While I had a great experience with preclearance, things can go wrong. The Dublin Airport recommends that US-bound passengers arrive at their terminal at least three hours before departure, or more if checking bags or traveling with a large group. While I did have to go through customs in Dublin, the line was very short, and I had already arrived at the airport early enough without even planning for it.
After that long flight, the last thing I would've wanted to do was wait in line for customs. It took about 10 minutes, maybe a bit more, and felt like we were taking a back way to go around the area where other international arrivals were getting screened by CBP.Īll in all, the CBP Preclearance was an incredible experience. Notably, the walk from the arrival gate to baggage claim was longer than normal.
#Aer lingus dublin to lax free#
local time, I was treated just like a domestic arrival - and was free to get off the plane and head straight to baggage claim to retrieve my luggage. About 11 hours later, when I landed at LAX around 6 p.m. From there I headed to my gate and had plenty of time to kill before boarding my flight around 2:30 p.m. The process probably took maybe 15 minutes factoring in the walk to and from the preclearance facility. Some people in line were also subject to additional security screening, but even those appeared to go quickly. Like with customs in the US, passengers at this point must declare certain goods, like purchases made abroad or agricultural products, but I had nothing to declare. I stepped up to a CBP officer, showed them my passport and boarding pass, and was free to go. Once I arrived at the preclearance facility, which is run by CBP, I got in a short line that took about 10 minutes or less to get through. But after checking my bag and passing through the security screening, I quickly spotted easy-to-follow signs directing passengers to "US Preclearance," so I followed them.
I had no idea before arriving that I would need to go through the customs preclearance before boarding my plane, let alone that the program even existed. I arrived at Dublin Airport's Terminal 2 about two and a half hours before my 11-hour flight was scheduled to take off. I'm not one to show up especially early to the airport (usually exactly one hour before departure for domestic flights) but I like to give myself more time when I am flying back to the US from an airport I'm not familiar with. Customs and Border Protection Preclearance in Dublin was a breezeĪfter a six-day trip to Ireland this month, I had a return flight from Dublin Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on a Sunday afternoon. Travelers are free to deplane and be on their way to their connecting flight or ground transportation - no CBP customs or TSA inspections required. The plane then arrives at a US airport just like a domestic flight. The program requires travelers flying from those locations to the US to go through the customs process before boarding the plane. US Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, operates Preclearance at 14 airports worldwide across six countries. Perhaps the worst part of international travel is not international at all, but rather the moment when you finally arrive home in the US after a jam-packed vacation and long-haul flight - only to be met by a sometimes long wait at customs and what feels like an interrogation just to get back into the country you actually live.īut on a recent trip to Ireland, I got to bypass such drudgery thanks to US Customs and Border Protection's Preclearance program. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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