# Which airport is the best to enter the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575 "2015-10-23T20:55:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/41 "2015-11-03T18:41:34Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > As a US permanent resident, you should go in the US-citizen queue. That’s what I did for the nine years that I was a green-card holder. That’s what I do in Orlando, but at Miami the citizen line was clearly marked as being for citizens only (or rather the noncitizen line was clearly marked as being for US permanent residents). ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/42 "2015-11-04T01:00:46Z")
Definitely one in Hawaii - Oahu, Maui, Hilo, whichever. Because, when you do get out of the airport, you’re in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![comp\_geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/43 "2016-02-17T14:42:20Z")
Agree, Phoenix is very easy and quick. And BA has one non-stop flight per day. Just don’t bring in more than a single bottle of alcohol per person at this port. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/44 "2016-02-17T15:15:48Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > [Shannon Airport and Dublin Airport](http://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance) in Ireland have US Preclearance facilities like many Canadian airports now have. By transiting via one of those, you could get your US paperwork done and over with and then enjoy your flight. > > As as US citizen who has returned via preclearance in Canada, I have to say that it is _nice_. After your long flight, just walk off the plane and go decompress. You say that now, but I was there in July and it was a nightmare for me to get through those lines. First is the normal airport screening, which was fine, and after I got through that I thought no problems. Next came the US security clearance. It’s slightly different there then here, I had to take out ALL of my electronics, including tablets, phones and cameras. They now have those machines that you have to stand in to get screened. Takes a bit longer. After that comes the screening for customs, and they didn’t tell us there were two lines, one for US passports and one for everyone else. The line for that was huge for non-US passports. Then comes some other security clearance, of which I don’t know the reason for. All in all it took me about 2 hours to make it through everything. I didn’t even get a chance to look at any of the stores for any last minute things. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/45 "2016-02-19T02:32:09Z")
I don’t think they actually have international flights anymore, but back in my West Texas Days, Lubbock International Airport did have some to and from Mexico. That had to be a short waiting time. ---
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/46 "2016-02-19T02:40:46Z")
My best experience, by far, has been at Cincinnati. Mediocre to bad experiences at LAX, JFK, and ATL, as far as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575/47 "2016-02-19T02:47:06Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > [Shannon Airport and Dublin Airport](http://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance) in Ireland have US Preclearance facilities like many Canadian airports now have. By transiting via one of those, you could get your US paperwork done and over with and then enjoy your flight. > > As as US citizen who has returned via preclearance in Canada, I have to say that it is _nice_. After your long flight, just walk off the plane and go decompress. I have to agree. I don’t know what it’s like for noncitizens, but it was the easiest I’ve ever gone through customs and immigration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-airport-is-the-best-to-enter-the-usa/735575.md?page=2)