When you travel to an international destination, especially if you travel from a smaller airport, you will discover that you are always routed through a larger airport on your return so that you can go through Customs and Border Protection(CBP). Now, it is true that you usually cannot fly to international destinations from your smaller airport, but you can still save time upon your return by being able to avoid the CBP hassle upon your return.
How, you might ask? Use CBP Preclearance.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Preclearance is the strategic stationing of CBP personnel at designated foreign airports to inspect travelers prior to boarding U.S.-bound flights. With Preclearance, travelers then bypass CBP and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspections upon U.S. arrival and proceed directly to their connecting flight or destination. These airports also allow you to use your Global Entry identification number to make it through the check-in process more quickly. Also, keep in mind that you will want to get to the airport a little earlier on your trip home to go through the preclearance.
As of December 2023, CBP has staff stationed at 15 Preclearance locations in 6 countries:
- Dublin and Shannon in Ireland
- Aruba
- Bermuda
- Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates
- Nassau in the Bahamas
- Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg in Canada
I did not know about this program when we traveled to Calgary in 2021 and was quite surprised that we did not have to go through CBP upon landing in the US. After a little research, I discovered the magic that saved us time at the end of a long travel day.
Keep in mind that the time saved is great, but putting the extra hassle at the beginning of your return trip means that after a long and tiring flight, especially if you don’t sleep well on an airplane, means that you get out of the airport sooner to get home to your own bed for a good night’s sleep.
The real question has to do with the convenience of travelling through one of the above airports if you are going beyond those destinations. For example, is it worth the effort to fly through Dublin to visit South Africa.
Generally when we travel to Africa, we travel through London Heathrow to break up the trip as well as to spend a few days in London. But, London Heathrow does not have preclearance and Dublin does and we would love to spend more time visiting Ireland. So, as noted above, is it more expensive to fly through Dublin vs flying through London to get to South Africa.
When I checked in December 2023 for a trip to Africa during the Emerald Season in May 2024, the round trip from Sacramento was priced between $2250 and $2750 per person for economy plus. Those flights went through various European airports, but not Dublin. The round trip from Sacramento to Dublin was about $1600 per person and the round trip from Dublin to South Africa was about $1500. That means that it would have cost about $400-$800 more per person to fly via Dublin.