These Airports Have the Longest Immigration and Customs Lines on Thanksgiving Day.
If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving, here’s a tip: Take a lot of time at the airport. Like every year, this Thanksgiving holiday will be one of the busiest travel days in 2019 – according to AAA estimates, 4.45 million Americans will fly this Thursday alone. According to USA Today , it’s no surprise that international arrivals are also increasing on Thanksgiving.
What does this mean to you? Well, get ready for traffic jams, angry people and long lines. If you’re traveling overseas on this vacation, Airside Mobile, the developer of Mobile Passport, recently ranked the 25 major US airports based on the average time travelers spend waiting in customs and immigration lines (using data provided by Customs Border Patrol in previous days ). and after Thanksgiving 2018). They also took into account the average maximum waiting time when determining the rating, as well as factors such as the number of passengers handled per booth.
Which airport was ranked lowest, you ask? Well, if you are flying through San Francisco International Airport, the average waiting time was 13.8 minutes and the average maximum waiting time was 44.4 minutes. The next worst was Miami International, with an average wait time of 10.8 minutes and an average maximum wait time of 38.8 minutes.
On the other hand, Phoenix Sky Harbor International took first place with an average wait time of just 4.9 minutes and an average maximum time of 18.7 minutes. It is followed by San Jose International with an average time of 7 minutes and a maximum time of 18.7 minutes.
Below you will find the result of research courtesy of Airside Mobile :
25. San Francisco International. Average waiting time: 13.8 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 44.4 minutes.
24. Miami International. Average waiting time: 10.8 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 38.8 minutes.
23. Newark Liberty International. Average waiting time: 10.8 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 35.3 minutes.
22. Orlando International. Average waiting time: 12.5 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 36 minutes.
21. John F. Kennedy International. Average waiting time: 9.7 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 34.7 minutes.
20. Los Angeles International. Average waiting time: 10.7 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 34.4 minutes.
19. Intercontinental George W. Bush. Average waiting time: 8.2 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 43.1 minutes.
18. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International. Average waiting time: 8.3 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 32.4 minutes.
17. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International. Average waiting time: 9.5 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 33.4 minutes.
16. Boston Logan International. Average waiting time: 11.1 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 31.6 minutes.
15. San Diego International. Average waiting time: 14.1 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 29.6 minutes.
14. Denver International. Average waiting time: 9.4 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 27.4 minutes.
13. McCarren International. Average waiting time: 9.4 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 25.4 minutes.
12. Chicago O’Hara International. Average waiting time: 7.9 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 30.8 minutes.
11. Dallas / Fort Worth International. Average waiting time: 7.1 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 27.1 minutes.
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul International . Average waiting time: 8.5 minutes. Average maximum waiting time. 21.5 minutes
9. Metro Detroit. Average waiting time: 9.6 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 28.8 minutes.
8. Seattle-Tacoma International. Average waiting time: 4.9 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 25.4 minutes.
7. Daniel C. Inoue International. Average waiting time: 6 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 25.1 minutes.
6. Dulles International. Average waiting time: 5.3 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 23.4 minutes.
5. Philadelphia International. Average waiting time: 7.6 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 25.1 minutes.
4. Charlotte Douglas International. Average waiting time: 5.9 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 21.7 minutes.
3. Baltimore / Washington International Thurgood Marshall. Average waiting time: 5.2 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 21.1 minutes.
2. San Jose International. Average waiting time: 7 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 18.7 minutes.
1. Phoenix Sky Harbor International. Average waiting time: 4.9 minutes. Average maximum waiting time: 18.7 minutes.
If you want to avoid these lines, follow our advice and download Mobile Passport now. And if you want to take a look at the rest of the results, be sure to check out the full Airside Mobile report .