Originally Posted by
BigFlyer
Are you saying the DDR border control waved you through with US passports? That was never my experience, they would always look and stamp. they had to make sure you didn't overstay and that you didn't lend your passport to a DDR citizen.
He said East to West. The west didn't recognize that there was more than one Berlin and didn't treat it as a border crossing.
I did the crossing a few times. It was a few minutes West to East, and no time East to West.
(ETA: I now realize you're referring to the exit procedure from the East, as opposed to the entry into the West. I wouldn't count the exit procedure from where you're leaving as the time to enter a new country. But I think both times I did it, it wasn't anything more than walk through the line that moved as fast as you could walk, throw your extra money in the bucket and get a stamp. I think we barely had to slow down when I did it.)
I think most flights to Canada and Europe the entry time has been dominated by the time to walk from the gate to customs, often with little short lines and only a few questions at customs.
Flying into Greenland from Iceland we got off the plane, collected our baggage (pretty quick off a DASH 8), and walked outside to get into the cabs. No border control to be seen.