Clearing immigration at heathrow??

[Arizona gal]

We are flying to Orlando via Miami in April and after reading that it take take up to 4 hours to clear US immigration, I phoned BA to clarify what would happen if we did miss our connecting flight. They told me that we had plenty of time and that we would clear immigration at heathrow and that our luggage would go straight through and that all we have to clear is security. I said I didn't think this was possible, so she put me on hold to double check and came back and said yes, it's true. I know you can clear immigration at Dublin, but never heard of it at heathrow! Are BA telling me porkies?

 

[Kath2003]

We are flying to Orlando via Miami in April and after reading that it take take up to 4 hours to clear US immigration, I phoned BA to clarify what would happen if we did miss our connecting flight. They told me that we had plenty of time and that we would clear immigration at heathrow and that our luggage would go straight through and that all we have to clear is security. I said I didn't think this was possible, so she put me on hold to double check and came back and said yes, it's true. I know you can clear immigration at Dublin, but never heard of it at heathrow! Are BA telling me porkies?

You cannot clear US immigration at Heathrow AFAIK.
It doesn't take 4 hours to clear immigration in Miami, but I wouldn't go through with less than a 2 hour connection. Miami is also the most boring airport in the history of airports...
You will need to collect then recheck your bags in Miami.

 

[wayneg]

As above, only pre clearance is in Ireland AFAIK, none at Heathrow.
How long is your connection? I would also advise 2+ hours.

 

[Arizona gal]

Thanks for that! I didn't think you could!! Theoretically we should have enough time, but I'm just preparing for the worst case scenario! There is only one more flight to Orlando after ours until the next morning. I had phoned BA to find out whether we would get priority on the last flight or go on standby. And if we didn't get on a flight, would they pay accommodation fees?
I think I'm going to take an overnight bag as hand luggage just in case!

 

[Arizona gal]

Wayneg, its just under 4 hours. The problem will be if we are delayed at heathrow.

 

[Arizona gal]

Kath2003, we have also been told that our luggage will go straight through and we won't need to collect and recheck!

 

[wayneg]

4 hours is plenty, even with a delay.
They will do their best to get you on your scheduled connection or the one after, last thing they want is to pay for your hotel for the night so they will do all the can to get you there the same day.

 

[2Tiggies]

Kath2003, we have also been told that our luggage will go straight through and we won't need to collect and recheck!

I'm a little confused here - where are you actually flying from? Is Heathrow your origin or are you connecting at Heathrow from elsewhere and then continuing through to Orlando via Miami?

Your luggage will go straight through on the return but you usually clear customs at your first port of entry (which I thought was Miami?) and when clearing customs and immigration you have to collect your bags and do a bag drop. It's not a full on check in, but you do need to collect the luggage as if you have anything to declare, this is the point where you would put it through the extra screening.

 

[wayneg]

Kath2003, we have also been told that our luggage will go straight through and we won't need to collect and recheck!

Coming home it goes straight thru to your final destination but any plane landing in the US with a connection has to collect luggage and go thru security screening.
Sounds like someone at BA is having an off day. Unless they have changed their system and we don't know about it but doubt it very much.

 

[Arizona gal]

Thanks everyone! We are flying from heathrow to Miami then Miami to Orlando. My worry is that our flight from heathrow will depart late and then immigration at Miami will be a nightmare! From what I've read, 2 hours is the norm but some people have waited in packed immigration halls for over 4 hours! And I thought Orlando was bad!

 

[Arizona gal]

It was a foreign call centre that dealt with my query, so I will try to speak to somebody from BA in the uk tomorrow. It's a good job I posted on here or we could have been in a sticky situation with our luggage!

 

[Kath2003]

Thanks everyone! We are flying from heathrow to Miami then Miami to Orlando. My worry is that our flight from heathrow will depart late and then immigration at Miami will be a nightmare! From what I've read, 2 hours is the norm but some people have waited in packed immigration halls for over 4 hours! And I thought Orlando was bad!

You really don't need to worry. It would be very unusual to wait that long. See here: http://apps.cbp.gov/awt/ - the longest average wait time for immigration in April 2013 at MIA is 55 minutes. The worst wait time is just over 3 hours. Depending on when your flight arrives, you typically face a wait of 20-45 minutes.

You WILL need to collect your bags, go through customs, and then recheck - on the way home, you don't need to do this because you don't need to clear customs on the way home as you're already in the US.

The worst case scenario is that you spend a night in Miami - but since you have FOUR HOURS to connect, this is very, very unlikely. Oh and US domestic flights are notoriously delayed...