International arrival at LAS

Hi all,

It's been a while since I took a direct flight to LAS and the last time I did - we arrived into the very small, very old terminal 2.

I know now that terminal 3 is the international terminal, but I just wondered what is it like with regards to CBP & Immigration? It used to be awful as it was so small - hopefully it's better now?

I've also read in a couple of places about some kind of fast track if you have ESTA, possibly only if it is not your first time travelling under that ESTA. Any information on this available?

Thanks

T3 is bigger and nicer but at the end of the day it depends how many CBP agents are on duty and how many desks they decide to open so it's impossible to say how long the queue will be. Obviously the quicker off the plane you are the better but if another big plane's arrived just before yours, tough.

Most US airports now have the automated CBP kiosks which you can use if you've previously entered on your ESTA at least once. Whether they're any faster is debatable - after using them you still have to queue up to give an agent the bit of paper it spits out. And everyone, whichever immigration channel they use, has to queue to clear customs after collecting their baggage.

So while the terminal might be all shiny and new, the red tape is still there in abundance and it really is pot luck as to how long it'll take to get through.

Echo comments from Gumshoe.

I would just add that on all trips I have made through the new terminal (8+) on VS43 the Aeromexico flight has already landed ahead and immigration insist on processing all of that flight before processing anyone from VS - even to the point that they have closed off the automated CBP kiosks on last two occasions until the last few are being processed on main desks from the Aeromexico flight. So, if you're in Upper / PE then expect about a 20-30 minutes to get through and if in Economy it can easily take up to an hour unless you are able to jump across to the automated CBP kiosks.

The layout in T3 customs hall is in 4 sections, from left to right (you will enter from the left):
Customs & Border Protection Global Entry automated booths (against the left hand wall)
US citizens
Non-US citizens
Automated CBP kiosks (against the right hand wall) which, as Gumshoe said, you can use if you've previously entered on your ESTA at least once

Thanks for the info gumshoe - hope you're not following me by the way - keep popping up with useful info!

I did a little googling and to perhaps clear up something I thought and which you re-iterated - you do not need to have entered the US on your current ESTA, you only need to have been to the US previously since 2008 when they started scanning fingerprints.

I'm seated up top in the PE cabin - hopefully that means being off the plane towards the beginning! I also won't have any luggage to collect (the family have a washing machine!) so will hope for the best.

I have in the past spent 3 hours or more in the hall at Atlanta and missed 4.5 hour connections because of it. I don't have that trouble this time, but still don't want to spend ages in the queue