Passport Control Nightmares

[molymoo]

We have recently returned from our British Isles Explorer cruise and wonder if other travelers have noticed issues with European passport control points. There might be a better forum for this discussion but some of my favorite and smartest fellow travelers frequent this board so here I am!

 

We travelled from Chicago to Edinburgh, later from Edinburgh we connected to London (Heathrow) through Brussels (Yes, I know!). Coming home we flew from Oslo to Chicago, connecting through Brussels again.

 

On both ends we got hung up in passport control for inordinately long periods of time. It took us two hours to clear passport control in Edinburgh. Coming into Heathrow from Brussels it was an hour. In Brussels coming home it was more than an hour again. We had what I thought was a reasonable connection time but we came very close to missing our flight. Many in the line with us did miss their connections and it was becoming a very unpleasant place to be very fast.

 

Is this something new? We have connected through European airports many, many times and passport control has generally been pretty painless and pretty fast ... the longest delays always seemed to at home base in Chicago!

 

As we plan future trips I am looking carefully at connection times and wondering if I need to make some changes to insure we aren't faced with the possibility of missing flights. I don't like to hang around airports any longer than I have to but missing a flight could put a dark cloud on a trip pretty quickly.

[eylarson]

Several articles in London Times with outlining issues about British passport control. They are adding agents, but it seems to be an issue at all ports of entry. No dates given for it to get any better.

[philw1776]

Not just the Brits. Last fall returning to US from Bordeaux we connected in CDG. Waited over 2 HOURS in line for passport control. Fortunately we had used the toilets first and had a 3 hour layover.

My other complaint is that connecting thru Frankfort it was totally unclear where to go for passport control. I read German but could find no signage. The long line at the Lufthansa info desk would have taken so long that we'd have missed our flight.

Connecting through Zurich next flight. I hope "Das ist clar" where the passport control stations are located.

[hehny]

This is not new and has been reported upon by the British press extensively, as noted above. We travel through Europe frequently it really is luck of the draw. You are lucky if this was your first experience with long wait times. The aim is 45 minutes in Heathrow, but at peak times that isn’t happening. With Brexit, it will likely get worse.

 

Fast track is offered to those who fly first/business and will allow you to skip the long queues.

[Shoalwater]

So, as the US greatly improves the immigration process with technology, and not just for Global Entry participants but everyone, the Shengen countries by and large, especially the UK have degenerated the process into a fiasco. I think its all about job security and the unions staging for more member workers at the kiosks. Waits of multiple hours in the UK in a hot, jammed lines are not uncommon. Because of my airline loyalty level I am usually able to jump to the priority line, avoiding the misery. I also make every effort to enter or leave the Shengen Agreement group of countries for America through Schipol, Amsterdam. The Dutch are wonderful, hard working and efficient. I use AMS when traveling to Tanzania, and dread when I have to go to Morocco and suffer the through CDG.

[lackcreativity]

Not just the Brits. Last fall returning to US from Bordeaux we connected in CDG. Waited over 2 HOURS in line for passport control. Fortunately we had used the toilets first and had a 3 hour layover.

My other complaint is that connecting thru Frankfort it was totally unclear where to go for passport control. I read German but could find no signage. The long line at the Lufthansa info desk would have taken so long that we'd have missed our flight.

Connecting through Zurich next flight. I hope "Das ist clar" where the passport control stations are located.

 

I still curse the Frankfurt staff over a missed connection for dozens of us on a late arriving plane for receiving no assistance making it through passport control. We arrived at the gate of our international flight home while it was still at the gate even without proper assistance, but they wouldn't allow us on it! I don't think I'll ever fly through there again.

 

Our next connection is through Amsterdam, with a 2 hour 30 minute connection on the way to Bergen. Fingers crossed.

[Focused1]

Not just the Brits. Last fall returning to US from Bordeaux we connected in CDG. Waited over 2 HOURS in line for passport control. Fortunately we had used the toilets first and had a 3 hour layover.

My other complaint is that connecting thru Frankfort it was totally unclear where to go for passport control. I read German but could find no signage. The long line at the Lufthansa info desk would have taken so long that we'd have missed our flight.

Connecting through Zurich next flight. I hope "Das ist clar" where the passport control stations are located.

We connected through Zurich in May coming in from JFK and on our way to Vienna. Very easy and quick transiting to gate with no lines. We had a short layover and were very worried about making the connection but it was quick and easy.

