It’s not JFK or O’Hare: This is the US airport with longer customs wait times

One of the key ingredients for any traveller is patience and this is particularly true when it comes to air travel where the world ‘delay’ is part of the lexicon.

However, having just made a long transatlantic flight, the last thing the traveller to the US wants to be greeted by are long customs queues.

According to a new report published by Upgraded Points, Los Angeles International (LAX) is the worst culprit when it comes to keeping passengers waiting, based on data from summer 2024.

The airport clocked the longest average immigration-line wait time of 31.8 minutes and delayed 12.8-percent of travelers for over an hour. The main LA airport leads the way with Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) second in this ranking as it keeps travelers waiting an average of 31.7 minutes and creates the highest share of hour-plus delays (13.6-percent) in the country.

Meanwhile, despite significantly lower traffic, Nashville International Airport (BNA) had the third worst performance, with waits averaging 31.1 minutes.

Generally, non U.S. citizens are facing the longest tests of patience across all major airports, often upwards of 30 to 40 minutes during peak hours. By contrast, U.S. citizens typically wait less than 20 minutes.

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