Owen Roberts Airport departure lounge opens

[Snoweman]

I will say this - IF the airport is not finished next time I go, I will do everything in my power to fly directly into Brac and do customs there - when we flew from Brac back to GCM the customs lines were out the door - and there was not good signage about what to do/where to go - lucky my husband and I are fairly familiar travellers and knew that we did not have to go through customs again as we had not left the country of Cayman Islands - we were 'in transit' -

leaving was a breeze - customs in ATL was awful

there are very few comforts inside the GCM airport at present - even less than compared to how it was before construction started - there were at least a few shops in the terminal

Do you have the mobile passport app for your phone? It makes going through customs almost as fast as having Global Entry.

 

[kelemvor]

Do you have the mobile passport app for your phone? It makes going through customs almost as fast as having Global Entry.

Hey hush! I'm pretty sure the only reason it's faster is that it's not widely known about so there's no line

Several people in our group who had global entry chose to use mobile passport instead. The line for mobile passport was shorter.

It was so nice that I felt super guilty when coming back from Mexico last month. Most of my traveling companions had to mess with the customs terminals then go wait in a long line.

 

[Snoweman]

For the most recent year I could easily find both - 2015 - 4 million visitors Coz (554k by air), 2 million visitors Cayman (385k by air).

Coz has a bunch of big hotels too. Both got lotsa cruise ships...

Just looking at www.flightaware.com, there appear to be a lot more flights going into GCM than into CZM. I think Cayman Airways has seven or eight arrivals alone. American has a number of them, too. But, that's just looking at a one day snapshot.

 

[sara v]

I do - the mobile stations were 'not in use' when we came through Atlanta - most of the folks on our flight missed any connections they had - we did not - I always plan at least four hours when needing to go through customs - we just barely made ours....

my next travel thing is to get Global Entry - but it wouldn't have helped this time as I was with extended family

 

[Snoweman]

Hey hush! I'm pretty sure the only reason it's faster is that it's not widely known about so there's no line

Several people in our group who had global entry chose to use mobile passport instead. The line for mobile passport was shorter.

It was so nice that I felt super guilty when coming back from Mexico last month. Most of my traveling companions had to mess with the customs terminals then go wait in a long line.

Hey, I want you Mobile Passport folks to fill up the line so I feel special again. On my last visit to COZ, I tried mobile passport. It took me about a minute longer than if I had stuck with GOES.

 

[Snoweman]

I do - the mobile stations were 'not in use' when we came through Atlanta - most of the folks on our flight missed any connections they had - we did not - I always plan at least four hours when needing to go through customs - we just barely made ours....

my next travel thing is to get Global Entry - but it wouldn't have helped this time as I was with extended family

Darn family! Traveling from Maui with another couple: The wife of the other couple and I both got TSA pre-check. We left our spouse behind in a heartbeat and waited for them in the lounge. Needless to say, they were not too impressed with us, but we were happy!

 

[sara v]

I have precheck and do that with my adult kids all the time - generally have a glass or wine or bloody mary while waiting on them - just cannot bring myself to do it to my 84 year old mom - who still doesn't understand why she doesn't automatically get pre-check even though she never applied for it nor paid the fee - have explained repeatedly that all her age gets her is getting to keep her shoes on

 

[Alucard]

You are lucky to fly through airports where mobile passport is available - when I go to GCM I have to fly through CLT and they don't have it (yet).

Global Entry (which I have) is a massive, massive help there, though.

 

[mbs]

Coming back to Newark this past May the staff on the flight told everybody on the plane to download and use Mobile Passport. And then when we go into the airport it was DOWN!!! 2+ hours to get through the normal line. I WILL have Global Entry before my next flight

 

[Damselfish]

Darn family! Traveling from Maui with another couple: The wife of the other couple and I both got TSA pre-check. We left our spouse behind in a heartbeat and waited for them in the lounge. Needless to say, they were not too impressed with us, but we were happy!

When I did my global access interview I said it was because my husband had it. "Does he leave you behind?" "No, he waits with me in line but whines the whole time." She had a seriously hard time keeping a straight face.