[philw1776]

We connected through Zurich in May coming in from JFK and on our way to Vienna. Very easy and quick transiting to gate with no lines. We had a short layover and were very worried about making the connection but it was quick and easy.

 

 

 

Thanks, you lowered my blood pressure for our cruise in October

 

 

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[Capt_BJ]

we had no problems last month but ....

 

1. We arrived at Gatwick

2. We arrived at 6am ... the airport terminal was virtually empty!

 

Our bags were the only ones arriving on a carousel ... no queue anywhere .... easy

 

No delays when we left ship in Bergen or at the airport in Oslo either ...... both of these were at normal hours.

[just_dont]

We'll be doing a Bergen to London cruise, flying RT between US and LHR with a one-way (not a connection) from LHR to Oslo. Can anyone say how Passport Control works in Oslo for US passengers arriving from London?

 

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[Got2Cruise]

We connected in Brussels for Nice and it was easy peasy.

[Pushka]

Venice was over 90 minutes in May, and Heathrow is known to be bad. Just the luck of the draw really. The US can take forever too esp LA and often causes missed connections.

[CharTrav]

Not just the Brits. Last fall returning to US from Bordeaux we connected in CDG. Waited over 2 HOURS in line for passport control. Fortunately we had used the toilets first and had a 3 hour layover.

My other complaint is that connecting thru Frankfort it was totally unclear where to go for passport control. I read German but could find no signage. The long line at the Lufthansa info desk would have taken so long that we'd have missed our flight.

Connecting through Zurich next flight. I hope "Das ist clar" where the passport control stations are located.

 

Am only answering the question of the location of passport control. I've been wracking my brain trying to even remember our passport control experience last month. We went thru Frankfurt each way and I've been thru Frankfurt many times before too. Upon arrival from the US, passport control - even my slightly sleep addled state - seems to be right there as you come off the plane. But if it's not, just look for and head towards your next gate. Flights to or coming from international locations are assigned gates in areas where you must go thru passport control to get into or out of that area. I don't recall ever having to hunt for passport control. Hunting for my gate - that's a different story. [emoji6]

 

 

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[Got2Cruise]

I wouldn’t say its “luck of the draw”. Ask over on the cruise air or flyer talk board and frequent flyers can give you advice based on their experiences

 

 

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[philw1776]

Am only answering the question of the location of passport control. I've been wracking my brain trying to even remember our passport control experience last month. We went thru Frankfurt each way and I've been thru Frankfurt many times before too. Upon arrival from the US, passport control - even my slightly sleep addled state - seems to be right there as you come off the plane. But if it's not, just look for and head towards your next gate. Flights to or coming from international locations are assigned gates in areas where you must go thru passport control to get into or out of that area. I don't recall ever having to hunt for passport control. Hunting for my gate - that's a different story. [emoji6]

 

 

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Flew from BOS in US on Lufthansa. Passport control was a fairly long under 10 minute walk and then downstairs. No signs. I saw a bunch of people around what seemed to be an airport person. Turned out he was directing people downstairs where passport control was located.

[CharTrav]

Flew from BOS in US on Lufthansa. Passport control was a fairly long under 10 minute walk and then downstairs. No signs. I saw a bunch of people around what seemed to be an airport person. Turned out he was directing people downstairs where passport control was located.

 

Was it on the way to your gate? That's my point. We flew from IAD to FRA also on Lufthansa enroute to Marseille. Did what I said - just looked for our gate which involved a bit of a hike including now that I think back on it an elevator. Can't remember if it was up or down. But our goal was our gate (used the Luftshansa app to know which gate to go to and to be notified of gate changes), which was in the domestic/within EU vice international part of the airport where we were. When we reached the interface between the two leading to our gate - there was passport control waiting for us. But yes - I would agree that Frankfurt's status boards are incredibly unhelpful. They only show the flights/gates for a given concourse. That was the hard part.

 

 

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[azdrydock]

Flew from BOS in US on Lufthansa. Passport control was a fairly long under 10 minute walk and then downstairs. No signs. I saw a bunch of people around what seemed to be an airport person. Turned out he was directing people downstairs where passport control was located.

 

There was a recent documentary about Airport Terminals on one of the cable channels and modern terminals have minimal signage by design because people would stop to read the signs and this impedes traffic flow!

