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In a word meh!
As previous Esta holder all you can do is fill in the usual customs questions such as are you bringing in currency or food etc. You can’t add your passport scan unless you’re a US citizen
And that’s all you can do. When you arrive at the port of entry you have to connect to wifi, or have data and then take a selfie. Then you join a specific MPC queue (line for the Americans). The info board as I entered the immigration hall said 60 mins wait for non US passports and 14 mins for MPC.
Yeah right… there weren’t enough tensa barriers for the MPC queue. It told me that my desk would be number 12. When I eventually got to the end of the queue after 65 mins, 12 was closed, I went to 10. The guy at 10 refused to talk to me when I showed the bar code and sent me to the back of the queue for 11. When I showed him the code he said nope, not required. Didn’t ask me a single one of the usual questions, why are you here, how long, etc and just fingerprinted me and let me pass.
So if you join the MPC line, and have data, you can avoid the main queue which wasn’t 60 min as noted above, I’d estimate 3-4 hours.
Not gonna play this immigration lucky dip game any more, pre-clear at Dub will be my preferred route to the wilds of the US in future.
Not gonna play this immigration lucky dip game any more, pre-clear at Dub will be my preferred route to the wilds of the US in future.
The usefulness of the MPC app really depends on the specific itinerary/airport. I’ve used the MPC app in Philadelphia a couple times and I basically go straight through immigration with no queues of any kind and it’s so much easier than dealing with pre-clearance in Dublin, which I find really annoying.
As previous Esta holder all you can do is fill in the usual customs questions such as are you bringing in currency or food etc. You can’t add your passport scan unless you’re a US citizen.
There’s not really any difference in the app or overall experience between US passport holders and non-US passport holders. The app “scans” the passport only so you don’t have to add a few seemingly meaningless details manually.
The app doesn’t save the passport scan/photo, all travellers need to take a photo of themselves on arrival, and there’s no practical difference between US and non-US travellers when you get to the immigration agent via the MPC line.
This is interesting. Which airport was it @davefl?
I tipped a mate off about this as he was heading to Orlando a few weeks ago. He texted me absolutely over the moon with how seamless it had been to get through immigration using MPC.
(For those not aware, the MPC app now allows ESTA holders to pre-file a lot of their info with immigration. It’s an app you download onto your mobile).
I’m on a few FB groups for Disneyworld (no idea why I’m still on there to be honest, as no intention of going back any time soon). Anyway, people are absolutely raving about it on there in relation to Orlando, saying it’s amazing and they’re getting through in minutes.
This is interesting. Which airport was it @davefl?
JFK T4
My 3.5hr immigration queue at JFK T4 a few weeks ago definitely convinced me getting Global Entry was the right decision (last time queueing before having my interview).
There was an article on MPC on TLFL the other week and the comments definitely confirm what @RK228 says – it seems to vary hugely from airport to airport.
The line was shorter than the main line by about 3 hours in my estimation, but no recognition of it once we all got to the front of the line, the guys just didnt want to see the QR code.
Bizarely had my passport stamped on entry for the 1st time in a few years. Brand new passport and he stamps on page 11.
@Ladyshopper It just depends on flights and times. I was through MCO in under a minute in Dec without MPC. I’ve also been through JFK in under a minute on a previous trip.I’m totally gonna give this a shot in June so thank you for flagging. From my preliminary googling:
“New MPC App Experience
On November 9 – MPC travelers will no longer need to scan the QR code to validate their submission with the CBP officer.”That makes no sense, as you need to take a selfie in the hall to generate the code before you can submit it and the code is valid for 4 hours and counts down in the app…. but as an Esta holder it only has your name and address in your app profile, not your passport number. But hey… not arguing with the CBP 🙂
I’m totally gonna give this a shot in June so thank you for flagging. From my preliminary googling:
Must admit I’m surprised HfP hasn’t run an article on this already – and I know Rob is aware of it.
I’m headed to the Grand Canyon this weekend – I’ll give this a go, thanks!
I’m on a few FB groups for Disneyworld (no idea why I’m still on there to be honest, as no intention of going back any time soon). Anyway, people are absolutely raving about it on there in relation to Orlando, saying it’s amazing and they’re getting through in minutes.
That does sound good. We’re heading there in June. Last year it was 70 minutes for luggage to be delivered to the belt then a further 60 minutes queuing for immigration.
@Andrew. That’s odd. I’ve always cleared the border before collecting my checked bags. Usually find bags are in the baggage hall before I am.
Baggage before immigration on arrival in New Orleans
Bags before immigration seems to be what they do now when they remodel airports. Austin adopted that route years back and the new terminal at MCO is the same I’m told.
Great thing is if the airport doesn’t have loads of flights, it works great as HBO pax are not hanging around in an immigration queue when those with bags will be waiting at the belt anyway.
Thanks for this thread. Just arrived in Boston and used the app. One small sign was up which opened a barrier to the empty queue. I basically pushed to front of whole line as no one else was using it.
I had applied for global entry a few months back and now completed the interview so not sure how much I’ll use it but seems like MPC line can be smaller than global entry at times
MPC at Boston a few weeks ago. Straight to the front of the queue with our ESTAs. Saved around 2 hours queuing.
Saved us about half an hour queueing when departing Dublin for Denver last month. The MPC channel is where the old fast track channel was at the bottom of the escalator on the way down to America…
Presumably the differential will decrease as more people become aware of it.Is it being advertised anywhere?
OH used it when he landed in Boston earlier this week, and that’s only because of the hat tip I gave him from this forum. He said it saved him at least 1 hour of queuing, plus he said he didn’t get the usual interrogation (last time the officer tried speaking Spanish to him – and he is Portuguese – lols).
Used this twice recently, both times it blew me away…
In October in IAD, landed same time as an Emirates A380 (eek) the MPC queue took around 15 minutes & main queue looked like it would be hours…
Always a bit chaotic at Dulles with the mobile lounges shipping everyone across the airport, however I was through before the baggage had arrived on belt.
The agent didn’t ask for the QR code but did the usual bits flicking through my passport.In December, unexpectedly had to do an intl-intl connection in Dallas with only 2 hours total.
Hot footed it off my flight to the immigration hall, my heart sank as I saw the queue for ESTA visitors, until I happened to ask one of the helpers where the MPC queue is… it was right at the other end, tucked away next to global entry.
Got down there with around 10 people waiting, even global entry was busier! Didn’t even have to physically hand my passport to the agent, just stood in front of camera and say where I was going.
Fortunately it was also one of the rare occasions in America where you don’t have to collect baggage and re-check it in – AA put a red ITI tag on my bag in Seoul.
From stepping off my original flight, to getting to the flagship lounge was only around half an hour!For the sake of a quick selfie while walking off the plane, it’s definitely been worth its weight in gold for me!
And if for any reason there isn’t an MPC queue available, you can still use the regular ESTA queues.We used it in a packed SEA and there was no-one else in our line.
Just completed the info as the aircraft was taxiing to the stand.
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