I've heard some stories re long lines at UK airports....anyone have updates/recent experience ??
I've heard some stories re long lines at UK airports....anyone have updates/recent experience ??
We went through Manchester on the way to Florida on Sunday and it was business so normal and no delays at all. One of our party got selected for an extra security check at the gate and had to switch on all his electrical items to prove they work but it only took a few moments and was not an issue.
Flew from Heathrow on sunday. A lot of bags seemed to be being searched individually but none of ours. Went through gate security with no extra checks. So didn't notice any additional delays. Were being asked in the queue whilst checking in if everything electrical could be switched on.
Came through Baku airport yesterday evening and it was a completely different scenario to London and America. Was greeted politely and welcomed to the airport; asked if I would kindly placemy bag on eh scanner belt; forgot to take out my bag with liquids out of my bag but it was still passed through; invited to pass through the scanner, no need to turn on any electrical equipment and then thanked and wished a pleasant flight. Whole process was much more relaxing with no one shouting at you to get in line etc, etc. Luckily we did not get back to Heathrow until gone 11pm and for once the longest queue seemed to be for 'other passports' rather than EU so we got straight through only to find there was a problem unloading baggage from the planes.
I had a very similar experience a couple of weeks ago at Phoenix airport. When they saw we were a family of four travelling together, the waved us into the fastpass queue (well, area, there was no queue) for boarding card checking and then the opened up a scanner area for us to use. They smiled, joked and were just amazingly friendly. I was really surprised as it was such a contrast to my American experience (particularly MCO). Mind you they did have signs up calling themselves "America's Friendliest Airport".
I always have a positive experience at PHX and they try very hard to live up to that claim which they've used for many years. 'Sky Harbor' is a great name for an airport.
Last edited by Katys Grandad; 20-08-2014 at 02:45.
We found Heathrow fine on Sunday. Lots of security, sniffer dogs and alarmingly big guns[msnscared] But no major issues. Some selected for secondary security check at gate but no real delays.
You'll find Glasgow just as friendly and helpful as normal.
Traveling through MCO in May, although not exactly jumping for joy to see us, went really fast, they had a trial running in part of the search area where you did not have to take anything out of your bag, just remove ALL metal items from your person and put them through the x-ray machine. Dead easy.
Was your Boarding Pass marked 'TSA Pre-Approved'? They've been running that system for a while now but the selection seems to be completely random. I've seen families where children have been approved for the fast track but their parents haven't which makes it a bit pointless. I'm 100% this year but they won't let on how it all works which I suppose makes good sense.
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