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hotels in Fairmount Park, theres the whole Center-City-to-the-Plateau transit full of flat-topped skyscrapers, blank walls and sterile, empty plazas?
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Looks like I will be flying CDG-JFK-EZE with a c. 2h transit at JFK. Would i have to clear immigration and customs inbetween flights or is there a sterile transit facility?
In Miami there used to be a transit option where you did not have to go through immigration and customs if your orgin and destination were outside the US. I used it several times a couple of years ago (before they had the drug sting). A lot of folks were in transit then.
I much prefer going through immigration though because the facilities (restaurnts, stores, etc. ) within transit are usually terrible (unlike at LHR, SIN, HKG, etc.) in the US.
MIA and LAX both have sterile in-transit areas. As others have mentioned, both airports get substantial transit traffic between Mexico/Central America/South America and Europe/Asia. Also, the quickest way between some countries within Central America, northern S. America and the Caribbean is often times on AA via MIA-- so the in-transit facilities are a practical necessity.
Pax transiting the U.S. w/o required entry documentation are referred to as "TWOVs" (transit without visa) and on some flights, you will notice that these pax are required to hand over their passports to the airline crew prior to boarding their departure flight to the U.S. These passports are bundled together in a large envelope and handed to a ground staff person at the transit airport and not returned to the pax until they are ready to board their outbound flight from the U.S. to their final destination.
AA's terminal facilities at MIA are designed to segregate transit pax the entire time (no need to be escorted through the terminal to the plane). They basically escort transit pax the reverse direction up the segregated passageways from immigration to the gates and avoid intermingling.
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Last time I was transiting LAX going from Mexico to Hong Kong, I planned to avail myself of the LAX sterile area. Unfortunately, the line to get in was so hellishly chaotic that I figured it would actually be quicker to go clear customs and immigration (plus, then I would be able to check out the shops, restaurants, etc.).
Recently I departed Mexico en route to Asia via LAX and planned to avoid clearing U.S. customs & immigration. Unfortunately, the line to enter the sterile area appeared
[This message has been edited by HKG_Flyer1 (edited 06-02-2001).]
i used the mia in-transit area as part of my 1w rtw last summer. aa definitely has this, but i'm not sure if the other carriers do as most int'l flights leave from a or b, while aa is from c-g.
LAX is another airport capable of handling sterile in-transit traffic. Air New Zealand, JAL and Varig use it on a regular basis to feed their assorted international flights.
I am told that ANC can also handle this kind of traffic, but I haven't been there to verify it myself.
[This message has been edited by B747-437B (edited 05-29-2001).]
When Delta started its Latin America expansion out of Hartsfield, they arranged for a sterile "in-transit" lounge as they were targetting Europe-Latin America passengers (apparently MIA gets a lot of these...AA fills up a 767 MAD-MIA most of which continue onto latin am). I think you are escorted from the arrival gate to a sterile room where you are forced to sit and wait. At departure time for your next flight you are escorted through the concourse right onto the plane, like a prisoner. For free access to the terminal facilities you have to clear immigration. I wouldn't be surprised if DFW and MIA have something similar (connecting a lot of in-transit pax). I wouldn't expect JFK to have that many in-transit pax, and if they have such a set up you'd still probably want to clear immigration to use the lounge.
As a disclaimer, this ATL process might be COMPLETELY wrong. It was explained to me by a Delta gate agent in ATL who didn't actually work int'l flights, so it might not be accurate.
DFW does have a sterile waiting lounge for in-transit int'l fliers.
ATL can also do sterile transit. Not sure about MIA...
Pax transiting the U.S. w/o required entry documentation are referred to as "TWOVs" (transit without visa) and on some flights, you will notice that these pax are required to hand over their passports to the airline crew prior to boarding their departure flight to the U.S. These passports are bundled together in a large envelope and handed to a ground staff person at the transit airport and not returned to the pax until they are ready to board their outbound flight from the U.S. to their final destination.
Does anyone know what the purpose of this is? My assumption is to make it less likely that the transit passenger will not get on the connecting flight and enter the US illegally. But, if someone was planning on doing this, I don't see how the retention of their passport serves as much deterrent. They could always go to their embassy in the US and request a replacement.
I've heard of cases where the passenger's passport doesn't make it on the connecting flight due to a mistake by the airline. Depending on the situation, I suppose some these people just end up waiting in the immigration hall of the arrival country until their passport shows up.
Also, in the cases where airports don't have sterile transit facilities per se, and end up keeping people in the immigration hall or sterile transit room, then escorting them to the departure gate, who is doing the escorting? If it's airline personnel, it would seem to me that it wouldn't be that hard to just bolt from the escort once you're in the gate area and leave the airport. What are they going to do about it? Now, if the escort is an immigration officer with the authority and capability to physically stop someone from doing this, that would be a different matter.
I think you have to clear immigration and customs. If I remember correctly, you come right off the jetbrige, through a hall and are at the immigration hall. I also think that American Immigration does not like the in-transit idea since I do not remember ever seeing this in the United States. Someone else might be able to give you a definite answer.
I know that Continental is building a "sterile" area into its "Global Gateway" expansion at EWR. I imagine American would be considering the same thing for its new and improved JFK terminal (which, of course, will not be ready for a couple of years).
There is no such thing at as a "sterile" in-transit area at any USA airport with Customs and Immigration facilities. It goes back to the idea that the USA and its airports are Origin and Destination (O&D) locations and thus such an area is unnecessary.
LAX definately has a sterile in-transit lounge as JFK bound passengers on QF 107/8 from SYD-LAX-JFK clear immigration and customs in JFK.
Greetings kappa,
As 2 Many Miles mentioned, DFW has a "sterile" in-transit lounge. I haven't seen one or heard of one at any other airport in the US, but perhaps that's because I've never connected from an inbound international flight to an outbound international flight through any US airport, accept DFW.
AA makes a strong grab for México to Latin America travel, and DFW serves as a good hub for this due to it's proximity to the major Mexican markets. Also, AA does well on deep South America-Japan traffic, too. Many Japanese businesspeople connect in Dallas for flights to São Paulo and Santiago, since the overall travel time is less than connecting via New York . . .
I would assume that MIA can handle "in transits", but I don't know for certain . . .
The only escorts I've ever seen appeared to be airline employees.
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JFk sterile transit?