# HRA: Add-In Another Hour at Nassau Airport



## komosatp (Mar 18, 2011)

Just received this from US Air:



> Travel Advisory NAS Airport
> 
> US Airways has moved to the new pre-clearance terminal at Nassau International Airport. Due to this being a new facility, there have been extensive delays in processing passengers. Please arrive at the Nassau airport at least 4 hours prior to departure to allow for extra time to be processed through US Customs and Border Protection.
> 
> Thank you for choosing US Airways.



Looks like they started using new terminal facilities on March 16th.
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/trav...inden-Pindling-International-Airport-NAS.html

I've been on the phone trying to point our a bit of a problem with this guidance: ticket counter does not open until 9:30.  First flight out is at 11:40.  So they want you to stand in line at an unopened ticket counter for an hour or two.


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## Negma (Mar 19, 2011)

We checked in today. There is a note saying the same thing to all travelers bacause the airport is so new.

We walked around it and through the old airport when we arrived to go through customs.

We are in building 3 and the rooms have been redone, nice TV's etc.

All internet is 14.95/day, no free wifi


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## Ken555 (Mar 19, 2011)

Negma said:


> All internet is 14.95/day, no free wifi



Pay for six days at once for lowest overall rate, assuming you need it each day.


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## Negma (Mar 19, 2011)

Thanks, thats what i did. But good advice. I do check my work e-mail everyday and clear it out, makes my return easier.


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## Negma (Mar 27, 2011)

Update,
    We arrived at the terminal yesterday at 10 for a 1pm flight flying Delta. There were 6 of us and checked 7 bags. Got through customs and sat down for lunch at 11:30.

    The new terminal is really nice. A HUGE difference from what was there before.

   We had a great time. There is a lot of controversy regarding the new resort at Cable Beach that I will post at a later time on that thread.


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## jarta (Mar 27, 2011)

Negma,   ...   So, to summarize:  The airport alerts say arrive "at least 4 hours prior to departure" of the flight home.

Your experience is you arrived 3 hours early and it took around 1.5 hours to clear Bahamas and US security and that the differences between the old terminal and the new are "HUGE" and the new terminal is "really nice."

Nobody would ever say the old terminal was "really nice."  Words like "living hell" come to mind.  Not enough space for seats for everyone to endure the 1.5 hour wait to emplane.  Mostly inedible food at the main airport restaurant and only 1 other fast food restaurant, a Dunkin' Donuts.

What's new at the new terminal?  TV screens?  Internet connectivity?  Better food?  More choices for food?  More seats?

Sounds like the switch-over in terminals is going better than had been expected.  Still, the overall efficiency of the Nassau airport entry and exit process will depend mainly on the people administering that process.   ...   eom


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## Negma (Mar 27, 2011)

Agree with your assesment of the old terminal.

When we arrived it was a long walk as they had not opened the incoming part of the new terminal.

There was not wi-fi working (only been open for 8 days). They had some challenges with the Baggage conveyer, but NO MORE hauling your bag through the terminal.

Restaurants included but not limited to:
Wendys, Quizno's, Pizza, Dunkin Donuts (full sandwich menu), and a few others. In other words, many choices. GreyCliff also had a bar/store there 

Pleanty of seats,no more waiting outside in line to check-in, all nicely air-conditioned.

A nice experience.


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## komosatp (Mar 28, 2011)

I had a similar experience to Negma on Saturday.  We arrived around 9 for our noon flight.

There was the usual line to check bags, which took 15-20 minutes or so.  No wait at security.  

The bottleneck was at U.S. Customs.  We waited in that line for a about an hour.  When we arrived there were only 3 stations open, one only for non-US citizens.  The first twenty minutes we barely moved.  Then as we crossed 10 AM, more agents arrived, and the line began to move steadily.

There were signs up at Harborside advising people to get to the airport three hours before departure.  And stupid US Air stuck but its four hour advice: I got an email and a automated phone call saying to arrive at least four hours before departure.

New departure terminal is very nice....like a nice new medium-sized U.S. city terminal.  New shops and dining space, large bathrooms with family restrooms, a small play area for kids.


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## tomandrobin (Mar 28, 2011)

We won't be going back to Harborside this year, but are planning a May 2012 trip. so no worries for us. 

Sounds like the new terminal is a huge improvement over the existing. When we were there last year, the construction of the new building looked very nice.


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## KevinWells18 (Mar 28, 2011)

*Nassau - New Termianl*

Looking forward to using the new terminal will be traveling to Nassau in early June. Just returned from visits in Aruba and Cancun, hopefully it is as nice as those two. Wife has a friend who was involved in the contruction of the terminal in Nassau. He indicates that they have been working day and night to resolve any problems. States that their punch list is about 100 pages long...good luck!


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## pointsjunkie (Mar 28, 2011)

if we are flying Contintental do we have to go 3 or 4 hours early?


