TyneTraveller

Like I say, I think it is far more of a problem then people realise regarding the old cigarette suggestion. Very detectable, yes. Practical to move, no. Do people take risks in life for personal gain? Yes. Customs detection = hazard of the day job.

Of course, I fully agree that there is no logical basis to prohibit the purchace of an XX thousand pound watch (which is merely tax exempt, not duty exempt like alcohol or tobacco destined for non EU destinations) but I think the purchase of such would far more likely be for legitimate reasons than the XX thousand cigarettes, that are certainly not bound for Switzerland. 😉

It really is quite fascinating to hear people's differing views on the situation. On a side note, the suggestion that in the U.S you can just walk out without any customs checks is correct in my experience. I don't know for sure this is the reason, but where I was, you collected any duty exempt purchases after being boarded at the gate, hence ensuring the goods have left the country.

DirkGently

I don't have any plans to swamp the UK with contraband fags - it's cheaper to buy them duty paid in the Far East, let alone duty-free - but I'm very intrigued by this thread. One of many reasons I fly QR whenever I can is because they fly out of T4 which as has been noted in other threads, actually has an airside smoking area. But on my next HKG trip somehow, for the first time in yonks, BA came up in policy and since I'm good for TP for the remainder of the year and I want to use my shiny new CCR card, I thought bugger it, I'll go BA and pocket the bonus Avios.

But I'm *not* looking forward to maybe three hours airside at T5 without a smoke. Especially after what will doubtless be a feast of epic proportions in the CCR. Is this TTL>5C dodge legit? I can just leave my stuff in the lounge, hop on the transit with passport and BP, walk out through immigration and then walk in again through Security? Klaxons will not sound?

For the avoidance of doubt, I can live with "frowned upon" if that's as bad as it gets.

Globaliser

One solution is to go for a smoke immediately after you arrive at LHR. Simply follow the arrivals signs and exit through immigration and customs as normal. Have your smoke, and then re-enter through South Security and use the secret door to get into the CCR. Then you can feast to your heart's content. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing this, and you would not be manipulating or misusing any systems at all. Many people choose to do this in order (for example) to use the Arrivals Lounge or even to go into town before they return to the airport to take their onward flight.

The other obvious alternative has complications. If you go to the CCR first, AIUI you will have "used" your onward BP by passing through conformance en route to security. After you leave the CCR, you would have the hassle of the detour to land yourself back through the arrivals stream, plus the uncertainty of knowing how long it's going to take you to get through immigration, and then I believe that you would then need to go to a desk to collect a new onward BP before you can pass through conformance again.

jbfield

Sounds like it could be quicker to fly to Manchester and back again to avoid the wait at the desk and then any wait at immigration!
Scenario 2 could also be worked around by flying a domestic leg whilst holding a BP for an international leg. You'd only need the international BP for showing to the shops to get VAT free...though I don't see what it would save seeing as the prices are the same, so only the retailer would benefit.

Scenario 3 would probably pose the most risk as I believe most of what custom & excise do is based on intelligence about inbound passengers. They'd probably not monitor a passenger's movements between the gate and immigration that much, probably none at all whilst on the train even if they had advanced planning to stop them.

Fitch

If you're going to refer to me, I'd appreciate it if you at least took the trouble to be accurate.

This is exactly what I wrote:

A quick question:

Next Thursday 23/04 I am booked to travel HBO on BA1488, departing T5 at 16:15. However, for various work-related reasons, it may be that I get a call around 14:00 telling me to tear up my Glasgow ticket and stay in London...

Before this came up, my plan was to get to the airport early and work from the FLounge for a few hours. However, if I do get the call, I don't then want to find I have to queue for an hour to get out of the departures area again...

So, could anyone advise how much hassle it would be to return landside once through T5 Security, if I absolutely had to ?

Thanks in advance !

I was suggesting nothing (I was merely asking for others' experiences) and I did not "forget" about transit passengers.

Do you write for the Daily Mail in your spare time by any chance ?

zkzkz

One might think the commenters here never traveled outside the UK. The idea that a security guard stopping people from going through a door the wrong direction would be too much staffing demands for a major international airport is ludicrous.

This is exactly what's done pretty much everywhere around the world. From the international departures area after exit passport control if applicable or where duty free is sold there's always a door that leads to immigration and customs with a security guard making sure nobody goes the wrong direction.

Globaliser

Could you give us some examples? I can't immediately think of any in my usual airports. Outside the UK, I hasten to add.

The only place that I regularly go to that has something nearly so simple is SYD T1, where you go back to transfer security and ask the security people nicely if they will let you reverse back into the arrivals stream.

I can also immediately think of one part of LHR where it couldn't be this simple, not least because (inbound) immigration and customs is in a different building from (outbound) security and duty-free.

zkzkz

Eh? I claim it's the norn and probably true of all those airports. The pathway isn't always very prominently marked however. I've only personally done it at CPH and DUB (before the new terminal, I think it's harder to find now). It's also very obvious at YUL in the international wing.

Can you name any airport outside the uk which doesn't allow exiting the international departures area via immigration? It's an odd idea, people miss or cancel flights all the time.

AA_EXP09

is OP not flying domestic, thus does not need to pass border control?
(disclaimer: I do not fly any UK domestic but have had no issues leaving the sterile area of the airport in Canada/USA/Mainland China.)

Calchas

There is, we could just have a subtle "Exit / Arrivals / Baggage claim" one-way door that lead back into international arrivals. It would need staffing to ensure domestic pax didn't use it.

Yes, OP will not go through passports unless s/he is entering the UK.

There is no public exit of the sterile area.

At Heathrow (and Gatwick and Manchester), domestic and international passengers are mixed together in the same departure lounge. This includes international transit passengers who do not have authority to enter the UK. We use a biometric photo system to separate domestic passengers (your photo is taken on the way in and checked at the gate) since obviously domestic passengers might have no ID at all.

It sounds complicated or stupid but the other systems are all much worse (Full visa/passport checks for everyone transiting? Miniature departure area for domestics with poor lounge provision? Full passport ID check for domestic originating-passengers, with government staff checking visa credentials, even when you are just travelling inside the same country? No thanks.)

You can imagine a system where the domestic passengers were checked and allowed to exit and the international passengers were allowed to exit through immigration/passport control---but it is an unusual circumstance since you cannot get airside without a valid boarding pass. So the current system has been devised, and to be honest it works well enough.

Globaliser

I expect that every airport will have a mechanism for doing this, for the reason you mention. But that's not what's being discussed here. The question is whether passengers can easily find a way to land themselves without official assistance/escort.

No doubt there will be a spectrum of different approaches in different places. I can give you one example of one of my regular airports where there have been recent reports here of a system (and therefore difficulties) akin to those at T5: HKG. What I was interested in was your assertion that easy self-landing is universally found everywhere else in the world.

GeeMac

As a domestic connecting passenger, I have often worried about the removal of the fast track, for passing the UK border, however, the queue has always been small, so no real hassle.

Until yesterday. There was a massive queue, which did have me wondering if I should just exit through the e-gates (no queue) and go back through south security, but too late, I was committed to going through. However, I failed the BP check before the border and the nice lady reprinted a new one and then let me use the express connections lane (after I made a few (nice) comments about the size of the queue and the removal of fast track), saving me a considerable wait. A colleague who arrived about 45mins before me had just gotten through the same queue.

I'll seriously be thinking to exit next time and come back through security.