so much better now. In my early days of International travel...the 40's 50's and 60's, every suitcase was routinely opened and inspected. I once saw a returning ship passenger with multiple suitcases give an inspector a hard time. He proceed to dump everything from all cases in a pile and left her fuming to pack everything back in her bags. The lesson to learn with all officials everywhere, especially those with badges, is to be pleasant and cooperative. Many with power, love to use and abuse it.

• nemrac8 - October 30, 2009

  I have been in more than 40 countries and the worst emigration is Washington, Dulles. Is the ugliest airport , and emigration room is so hot and small, I almost faint.

• Ray - October 30, 2009

  I'd like first of all to thank most of you for your replies and input. My question was prompted because the customs official who moved so slow stated at one point that they would assist me should I miss my flight. I did not believed him, particularly since there would be no way for me to go back to the area once I passed the inspection station. However, at the time I did not request an elaboration on his statement because all I wanted to do was catch my connecting flight, hence my inquiry to Carl Unger's SmaterTravel. The most illustrative response was truebluebruin's, it seems I am not the only one who has had problems at the Houston airport. Lawthomas' answer hints that over the years customs has gotten a bit better, but any improvements have been the result of numerous complaints and lawsuits. At the end of my ordeal I was handed a form to fill out and mail in case I had any complaints, which I did. I appreciate those who came to my defense, in fact the flight was delayed once it arrived, apparently there was no free gate, so we had to wait a while to deplane. And I plead ignorance as to the nature of Houston airport, it was only my second time at that airport in many years. You live and learn. However, that does not excused custom officials attitudes and total disregard for travelers. I had only a small carry-on luggage, the type with the two little wheels on the back, and a small backpack, and yet the official proceeded to open every small bottle I had, even making comments on a bottle of Airborne tablets that I carried, despite the fact that he knew I had a pending flight to catch. And all this after an X-ray inspection and two manual examinations at the Guatemalan airport. As I mentioned in my initial query, he even sat down for a few seconds. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. As to the innate nature of some of the customs and border guards, you have only to look at the latest headlines regarding their continued and increasing corruption, a fact that does have an impact on the security of the nation.

• bertjt - October 30, 2009

  Contrary to Mr. Unger's claim that the person searching the bags has no control over the process, they do, in fact, completely control how long they will take to search your bag. How could it be otherwise? My experience with customs has been that the country you arrive from and your apparent race have a lot to do with how long and how thoroughly they inspect you. Most places, I am just waved through. Walking in from Mexico, no one wanted to look in my bags, but everyone with brown skin -- regardless of citizenship -- got a slow inspection. Flying from Germany once, I was in gastric distress due to food poisoning from the plane, but was detained with questions such as "do you know anyone from India?" With the TSA, the number of people they select for "special screening" is mainly a factor of how long the line is: if you are there at a quiet time, you are much more likely to be held up, simply because the agents have the time to scrutinize more people. The best advice, if you h ave to fly into the US, is to allow as much time as possible and never, ever, question anything an employee orders (I almost said "asks") you do to. They have total power, and if you appeal or complain, they will put you on a watch list and inspect you EVERY time. There is no evidence, by the way, that their rules make us any safer. The only hope for travelers is for the media to realize this and to allow congress the political slack to change the system -- but don't look for that happening anytime soon.

• Peter B - October 30, 2009

  Most of my international flights have returned to SFO, where the customs & immigration line was routinely an hour long, though it is better now with a new terminal. Once, I came back via LAX, and the guy in charge came by our line apologizing for the delay, since he had several agents in a training session. We got through in about 20 minutes anyway. I wanted to ask if he could transfer to SFO! Problems with US Customs is not just at airports. We once took the vehicle ferry from Victoria BC to Port Angeles, WA. The ferry was full both ways, but the whole load was through C&I at Victoria before we got on the ferry (we were near the back of the boarding line), but the ferry was loaded and long gone before we got through C&I at Port Angeles!