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## komosatp (Mar 28, 2011)

pointsjunkie said:


> if we are flying Contintental do we have to go 3 or 4 hours early?


I'd say 3.

The bottleneck is not with the airlines, but with U.S. customs.


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## YYJMSP (Mar 28, 2011)

komosatp said:


> I'd say 3.
> 
> The bottleneck is not with the airlines, but with U.S. customs.



This is only for flights heading to the USA, correct (i.e. those pre-clearing US Customs)?

This doesn't affect passengers on flights direct to Canada (we went via Toronto last time), and other destinations?


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## komosatp (Mar 29, 2011)

UPDATE: My sister-in-law left NAS on Sunday for a 5:50 PM flight.  She waited in the U.S. customs line for two hours.



YYJMSP said:


> This is only for flights heading to the USA, correct (i.e. those pre-clearing US Customs)?
> 
> This doesn't affect passengers on flights direct to Canada (we went via Toronto last time), and other destinations?


I'm not familiar with the other terminals at NAS, so I can't really answer that.  I don't think there's another new terminal.


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## komosatp (Mar 29, 2011)

For those of you wondering WHY the U.S. line is taking longer, just because there's a new space, there is one new part of the customs process that might be new. 

The CBP agents now show you a picture of the bags that you checked-in at the ticket counter and ask if the bags pictured are yours.  These pictures are on a separate computer from the one that the agents use to scan passports.  So this is a new system they are getting adjusted to... I don't think this was ever part of the process before, so this might be the thing that is causing the pre-clearance process to take longer.


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## YYJMSP (Mar 29, 2011)

komosatp said:


> For those of you wondering WHY the U.S. line is taking longer, just because there's a new space, there is one new part of the customs process that might be new.
> 
> The CBP agents now show you a picture of the bags that you checked-in at the ticket counter and ask if the bags pictured are yours.  These pictures are on a separate computer from the one that the agents use to scan passports.  So this is a new system they are getting adjusted to... I don't think this was ever part of the process before, so this might be the thing that is causing the pre-clearance process to take longer.



We have that in Vancouver when we pre-clear US Customs, and it really speeds up the process by not having to wait for your bags and having to walk them through the customs line just to drop them off again on the other side...


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## lyndor (Mar 29, 2011)

We had the privilege of waiting in the customs line twice...once on Sunday and also yesterday.  We took a voluntary bump on Sunday, so had to return yesterday...not complaining, though!  Delta made it worth our while.  On Sunday the wait was a little over an hour and yesterday it was about 40 minutes.  I think it was exceptionally long on the weekend because of all the families and college kids in Nassau for Spring Break.  But I think the major issue is the lack of customs agents.  There were very few working for the number of passengers in line.


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## Ken555 (Mar 29, 2011)

lyndor said:


> But I think the major issue is the lack of customs agents.  There were very few working for the number of passengers in line.



I've never seen more than four (4) agents working at once at this airport. It is always the holdup. It sounds as though the new terminal is great, but it would be nice if there were more staff to make the wait less time consuming.


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## m61376 (Apr 3, 2011)

How does the baggage handling with customs work? Is it a check in, go through Bahamian customs and airport security,put your bags on a conveyor and then pick them up, go through US customs, place your luggage for airline check-in, go through US airport security as in Aruba, for example, or (which seems to be alluded to in the above posts) do you check your bags in at initial check-in and the airline handles them from there on in?


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## jarta (Apr 3, 2011)

m61376,   ...   The hold-ups at Nassau Airpost used to be:

*Upon entry*:  Immigration.  Long lines and few Bahamas agents.  The ones working seemed to delight in keeping the lines long.  They had an uncanny knack of periodically walking away from their post and leaving their line completely stalled while the other lines (the ones you were not in, lol!) moved along until their agents took an unexpected break.   That's what Ken and lyndor may have been talking about.

Bahamas entry customs was next and was a joke.  If you let a porter get your bags to the waiting cabs and limousines, they would nod at the customs agents and whisk you right through.  Even if you didn't use a porter, almost all the time you shot/walked right past the customs agents with nobody asking to look or looking at anything.

*Upon exit*:  It used to be that after you checked in you were responsible (after a long walk and usually a long line) to clear Bahamas customs by merely showing your boarding pass and then drop off your checked luggage on a conveyor belt.  Or, the ever-present porters could carry the bags from your cab, stand around while you waited at the air lline check-in counter (long lines) and, after the lugggage claim checks were attached, cart the luggage over to Bahamas customs.

Then, until the last few months, you had to clear US  immigration at the airport and clear US customs at the entry airport.  The last few months (as practice for the new terminal in Nassau?) you cleared US customs and immigration in Nassau.  But, there was no inspection of bags.  The checked ones were dropped off at Bahamas customs (God knows what happened to them next) and the carry-on luggage was screened in a manner similar to the US.  Usually there were only 2 US immigration agents working and the lines could get quite long.  Maybe that's what Ken and lyndor were talking about.

