Is customs easier in ORD or JFK on AA?

[Boatdrill]

Flying to US from Europe in early November 2024. 

Layover time in each is 2+ hours, and we'll be using Global Entry.

Which airport would you choose ?

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Immigration and Customs  is very easy with GE. In essence,  you don't even do Customs. 

[aungrl]

I've come in to both numerous times over the years.   As @CruiserBruce says, if you have Global Entry, it's not usually a problem at either airport.  Without GE, a lot depends - at least in my experience - on the time of day you arrive and how many other international flights are arriving in that same window.  Setting those variables aside - which you can't do in reality, of course - I've never found one airport to be particularly faster than the other one.

[BOB999]

At ORD, all non-Precleared international flights arrive at Terminal 5.  So you would clear Immigration/Customs at T5 and have to take a train over to Terminal 3 for AA for your ongoing domestic flight.

 

At JFK, AA flights all arrive/depart out of Terminal 8, so you wouldn't have to transfer terminals.  

 

Otherwise 6 in one, half dozen the other.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, BOB999 said:

At ORD, all non-Precleared international flights arrive at Terminal 5.  So you would clear Immigration/Customs at T5 and have to take a train over to Terminal 3 for AA for your ongoing domestic flight.

 

At JFK, AA flights all arrive/depart out of Terminal 8, so you wouldn't have to transfer terminals. 

 

All of which assumes an AA-AA connection, which I don't see mentioned anywhere.

 

To the OP:  Details matter.

 

 

[BOB999]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

All of which assumes an AA-AA connection, which I don't see mentioned anywhere.

 

To the OP:  Details matter.

 

 

I took the subject line "on AA" to mean an AA-AA connection, though BA-AA, IB-AA or AY-AA would have the same result.

[jbrinkm]

JFK may have gotten better - someone can easily correct me since it has been many years since I flew into that airport on an International flight - but I remember feeling like it was cattle herding there. Everyone from all the flights, all in one big hall/chute, no order, people pushing and shoving to get past each other, dragging luggage over people's feet, etc. I have paid more since that experience to fly from any airport OTHER than JFK. (However, I've never flown into O'Hare on an International flight but the domestic terminals seem fairly well organized - albeit huge...)

[waterbug123]

On 2/19/2024 at 3:55 PM, jbrinkm said:

JFK may have gotten better - someone can easily correct me since it has been many years since I flew into that airport on an International flight - but I remember feeling like it was cattle herding there. Everyone from all the flights, all in one big hall/chute, no order, people pushing and shoving to get past each other, dragging luggage over people's feet, etc. I have paid more since that experience to fly from any airport OTHER than JFK. (However, I've never flown into O'Hare on an International flight but the domestic terminals seem fairly well organized - albeit huge...)

There are multiple terminals with international flights at JFK so "everyone from all the flights" does not end up in the same place for immigration/customs.  But any large airport like ORD or JFK could have multiple flights arriving at the same terminal within short order of each other, creating large crowds going through immigration.  I've arrived at JFK and walked right through and I've arrived and had to stand in a long line.  All depends on timing of inbound flights and that's hard to predict.

[SelectSys]

On 2/25/2024 at 12:43 PM, waterbug123 said:

multiple terminals with international flights at JFK

While JFK has multiple terminals, it seems to me that over time they have consolidated somewhat along major alliance boundaries.  For example, OneWorld seems to be all in Terminal 8.  In Chicago, if a flight isn't precleared somewhere else like in Ireland you are going to need to take a train from terminal 5 to your other terminal.  Again, on AA this means a train transfer from Terminal 5 to 3. 

 

For the chance of being in a single terminal, I would pick JFK was my my only criteria.   Not really too big even if you need to change terminals at JFK as, like ORD,  they have a train between terminals.  JFK also has buses inside the secure area for certain terminal combinations.

 

@Boatdrill, GE makes the time required in immigration the least of concerns when picking a connecting airport in the US.  I would start looking at which airport is subject to more delays and what airport provides me with the most backup options  to get to my final destination in case something goes wrong. 

 

For what it's worth,  I would pick ORD over JFK if it was me flying home to San Diego on a OneWorld carrier using GE at immigration.

 

 

[waterbug123]

On 3/1/2024 at 3:37 PM, SelectSys said:

While JFK has multiple terminals, it seems to me that over time they have consolidated somewhat along major alliance boundaries. 

 

 

Maybe in some cases.  But take Sky Team for example- JFK is a huge international hub for Delta and they use T4, but Air France, who is a core alliance partner, uses T1.