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I fly in from Sweden with United to Newark Liberty Airport. The connecting flight with United departs to Costa Rica a few hours later from Newark as well. The two flight-segments are part of the same trip and ticket.

I was hoping to stay in the same terminal but am suspecting that it wont be as straightforward as I had hoped - reading through the older posts it seems that a transfer is needed from A to C but it's not fully clear.

  • Do I need to pass through immigration?
  • Do I need to fetch our bags? Even if my bags have tags all the way to SJO?
  • Do I need to change terminals?
  • Which terminal would I arrive in? Depart from?
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  • Does your ticket/booking not have terminal numbers on it? usually it's mentioned somewhere. – Mark Mayo♦ Nov 10 '14 at 11:13
  • Yes. Just found it. B to C. And I assume that it implies entering the US, change terminals and then exit again. Is this the case? Thank you. – Johan Nov 11 '14 at 12:30
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    There is no "airside" transit in the US; you will have to reclaim your baggage, pass through US Customs, and check the baggage back in with the airline. – Michael Hampton Nov 12 '14 at 19:58
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Changing Terminals at EWR

I just found this nifty tool which allows you to compute the journey between terminals within one of several US airports.

I ran a search, landing at Newark EWR and going from terminal A to terminal C (same thing seems to apply between B and C). Here is a lik the result. It turns out there is a shuttle connecting the terminals, and yes you would have to go through security checks, which I can only assume include immigration:

EWR A-C

Luggage Pick-up for US Transits

Regarding your luggage, y first thought would be that you should not have to re-check it in since it is already stamped as going to SJO. However, I am afraid this might not always be the case. Rather, it depends on the airport policy. As @Gagravarr says, it is not uncommon for flights connecting through the US for the luggage to be picked-up by the passengers before crossing customs, so you might have to re-check it in.

As a general piece of advice when travelling on connecting flights involving terminal changes, make sure you have enough time between the flights, to allow the luggage to be transferred from one plane to the other.

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    When connecting through the USA, it is normal for bags to be tagged through, but that they get spat out for collection in the first USA airport. You then clear US customs with them, and hand them over to the airline post-customs for onward travel – Gagravarr Nov 12 '14 at 13:19
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    I don't know EWR, but this question on the lack of international transit in the USA should cover most in general – Gagravarr Nov 12 '14 at 13:47

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