Clearing Through Las Vegas

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could call on the help of anyone that has recently been through Las Vegas airport on VS043...? I know that where you sit on the plane can add an amount onto the length of time it takes to clear immigration & customs (I'm in ECON, but hope to be as far forward as possible come OLCI), but is 14:10 a particularly bad time to be landing in Vegas with a load of other international flights all arriving at around that time and probably at the time of day when all the immigration officials take their lunch break (together)?

I'm meeting some friends in T1, so I just wondered if someone could offer up a ball park figure based on recent experience on how long I should allow!

Thanks in advance

The international terminal in Las Vegas is tiny - you'll probably be the only flight landing at that time as I believe BA lands much later in the day.

Hi

We were in Vegas last March and even though we were sitting right at the back of the 747 (favourite seats ii) !) it only took us about 30 mins to clear customs - one of the fastest US airport immigrations we have ever done!

It was very organised and there were plent of staff on duty. No other plane in front of us either!

Mrs D

Hi LondonMat,

We have been to McCarran lots of times and never had any problems, you are usually the only plane in, they have the whole checks both hands and Iris but its really quick and on last occasion made to the hotel and picked up car in 1 1/2 hours, we will be following you in a month can't wait what with the weather at the moment, have a good one

Whilst I have never had any of the reported 2-3 hours stuck in a US Immegration queue at major US airports I always allow an hour to clear immigration and customs before arranging to meet soomeone or to meet a booked car.

On my trip to ORD last month (not with VS) I spent longer waiting for my case than I did waiting for the lovely CBP agent to do my finger prints and his indepth question ('how long are you staying for?'). Yes it helped I was in the pointy end but Y pax were coming through in large numbers too before the luggage appeared !

Hi,
Went through Mccarran last August, we were sat right at the front of economy so from plane to baggage reclaim it was an impressive 10 minutes! The whole plane seemed to be through pretty quickly, and we were the only International flight arriving but LAS Terminal 2 is very small!

Thanks all - your help is really appreciated. It doesn't look like I'll be falling asleep in the queue!

Looks like 10 minutes is the time to beat from econ to baggage reclaim.

Hope to beat it next week from LGW-LAS!! At OLCI try to bag seats in the mini cabin (Rows 21-23 or 21-24) because you get off before PE and UC!

I've done it in less than 15 mins both times and both times in PE

It depends on the day you fly and a bit of luck.
You come in very closr to a Condor flight from Germany and also the VS Manchester flight operates a coiuple of times a week, If you are delayed a short while you could end up behind these two flights but it's unlikely.

Yep, nothing like ORD or JFK. Easy.

On my last direct flight into LAS last November (and my best UC trip ever) we were rapidly off the plane but were held up by the Aeromexico flight that had arrived before us.The immigration staff put up the Tensa barriers until the whole AM flight had been cleared (I've never seen that happen before). We were the 2nd and 3rd VS passengers in the queue- 15 minutes in total from de-planing . Woo hoo. Gotta love Vegas .
DL

Anyone else found it very different clearing security at Vegas on the way back though? I have bad memories of queuing for a long, long time - outside and in searing heat....

Flew LGW-LAS on VS043 in February this year. Was first in the queue at Immigration.

VS043 arrives before the BA flight, which helps.

Both times I've been there, I've got through Immigration really quickly. The hall can probably hold a good few hundred people, so if you're unlucky, you could be there some time (even though it is well staffed).

Remember, NO phones, and DON'T step over that line at the front of the queue!

MJ

I agree with the comments above - never had to wait more than around 20 minutes at LAS. The only potential hiccup is on a Thursday or Sunday when the MAN-LAS 747 is scheduled to arrive some 40 minutes after the LGW-LAS flight. It can be bad news for the MAN people. Our friends had to wait for nearly 2 hours to get through having had row 61 seats on the MAN flight.
But on our last trip from MAN in April, we landed 10 minutes ahead of the LGW flight (which had been delayed by 40 minutes).

I got stuck behind a delayed Aeromexico flight in May. Normally though there isn't any other arrivals at that time - I've always landed a little earlier than 14:10 as well.

Your best bet is to sit as far forward as possible, preferably in the mini cabin, and then power walk like mad down to immigration, overtaking the bleary eyed weary limbed travellers ): - it's a race and the prize is less time spent queueing. I was sat at the back of the plane once and it took 1 1/2 hours to clear immigration, not nice when you're tired and wanting a cigarette. Last year I got from plane to baggage reclaim in 6 minutes! Speed is everything!!