US TRANSIT passengers should give themselves plenty of time when connecting to another international flight through an American gateway airport. All luggage will come off the inbound aircraft and you will need to collect it and dispatch it again once through the various welcoming committees. If it has been tagged properly the airline staff will quickly take it off you and send it on its way. You have to pass through both immigration and customs and the Department of Homeland Security before presenting yourself at the normal outbound check which now includes taking one”s shoes off. Allow for an hour at least and don”t lock your case or it could be forced open. Visas are not needed for transit passengers so if you have one don”t waste your time filling in the white sheet. You need to complete the green one. Confusing. Yes. But the authorities are mystified too! Readers might also like to know that US airlines are now not allowed to have curtains dividing up the various areas on the aircraft. No more discretion with the special VIP passenger in first. Everyone can see everything. Drinks can be served to passengers before take-off but this must be done with plastic cups. Once in the air glass goblets are allowed. A further security measure is to block the passageway to the cockpit with a catering trolley when that door is open. On the face of it a bright idea but hardly practical. Of course the cockpit could be sealed but not all aircraft have dedicated crew rest rooms or a flight deck galley.
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