If you're one of those travelers who love being greeted back into the US by Customs officials you may have to wait a lot longer, but your trip through customs could get a lot speedier.
Delta Air Lines announced today that Automated Passport Control kiosks are opening in their terminals in Detroit and LAX. The two terminals join Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, JFK and Seattle as international gateways that use the machines. The airline is initially sponsoring the units in Los Angeles, as they did when the program began at JFK.
We got a chance to sample the kiosks recently on an international arrival at JFK. The agents waved US citizens towards the machines (although they are usable for Visa-waivered non-citizen arrivals). Like a check-in kiosk the APC asks some questions then gives you a paper document to hand to the customs agent at the end of the process.
All together the process took about five minutes and the lines in the airport--even during a peak arrival time--seemed much shorter.
But we kinda miss the "welcome home"!
Image: APC Machines at LAX, courtesy Delta Air Lines
Follow Gretchen Kelly @travelhushhush and on her website TravelHushHush.com for more on travel and media.
