Originally Posted by
PUCCI GALORE
No. Do you happen to know why there isn't a fast track at JFK or anywhere in the USA? It annoys me considerably that this is laid on in the UK but there is no reciprocation in the USA?
Government incompetence and putting priorities in other places is my guess. I have, however, never seen any airline CEOs talking about it that I recall. Arrival experience in the US for non-US passport and green card holders is probably the worst in the world. A few airlines - LX, LH - escort F pax to the front of the line - so they have some type of arrangement. At JFK particularly, T7 can be tricky as sometimes the foreigner line stretches back so long it blocks access to the US nationals line. LAX, JFK, ORD, DFW, MIA are all miserable. As I tell my non-U.S. friends - If I didn't live here, I wouldn't bother with visiting - too much hassle - 1-3 hours in line.
In terms of my question, it wasn't intended to lay it on the UK -- at LHR T5 there is a Fast Track - so I wasn't aware why the situation at LGW - if it was an airport thing or a BA thing. In know in MAD (another IAG hub) there is no Fast Track for transit or immigration - a very nice but unhelpful IB employee told me he didn't have authority to help me out, and the only solution was to wait and run, which I did. Our flight was delayed about 25 minutes waiting for other pax caught in security/immigration, etc.