University of Illinois International Airport

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
PoA Supporter
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Messages
5,970
Location
CMI
Display Name
Display name:
Richard Digits
So one of our local billionaires built a CBP facility at CMI last year so he could fly in direct from Europe on his Global. It just occurred to me today that I could fly direct from Canada, right? Supposedly it's actually staffed during normal business hours, which seems a little hard to believe. That has to be the world's most bored CBP agent. It says "US Customs user fee airport". Is this is one of those "if you have to ask you can't afford it" type things?
 
It should be posted somewhere, but I know the one near me charges $650.00.
 
Dave Theisen said:
It should be posted somewhere, but I know the one near me charges $650.00.
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Yeah, that's definitely outside of my price range just to get a passport stamp and feel like a baller. :frown:
 
The bigger issue is that they don’t stamp entry to the US anymore. It’s all electronic.
 
KDPA is a point of entry also. I never knew that they would charge you for doing a gov job.
 
If it's a "user fee airport", it's probably going to be expensive. If it's an airport of entry, but not a primary one, hence not staffed full time, it'll be free and they'll send someone at your ETA from another place. In the past, I have always landed at primary airports of entry so they were staffed at all times. This time, I flew into KIAG. It's an airport of entry but it's not a primary one and therefore isn't staffed. They sent someone from Buffalo International to greet us at KIAG. We told them our ETA and the agent waited at the FBO until we arrived. No stamps or anything, just a friendly conversation, a quick look at our passports and my pilot papers and he hopped back into his CBP car and left for Buffalo International. Didn't cost us a dime, except for the annual user fee decal.
 
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charheep said:
KDPA is a point of entry also. I never knew that they would charge you for doing a gov job.
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I got to clear through DPA. Might as well have been KFPR, it was super smooth and fast. I'm sure it was expensive.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
If it's a "user fee airport", it's probably going to be expensive. If it's an airport of entry, but not a primary one, hence not staffed full time, it'll be free and they'll send someone at your ETA from another place. In the past, I have always landed at primary airports of entry so they were staffed at all times. This time, I flew into KIAG. It's an airport of entry but it's not a primary one and therefore isn't staffed. They sent someone from Buffalo International to greet us at KIAG. We told them our ETA and the agent waited at the FBO until we arrived. No stamps or anything, just a friendly conversation, a quick look at our passports and my pilot papers and he hopped back into his CBP car and left for Buffalo International. Didn't cost us a dime, except for the annual user fee decal.
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That was how it worked going through International Falls, MN too. They don't keep someone at the airport, an agent has to drive over from the border crossing. But it was dead simple, taxi up to the big painted circle on the ramp and shut down, wait for the CBP agent to come out and collect the passports, 2 minute conversation, and back on our way again.

Its nice to clear customs closer to the border if possible just in case you need to land somewhere else along the way due to weather, mechanical, need to pee, etc. Causes less of an uproar if you are already cleared.
 
charheep said:
I never knew that they would charge you for doing a gov job.
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The government charges you for every government job, many of which shouldn't even be government jobs.

Sometimes it's a direct charge with a defined purpose, like this one. Usually the charge is hidden in another tax bill, be it income tax, gas tax, telecom taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, corporate taxes, payroll taxes, carbon taxes, excise taxes, etc. etc. etc. Then the charge for the government job, even if it shouldn't be a government job, comes out of the tax pool...but only after massive bureaucracy has spent what it needs for self-perpetuation and bloat.
 
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