Korean Job Discussion Forums

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

I have plans to visit my home in Canada this winter. Instead of flying with Air Canada, I may use a U.S. airline.

What's it like nowadays going home via the U.S.? Is it still pretty smooth? I haven't tried it post 9/11. I expect the security at U.S. airports to be tougher than before.

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

I"m American, but its still a pain in the ass. Make sure you hve at least 2 hours to make your connection. I've done it in 3o minutes. I've done it in 2.5 hours. You never know.

winnie · Joined: 08 May 2005 Location: the forest

I did it this summer through Chicago...and it was horrible. I thought it might be a nice break...as opposed to being stuck on a direct flight....and it also allowed me to have a free stop in Tokyo.

Flying home on American Airlines....I had nothing but problems. One bag was overweight, told to switch stuff around...in front of an entire line up of people. Did this, then two bags were overweight. Charged 60.00 for being over the limit. I am used to flying on Asian carriers who allowed 2 70 lb bags....Americans only allow 50 lbs per bag. Apparently, the other carriers are changing this to 50 soon anyways.

Got to Chicago, had to go through a long line to be security checked. They went through all of my stuff by hand, and took my lip gloss and mascara.....this was during the whole no liquids thing. But I figured if Korean and Japanese customs let me through with it, and I was only transiting through the US it shouldn't be a problem. Well it was. There were no carts in the departure area of O'hare either....so I lugged around my 3 carry ons.....which I wasn't supposed to have, but oh well. I was going home after 2 years.

The other thing was that I had to take my suitcases off the conveyor belt and put them on again to be sent to Toronto. I don't know why they couldn't just be tagged through.

Flight was delayed by several hours...and I was reminded every five mins by a loud announcement that the terror level was ORANGE. Had to laugh.

It was the worst thing I could have done. Next time, I won't be flying through the states if I can help it.

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

Yeah you always have to claim and recheck your bags. Major pain in the ass.
The weight limit can sometimes be circumvented by being really sweet and explaining that you are movin overseas. I've also cried to get through without paying and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

More of the same story:

My wife is a Cdn Permanent Resident with a 10 year unlimited US visa, and she said she'll never catch another connection through the states again due to the security hassles and the attitude of (Detroit outbound, Chicago return) airport staff.

Basically all passengers had to pick up their luggage and pass through security again (bear in mind these are in-transit passengers we're talking about here).

The few hundred backs saved by taking a route through the US just isn't worth the hassle any more, in her opinion. And I'd probably agree if I had travelled with her that time (this was Chusok).

Buff · Joined: 07 Apr 2004

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

In the past I have connected through Chicago. What I found strange was having to go through U.S. Customs when I am not even leaving the airport. In Japan, at Narita airport (maybe here at Incheon too) when passengers get off an international flight, they can continue onto customs or just stay in the international gate area.

I don't remember what the deal is at U.S. airports. My guess is perhaps flights to Canada could be in the domestic part of the terminal or simply U.S. Customs want to know the names of every single passenger who goes through the airport.