Changes in American Airlines customs/immigration At Dublin

Just read this on the American Airlines website:

"Note:
Passengers travelling from Dublin to Chicago can no longer pre-clear customs and immigration in Dublin. To avoid long delays, passengers must now clear customs and immigration in Chicago upon arrival. It is recommended that passengers check-in 3 hours prior to departure. "

I didn't know they'd changed the way they operate in Dublin. I might have switched airlines if I'd known.
Are they the only airline to stop custom clearance to the US in Dublin?
With customs, immigration, changing terminal and re-checking luggage now to be done in Chicago, is three hours stopover in Chicago enough to do all this there and still catch a connecting flight?
Is it now necessary to check-in in Dublin three hours prior to departure time if customs and immigration isn't done in Dublin?

I would imagine its down to congestion at Dublin Airport.
The US Customs and Border Control operate at Pier B , which has very limited capacity. If American Airlines are not using Pier B then they cannot use the pre-clearence facility.
Last year I travelled to Philadelphia with US Airways and to Orlando on a charter , both from Pier C with no pre-clearance , had to join the queues for immigration on arrival.
I would still imagine three hours is more than adequate to transfer in Chigago even allowing for immigration.

i notice on teh Aer Lingus website that you can provide "advance" information to the customs under the "manage bookings" tab. Has anyone ever done this and is it any benifit to do it?

viztopia said:

i notice on teh Aer Lingus website that you can provide "advance" information to the customs under the "manage bookings" tab. Has anyone ever done this and is it any benifit to do it?

Click to expand...

I usually do it when booking. You dont have to but if you dont it just means that you provide the information at check-in instead. Make sure that you have the full address , including zip code of your first nights stay in the US handy, You will be asked for this.

superdrog, do you remember roughly how long those immigration queues were at Philadelphia and Orlando?
It's three years since I last travelled to/from the US. Used American Airlines through Chicago then too but was pre-cleared at Dublin which was handy. Then at Chicago had to queue to claim luggage and queue again to have it inspected and queue again to re-check it. With a change in terminal as well, and not having the best experience with O'Hare, I am a little anxious!
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

American have not been pre clearing immigration st Dublin for over a year now. It's not the only airline either - US Airways has already been mentioned but some Continental and Aer Lingus flights don't use Pier B either. There was a thread on here a couple of months back listing the flights that don't pre clear immigration in Dublin, a search should find it for anyone worried about this.