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is this your first time in Israel. They have the hardest security and even for valid business trips they could hassle you a lot. I would not do a MR to Israel.
Maybe you should show them the FT thread. Good luck. Or if you have an Israeli friend, call them.
Couple of quick facts, some matter, some don't. The don'ts are from an Israeli standpoint! Not to discredit the Israeli people for running a tight ship.
About me: Very well dressed, clean shaved, haircut is a 1 all around. Wearing a blazer with a button up shirt, black pants, and shoes w/ scarf. I don't think I looked suspicious.
Interaction with First immigration officer:
Officer: What flight number were you on and how long are you in in Israel for? Also, are you traveling with anyone?
Me: Flight XYZ, I leave tomorrow, and I'm not traveling with anyone.
Officer (demeanor tone): What do you mean? You come here for 1 day? What is your purpose.
Me: Old Jaffa, relax by the ocean, and snap pictures of all things touristy.
Officer: That is it?
Me: Yes
Officer: Are you sure? Who is it that you are here to Visit? Are you sure you are not traveling with anyone?
Me: Yes. No one. Yes.
At this point she starts speaking Hebrew on the radio and these guys come over saying come with me.
At this point in my head, I'm like oh this is going to be JUST AWESOME. I had no chance to retain my passport as the first immigration officer gave it to the guard guy, and then it was tossed around and around as different security people looked through it.
Took four people with the same question asking. I guess they suspected me to break? I handle questioning very well and under pressure, so I kept giving the same exact answers to every person who kept rotating question asking.
At this point a new supervisor looking lady kept questioning why I flew 12hours to stay for 1 day. I had to explain that the ticket price was cheap, I did it for airline miles, and I wanted to do one day of exploration while I'm at it. She did not buy it. I tried to tell her to look up the "El Al" news article on the fare mistake, she did not buy it.
She kept asking me for a receipt of my ticket purchase, as if my boarding pass was not sufficient enough. I could not help but respond with "who carries an airline receipt with them?
At this point they kept flipping through my passport, and flipping, not are what they were looking for! Naturally being a FTer, I have more stamps now than imagined. My last Muslim country was Turkey. I do have stamps from dozens of countries.
Now a new phase of questioning comes. What is it that you do for work, etc.
I told them I'm a Software Engineer. They did not buy it. They said what is your work place called. This is going on almost 2hours now. At this rate they were going to just keep rambling with each other and trying to decide what to do with me. I told them where I worked, showed them a Valid I.D. and that was sufficient enough instantly. Then they proceeded to stamp my passport and said okay you can go.
For future Mileage runners...I recommend staying at least 3 days, have itinerary plans ready, or know SOMEONE to prevent this sort of hassle.
It sucked watching other people who came over to the briefing/security room be checked for secondary, but then let go within 5 minutes, as I sat there and sat there.
To me that is being detained, considering I did not have my passport back in my hands and I did not have a stamp in it yet either, which mean I was stuck there.
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Well, at least you did make it. I'm doing the Tell Aviv MR in January, and I have a day and a half. I'll make sure to have an itinerary.
I just got back from IST, where I stayed 2 and a half days. I got grilled by US customs on my return. It didn't help that I had 2 checked bags - they were wondering why I had so much luggage (I had packed for an unplanned business trip as well, which I flew out on 3 hours after returning from IST).
I was only 'detained' for ~30 minutes.
I've been held up there on a valid business trip, when I declined the papers stating it's a business trip, since I was also visiting family. I've been there before, figured who would care. Nope. ~3 hrs, barely made my flight home. From then on, always get a letter if you're traveling for business (the companies there know all about it). It would have probably been easier never to mention business in the first place. If that's the case, though, make sure to have your itinerary.
Welcome to the real world of travel on Business/ Work!
TLV has been and will always be suspicious, if one does not fit 'their' profile of a traveler.
But remember THEY have to safeguard their country.
One thing I have learnt and apply always to every travel work or MR:
- Always have a PRINTED itinerary for your air travel and for your hotel stay, if any.
krpjr:
You did really well .... by answering their questions CONSISTENTLY with the same answers ... being jocular or off-handed or pissed-off could be very dangerous in such situations, anywhere!
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However, who travels, especially internationally, without a printout of the receipt for the plane ticket? If there's a problem, it can be easier for staff to find your reservation and ticket using the ticket number than a PNR (which might be the PNR for another carrier).
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However, who travels, especially internationally, without a printout of the receipt for the plane ticket? If there's a problem, it can be easier for staff to find your reservation and ticket using the ticket number than a PNR (which might be the PNR for another carrier).
Flight itinerary, sure. Receipt? Not always. I usually have most of my flights saved to my ipad, so if it's listed there, great.
I've never been asked for a airline receipt in millions of miles of flying. And honesty, I could cut an paste a low fare into another itinerary, and 99.9% of security folk wouldn't have a clue.
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Something similar, though not as severe, happened to me at YVR recently. OP, maybe reading about it will make you feel better, you're handling it a lot better than I did:
and that was sufficient enough instantly. Then they proceeded to stamp my passport and said okay you can go.
