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American Homeland security

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born and bred View Drop Down
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    Posted: 27 August 2011 at 8:36pm
 I recently went to the USA for a wedding. We had to change planes at Chicago for an onward flight to Alaska. Due to the over the top attitude of the customs/ homeland security we missed our connection. A day lost as we had to rebook on a flight 24 hours later. They were shouting at people if they used their phones. None of their staff cared one iota  about the passengers. An airport to avoid. Anchorage airport was however brilliant.
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote big baggles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 August 2011 at 9:57pm
you want to try dallas, it sounds just as bad.........Thumbs%20Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Eaton Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 August 2011 at 10:03pm
My in-laws are Spanish and obviously have Spanish passports.  About 5 years ago they flew to NZ (from Heathrow) via LA to visit their youngest son, his wife and their 3 children.  They had a connecting flight booked and only 3 hours between flights.  They almost missed their flight because they were treated so abysmally!  They are not in the best of health and elderly and were left standing for the entire time in a corridor waiting to be 'processed'.  The next time they flew to NZ they went via Hong Kong but were terribly worried that they would be treated just as badly there but of course they weren't.
 
They are so paranoid about illegal immigrants they seem to overlook the fact that not everyone wants to live in the USA and some people do actually have connecting flights to take them to other parts of the world.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grovesy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 August 2011 at 12:47pm
Wow - I fly into the US a couple of times a year...mostly Dallas, and always had a warm friendly welcome.  Customs, immigration and airport security have always been excellent. 

However...I have experience long queues with often not enough staff to process people.

I think our own Airport Security could take a lesson or two from the USA ones in terms of customer service.  In the USA your greeted with smiles and welcomes - in the UK the best we can seem to do is a grumpy face.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Eaton Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 August 2011 at 6:23pm
To be fair the only time I've ever flown into the USA was Las Vegas last year and I was treated very politely by all the staff but maybe that's because it's a party town.  On arrival there was a queue but we were through it within 10 minutes and I've queued longer than that at Heathrow and Gatwick.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lee s Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2011 at 3:16am
I'm in the US at the moment and flew via Chicago about 2 wks back and the immigration thing nearly made us miss our connecting flight. We had almost 3 hrs in between flights and barely made it with 10 mins to spare.
Other US airports we've used have been fine but having twice experienced the same issues in Chicago ... never again. Mainly disorganised queue management and couldn't careless attitude - very unlike other parts of America!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote big baggles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2011 at 6:52pm
like you Grovesy there is always a huge delay at dallas  terminal D ( international terminal)  which i encounter on nearly every flight in there,
all the locals go sailing through and we get the 3rd degree even though visas/ estas are all sorted and in place prior to arriving,- we also flew from dallas down to san diego on an ' internal flight' and we got pulled aside for having UK passports  ( as we dont have US id cards !!!) we were delayed for 75 minutes to explain the reason for our internal flight.....
 
but i suppose they need to be sure we are who we say we are !
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grovesy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2011 at 10:42pm
Well, on that note BB I do confess to cheating slightly..Mrs Grovesy is one of those pesky Americans, so when we travel together we look for the shortest immigration line and join that one - works a treat (the one time we didn't she was detained at immigration in the UK...it was just a little amusing (for me) at the time.

It's just a pain when I travel on my own and I have to get in the Alien line ;o( 

Thanks for the tip about internal flights, we are making one soon from DFW to Tahoe...we'll make sure we check in extra early. Grovesy Jnr is really quite excited about the trip...

So...going totally off topic..sort of...

Anyone done the parks in California? Disney / Universal?  Whats best for a 4yr old (and 1yr old in the buggy)...is 4 too young to appreicate Disney? We've been to California a couple of times, but not with a young family..anyone done any fun family things that won't require quantative easing to pay for?


"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote big baggles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 August 2011 at 10:55am
legoland california of course !!!- in Carlsbad about 45 mins drive from san diego
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grovesy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 August 2011 at 10:59am
Of course...!  Silly me... Cool

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