How to avoid long lines at US airports
Since the beginning of the summer season, the problem of long queues at airports has once again become one of the most discussed in the United States. However, the delays also affect passengers arriving in the country, who often after a long flight find huge queues for immigration control.
Employees of airports and airlines, as well as the US Customs and Border Protection Service, argue that they do not like it more than passengers.
Daily international flights to the United States arrive about 300 thousand people. These numbers prompted the US federal agencies, as well as local independent organizations that manage airports, to collaborate on the creation of a new system that helps guests quickly pass through customs.
Since 2013, an automated passport control kiosk has been installed at airports to scan passports and answer standard customs declaration questions. The device photographs the passenger and prints the image along with the necessary information on the receipt, which the traveler transmits directly to the customs officer.
Such blue kiosks are currently operating at 34 airports in the United States and eight other countries, where passengers can go through US customs control just before boarding a plane. In total, more than 1300 kiosks were commissioned.
This is reportedly fast and free, unlike the Global Entry program, for which travelers must register in advance and pay $ 100.
It should be noted that along with US citizens and permanent residents, kiosks can use the citizens of Canada and 38 countries that have a visa-free regime agreement with the United States, including the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Brunei and South Korea . Visitors from these countries are electronically fingerprinted at kiosks.
A spokeswoman for the US customs agency, Jennifer Evanitski, said that the kiosks had already been used more than 95 a million times since the program began, and at some airports the waiting time was reduced by about 27%.
Kiosks costing from 35 to 50 thousand dollars are bought and serviced by the airports themselves in order to improve service for passengers. The international airport in Chicago, which was the first in the United States to use such kiosks, spent several million dollars on their acquisition.
Assistant Director of Aviation Operations at Miami International Airport, Dan Agostino says that the waiting time at the airport has decreased, despite the sharp increase in the number of international flights.
In addition, the kiosks made it possible to reduce the number of missed transfers, which often lead to travelers losing precious vacation days or canceling important meetings.
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