Harvard Warns International Students: Avoid Flying Into Boston, Use These Airports Instead [Roundup]

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • Harvard warns international students to avoid Boston Logan, use these airports instead I have previously noted the least racist airports to go through U.S. immigration picking your port of entry matters!

    While there is no confirmed data on which airports offer smoother immigration checks, several students came away from the call with the impression that JFK, Chicago’s O’Hare, and Los Angeles International Airport might be preferable to Logan, Bloomberg noted.

  • Free $25 in Discovery Dollars (‘D$25’) for joining GHA Discovery via Cheval Blanc’s website by July 31. (HT: Loyalty Lobby) This has become my second favorite hotel loyalty program, but their U.S. footprint is quite limited.

    By signing up today, you’ll receive D$25 in Discovery Dollars, – a complimentary reward to spend at any Cheval residence or across more than 800 luxury hotels that are part of GHA worldwide. Enjoy VIP enhanced benefits, exclusive rewards, and personalised experiences every time you stay.
    And the rewards don’t end there! New bookings made by 31 August 2025, and completed by 30 June 2026 will receive an additional $D50.

  • Narrator: “No, they really don’t.”

  • Incompetence is not racism.

  • Meanwhile, at Nigeria’s Air Peace:

  • When ya gotta go, you gotta… oh, wait.

  • United Airlines Rolls Out Aperol Spritz, Mango Lassi, And New Hawaii Menus

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. “Thank you for coming to America where you helped me meet my daily catch quota. Y’all come back soon!”

  2. Between agonizingly slow baggage delivery and an especially hostile CBP vibe, Boston has always been an unpleasant airport for international arrivals. With the terminal expansion it’s a great place to depart from though.

  3. Re United food/drink upgrades. Please, find a way to deliver basic food done well before worrying about adding “beef kabob koobideh (IAD), Greek pastitsio (ORD), BBQ glazed short rib (IAH), chicken enchiladas (DEN), pork adobo (LAX) and kogi glazed pork (SFO)”. Some sound great, but again, don’t try the triple-axle until you can do figure eights right.

  4. Some years ago I flew Montreal to NYC (Laguardia) and went through US customs/immigration in Montreal since those services weren’t available at Laguardia. Would that processing still take place in Canada (Montreal/Toronto) when flying to Boston? If so, it may be easier to transit there. I’ve heard people say that Vancouver is far easier to fly through when going to Los Angeles.

  5. Those Canadian airports that have US CBP and TSA will usually arrive at a domestic US gate. Most will also have US Global Entry which speeds up everything. One might also note that when traveling to Canada, the “ARRIVECAN” app can speed up your Canadian arrival process as they do not accept Global Entry via air transportation.

  6. Aww, c’mon Harvard… folks will miss out on that incredible Sapphire lounge if they skip BOS… sad!

  7. I do think those Harvard students would be better advised to use the nearest overseas CBP pre-clearance facility, rather than flying into Logan or any other US airport directly.

    As well as the aforementioned Montreal, you can also get pre-clearance at Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Aruba; Bermuda; Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; Nassau in the Bahamas; and Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg.

    Both you are closer to home if anything goes wrong, and also the ability of CBP officers to arrest you or confine you is limited by the local country laws.

  8. “Boston has always been an unpleasant airport for international arrivals. With the terminal expansion it’s a great place to depart from though.” Boston is terrible for connecting to an international departure on DL. You arrive at one terminal and must take a shuttle (the slowest, most frequently stopping one I’ve seen) or walk and go through security again.

  9. “Some years ago I flew Montreal to NYC (Laguardia) and went through US customs/immigration in Montreal since those services weren’t available at Laguardia.” No, you went through CBP in Montreal because you were flying to the US. All major Canadian airports (9 of them) have CBP pre-clearance for travel to the US. You use that whether you’re flying to a US airport with or without CBP. There are other airports across the world (6 including both Irish airports with US service) with pre-clearance. There were rumors of adding AMS; sure wish that happens.

  10. “Those Canadian airports that have US CBP and TSA will usually arrive at a domestic US gate.” Isn’t this always? Serious question.

  11. Warning to Harvard Students:
    Run! Run like the Devil hisself is on your heels! Do not pass go, do not collect 200! There are plenty of better universities to go to.

  12. Boston CBP takes for ever and is not efficient. I go right through and my partner is asked a million questions . We flew the same itinerary but we are not married so they do not link us up.

    Fly to Dublin stay overnight then fly AA to Bos to avoid CBP. There are no republicans in Dublin

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