Then, until a few months ago, surprise, surprise!  You walked 100 or so feet and around a corner and Bahamas security awaited you.  Another US-style screening of you and the carry-on luggage!  But it was slightly quicker (didn't have to take your shoes off)!

Usually only two agents doing the Bahamas security check but the big delay came from US security.  Thankfully, the last few months there has been no Bahamas security check (except random ones by unsmiling agents when you would board the plane after the 1-1.5 hour long wait in the old terminal after clearing these security measures).

It looks like now the checked baggage is screened by x-ray cameras and you may be asked to identify yours and lines are shorter and the terminal is more user-friendly.  How could it not be?

I was at HRA in mid-March.  That was a few weeks before the new terminal opened.  People have generally praised the new terminal as an improvement,

But, there has been nothing said that would indicate Bahamas entry customs at Nassau Airport is any less of a joke.  If you are worried about it, use a porter.  If not, you are probably not going to be stopped and checked anyway.  (The contraband, money and weed is safe!  lol!)   ...   eom


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## Ken555 (Apr 3, 2011)

jarta said:


> Then, until the last few months, you had to clear US  immigration at the airport and clear US customs at the entry airport.  The last few months (as practice for the new terminal in Nassau?) you cleared US customs and immigration in Nassau.  But, there was no inspection of bags.  The checked ones were dropped off at Bahamas customs (God knows what happened to them next) and the carry-on luggage was screened in a manner similar to the US.  Usually there were only 2 US immigration agents working and the lines could get quite long.  Maybe that's what Ken and lyndor were talking about.



I've always gone thru US customs at Nassau upon exit and not at the 'entry' airport. Am I confused? The only official entry of any kind back to the US has been done at the Nassau airport. When I land in the US it's as if I was on a domestic fight with no additional checks. 

And yes, this is the line I was referring to. The US immigration line is always the major delay. But you are correct in also pointing out that the Bahamian line, which was to the right and left of the checkin area of the old terminal also typically took a while (usually because people didn't fill out the forms correct and delayed the line).


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## jarta (Apr 3, 2011)

Ken,   ...   I've done it both ways on flights to Chicago.

However, last March and in October 2010, I cleared both US customs and US immigration in Nassau.  I think that's the way it will be from now on for all US flights.  From now on issues like that will probably be non-issues and the torture at the old Nassau terminal will only be an ever-diminishing memory.

My next trip to Nassau and my 3-br at HRA is next January (the week of the Pokerstars $20M tournament at Atlantis  http://www.pokerstarscaribbeanadventure.com/) but I might change that reservation.   ...   eom


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## Sea Six (Apr 4, 2011)

I'll be there for 2 weeks next month, so I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Negma (Apr 4, 2011)

The baggage screen was very interesting. When we went to US customs going back to the US, they pulled up the bags (a picture) we checked on a computer monitor and made sure they were ours and he asked if we had packed them.

They then confirmed electronically the ownership.


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## Weimaraner (Nov 22, 2012)

I know this is older Thread but it's all I could find. Is 3 hours wait time still recommended for the new airport to depart for U.S? Unfortunately have to head home tomorrow after fabulous stay at Harborside. Weather has been beautiful in mid to upper 70s. Just fyi...they ended the free aqua tots for the 3-5 year olds. It's now called sea squirts and costs $29 to feed the baby marine animals, but the kids get a shirt. My 5 year old DD loved it!


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## jw0 (Nov 23, 2012)

We were just there.  Id ask the concierge but i dont think its 3 hrs anymore.  We had sandra come pick us up and i think it was only 2 hours or so before the flight.
The new terminal is terrific.  You wont mind waiting there.


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## Weimaraner (Nov 25, 2012)

Just an update - we had a 5:30 p.m. departure to Atlanta. Left HRA at 2:30 p.m. on a Friday. It was recommended we try to beat the 3 p.m. traffic. It did take about an hour to get to the airport since we had road construction and traffic accident to deal with.Our driver mentioned that traffic was unusually difficult that day. Arrived at airport at 3:30 p.m. and was through customs by 4 p.m. with time to enjoy the shops and get some food at Wendy's before takeoff. Definitely a great airport and sounds like a vast improvement over previous one. Looking forward to visiting it again.


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## mscarboroughusa (Nov 28, 2012)

9 nights at Harborside over the Thanksgiving holiday 11/17-11/26  -  no surprises but loved the hoops tourney that they put on...Duke was there this year, as well as Louisville, Mizzou, Stanford.....  really liked dining at Dune @ The One and Only Club  - great place but bring the wallet  -  pools were pretty crowded, but we always found spots at the far pool by the Cove. 

Airport/customs was quick and easy for us... we got there about 2.5 hours ahead of time, and it probably only took about an hour to get through everything (this was on a Monday)

Good times


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