Canuck_girl24

Can someone let me know where I have to go/what I have to do etc.? I fly into SFO from Sydney, Australia-Terminal 3, on United. I connect to Calgary Canada, Term. 3, United again. I am under the impression I have to collect luggage and clear immigration then re-check in for the flight to Canada...all within a 2-hour layover.
Help!

dmlove

Are you sure you are arriving and department from Terminal 3? Terminal 3 is United's domestic terminal. SFO has a separate international terminal. See this link. It seems to me since you are continuing internationally that you would not have to clear customs at SFO, but would do so in Calgary.

http://www.san-francisco-sfo.com/terminals.html

Michael

I am surprised that you are arriving at terminal 3 which does not have xutoms services as far as I know; they are now all ion the International terminal. But if you are arriving in Terminal 3, you should not have to go through security again, all the gates are within the same security area.

rkkwan

All passengers arriving in US must go through immigration, collect bags, and then customs. Even if just for transiting. Sterile transit doesn't exist.

Your UA flight will park at Concourse G in the International Terminal. After you exit customs, you'll drop off checked bags to UA. Then walk over to Terminal 3 and reclear security. Two hours should be okay.

Here's the official protocol:

http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/orpha...dep/index.html

Canuck_girl24

I think my intinerary might just say terminal 3 because it's United into SFO-either way it's an international flight to and from.

Thanks for the links-if I can drop my luggage right outside the arrivals hall it shouldn't be too bad. The last thing I want to do is haul a suitcase around after a month of vacation!

Guess I've lucked out always having my baggage checked to my final destination.

lincasanova

your luggage TAGS will state final destination, but all passengers must pass customs at first USA stop.

You will have the opportunity to drop off the bags BEFORE you are completely out of the arrivals area.. look for signs "connecting flight luggage", or there will be assistants to help you go to the correct place if you find it not clear.

jamesr3939

I don't know about SFO, but we just flew back from Stockholm into Seattle and we did not leave the "sterile" area.

We did have to claim our bags and clear through US Customs/Immigration.

We then exited a few feet dropped our bags on the belt and then went to our connecting domestic flight to Sacramento without clearing security again.

I am guessing SEA's layout allowed for this and I am not sure that SFO's new international does.

rkkwan

jamesr3939 - Either you forget something or there's something really wrong with SEA.

The reason why one has to go through security is that you have access to your checked bags. Once you get to the baggage claim, you're by definition outside the secured area.

You can have liquids, knives and everything else in your checked bags; which are not allowed in carryons.

Canuck_girl24

Thanks for all the help!

Michael

rkkwan,

You are assuming that all baggage claims are outside the security area. That is not true. When coming in from an international flight, baggage pickup is within a security area since one has to go through customs with that baggage. But generally the U.S. does not trust foreign security checks so one must go through security again even if one does not leave the secure area. That's what happened to me transferring from one Delta flight to another at JFK.

rkkwan

Michael -

When I said "non-secured area", I do not mean in the general way that it's an area where non-passengers to get to.

I am talking about in the security sense.

Maybe my terminology was confusing. So, let me try again:

Any passenger who have access to their checked bags must be re-screened before they can reboard any flight.

Michael

I am talking about in the security sense.

Maybe my terminology was confusing. So, let me try again:

Any passenger who have access to their checked bags must be re-screened before they can reboard any flight.

Which of course lacks all common sense since the passenger has no access to potentially dangerous materials having gone through security already at the original point of departure. A few discover that the alcohol they purchased in the secured duty-free area at the point of departure is then confiscated.

frank_and_beans

Michael, the point is a person can place a handgun, knife, etc in their checked bag at their depature location.

After having access to their checked luggage they could remove the item and carry it with them onto their connecting flight.

For this reason all persons with access to their checked luggage have to go back through security.

dmlove

rkkwan and frank, I was confused, too, and now I'm not. Your answers, taken together, make complete sense. Thanks.

rkkwan

frank and beans - Thanks for putting it so simply and clearly for me.

jamesr3939

Sorry, but we did not have to re-screen at SEA even after we had gotten our bags.

We cleared immigration then went down a flight of stairs got our bags off the carousel cleared customs walked about 40 feet and put them back on a belt for "connecting flights".

We then walked another 50 feet to the internal shuttle system that took us to the domestic termminal; all inside the sterile zone.

frank_and_beans

Then that airport has a serious security flaw.

FainaAgain

It's impossible not to go through security at SFO. Maybe there was no line so it didn't feel like going through security for domestic flight?

dmlove

James isn't talking about SFO, he's referring to Seattle.

jamesr3939

Yes, SEA! Sorry to confuse everybody.

We never had contact with the "public" at anytime and probably could not have gotten into our bags without being seen. In fact, if I recall there were people who took our bags within a few feet after we left Customs.

I have not been in the international terminal at SFO, but from the outside I doubt it is set up the same way as SEA.

The international terminal at SFO is very new and some distance away from the domestic terminal, but then again I have never flown back into to SFO on an international flight.

However, I would think two hours is probably workable.

I just looked at the terminal map and I would double check those gates. International is either gates A or G.

Terminal 3 (domestic) is either gates E or F.

Check www.flysfo.com and see if that helps.