 

In ATL when you follow the natural flow on international arrivals all of the gates lead into a common passage and all of a sudden you run into about 6 greeters yelling in many variations of English ....go right to passport... straight for global entry... after luggage right if Atlanta is your destination... straight ahead if you are connecting on Delta, left for all others.... No luggage direct to TSA.... etc (DO NOT FOLLOW THESE FICTITIOUS EXAMPLES). When there is more then one flight or flights with many non-English speakers it is chaos.

[CharTrav]

There was a recent documentary about Airport Terminals on one of the cable channels and modern terminals have minimal signage by design because people would stop to read the signs and this impedes traffic flow!

 

In ATL when you follow the natural flow on international arrivals all of the gates lead into a common passage and all of a sudden you run into about 6 greeters yelling in many variations of English ....go right to passport... straight for global entry... after luggage right if Atlanta is your destination... straight ahead if you are connecting on Delta, left for all others.... No luggage direct to TSA.... etc (DO NOT FOLLOW THESE FICTITIOUS EXAMPLES). When there is more then one flight or flights with many non-English speakers it is chaos.

 

The one I found the most humorous (and frustrating) was Miami where they use colored dots on the floor to guide you hither and thither: yellow, purple, etc. As I was dutifully following the colored dots - at one point yellow - all I could think of was that comedy routine from Firesign Theater "We're All Bozos on this Bus" which includes the repeated exhortation "Please follow the yellow line!!". What frustrated me was how the sign indicating where US passport only holders should line up was so well obscured, many of us stood in line including Green Card holders for a good 20 min before we got up far enough to see where we should have been and quickly made the switch. This was 9 yrs ago and the experience is still vivid in my memory. One thing I don't remember if there was somebody yelling "follow the colored dots!"; there must have been some huge sign indicating what each color meant. Regardless, to me it felt like organized chaos. I'll take the way IAD manages the process any day over that.

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[azdrydock]

Update... It was in a PBS series "City in the Sky"

[nanface]

Really? When you have business class tickets you get to bypass the long lines for Passport Control/ Immigration?? CDG too? If so, another justification for spending the extra airfare.

 

 

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[Parsley Cruises]

Really? When you have business class tickets you get to bypass the long lines for Passport Control/ Immigration?? CDG too? If so, another justification for spending the extra airfare.

 

 

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In the UK, if you are business class then you probably will go fast track through when leaving the country. When entering the country, there is no such option.

 

There's no real bonus where the authorities are concerned to getting a business class ticket - simply because there is absolutely no guarantee that your luggage will be the first off the flight into the baggage hall. Several times we've had our luggage last on the baggage belt (so much for paying the extra, although we do, just for the better inflight experience).

 

Going back to the original theme of this thread - the officials employed by the authorities in different countries will do whatever is in the current best interest of their own country. Passengers need to be patient and understand this. If a country has a particular security level increase - everyone just needs to be a little understanding. Additionally, it can vary according to where your flight originates from, and whether or not there is any security 'intelligence' relevant to some of the passengers etc.

[Heidi13]

In the UK, if you are business class then you probably will go fast track through when leaving the country. When entering the country, there is no such option.

 

 

Have flown into LHR T5 & T3 with BA in First & Business Class and have always has a Fast Track pass for arrivals available to us. No fast track is available for UK/EU passport holders, only non-EU. Since DW only has a Canadian passport, we can use the UK/EU queues, or the Fast Track non-EU.

 

Most recent was May 2017 when we arrived in T3 from Vancouver. The UK National/EU queues had no waits, so we did not require the Fast Track voucher. Walked straight up to a booth with no delays.

 

Haven't used T4 for over 10 yrs, so can't comment on that terminal.

[tierneycm]

For those of you entering the US, try the Mobile Passport app. We recently used it in EWR. There is a dedicated line that is much shorter( maybe 10 people opposed to over 100). Of course it doesn't help when you end up waiting forever for your luggage before going through Customs.

[ropomo]

Interesting article discussing passport control wait times, especially Heathrow. http://theconversation.com/how-to-cut-queues-at-immigration-with-maths-100988

[SLSD]

We flew from Stockholm, connecting through Frankfurt for our flight home to Dallas in early July. I don't even remember passport control---so it must have been easy with no line. So sorry that others have had such a nightmare.

 

We were warned by a flight attendant (Lufthansa) that the Frankfurt airport can be total chaos.