Originally Posted by
DCBob
First of all, it does not defeat the purpose. They always have the right to pull ANYONE aside and ask additional questions, especially if the passenger is coming from a country that is a major source of drug trafficking or terrorism. But the questions take all of 30 seconds or less. Waiting in a long line at CBP can take 30 minutes or longer.
Second, usually I walk right from the kiosk to baggage claim (always at IAD), but I have had the picture on my kiosk printout checked visually against my person at two airports prior to entering baggage claim (at SFO and DTW). In neither case, was I asked any questions - I was just greeted with a smile and "welcome home."
Sorry, should have been more clear. It defeats the purpose if it becomes standard practice and everyone ends up getting asked questions anyways. It would severely slow down the process.
Originally Posted by
FlyingHoustonian
Not sure when you used IAH but the set up has changed over the years.
Now they have 15 kiosks in a row in a seperate section that you walk by first when coming in from E (you walk past the visitors section to get to them from D). At the end of the row of 15 there is an agent at a booth though no computer that I could see (it is not the normal processing booth set up).
picture of it here
http://www.fly2houston.com/0/3526110/0/0/ but you can't see the agent, they would be to the left in the photo
I was there almost exactly 1 year ago. I vaguely remember an agent in an elevated(?) booth, but never had to interact with that person. It felt like they were there to ensure no one tried to wander thru the GE line without using a kiosk (or maybe to provide assistance if someone was having trouble). Didn't look like he was there to as supplementary questions (but I'll admit, my memory is a little hazy)