Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

How long to clear customs?

Country forums / South-East Asia Islands & Peninsula / Philippines

I've heard clearing customs in R.P. can take a while. I want to schedule in country flight but need to know on avrg. how long does it take to clear customs? Thanks!!

not that I experienced, Ive been out of the country for almost 20 times, but never experience like the 2 hour waiting in line at Bangkok Immigration. My average at Manila is 5 to 15 minutes. Manila is not busy as Heatrow or bangkok though.

1

My record travelling economy was 15 mins from when the doors open including collecting luggage from the carousel but usually takes about 30-45 mins i.e. quicker than London

2

For me the main delay was always waiting for luggage. Customs was only a few minutes, and immigration was always complete before my bags appeared. My guess on total time to clear the whole process is the same as #2, about 30-45 min (whereas I allow 1 hour at London LHR).

3

Agree with the above - easy/breezy. HOWEVER, you should realize that the domestic airport is a few miles away from the international one and traffic on the ground is a little unpredictable. Do not count on anything less that a couple of hours for your plane to arrive at the intl airport and get on to your domestic flight ESPECIALLY if you're checking your bags.

4

agree with #3. The airport is a real climb down from even Bangkok. Baggage claim was a mess but immigration was over in seconds. I have no idea why people like #1 report long queues at Bangkok. In at least 20 arrivals there I've never had any problems with immigration - Heathrow is the worst I've ever seen, worse every time than even the US was just a few weeks after 9/11.

5

#5- check with the airport camera if u like, I dont have problem with immigration, I have problem with the long line, well u must be lucky , u must be arriving at 3 am always..

6

#4 thanks for the reminder I almost forgot about the domestic airport being different from Intl.
#5 used the new airport in Bangkok last year-had to go a long ways to find a bathroom then there was like 3 urinal's and 2 stalls-the guy/gal who designed the place must not ever have to pee!!

Thanks to all for your input!!!

7

It could be anything from 20 mins to 1-2 hours to clear the airport depending how busy/organized they are.

8

That's the problem with them Thai guy/gals.

9