Hi,
I had an unplanned transit in Riyadh in 2011. I had a misconnection, so no KSA visa whatsoever. No transit desk nor signs. Followed other passengers toward immigration. Spotted a staff member accompanying a UM. He told me 'Oh, you're /the/ transit passenger tonight'. Waited till he was done with the UM. He took me behind immigration line (with no passport control for me) to the customs area. Normal procedure was for bags to be screened by customs, even for transit passengers. The guy seemed ok, so I told him there might be a problem as I had alcohol. Somehow my bags didn't show up on the belt So only my carry-on was xrayed by customs.
Then I was escorted back through immigration, litteraly waved through. Security once again xrayed my carry-on, though they seemed way more lax than customs, just the opposite from Europe... It seems that if you look white, they always stop the line for you. Probably the only time I'd rather not have some kind of 'priority' in an airport... Almost nothing to buy at the duty free, except dates (as on the fruit). Great experience though, as I might never have the opportunity, or even the visa, to come back. However, if I ever was transiting again through RUH, I would rather not bring any alcohol, nor probably pork, with me. Wanted to take pictures from the plane, but the Air India FA quickly shouted 'Stop. Stop! This is Saudi Arabia, they see you, they stop the plane and put you in jail'. So not much pics to share That flight was also a story of its own. Enjoy the dates