Sooo....quick update for everyone. Got my passport, breezed through Hungarian immigration and flew out of BUDAPEST. However at Boarding gate, I show my boarding pass and actually my (guess what!!!!), Expired EU ID. NOT on purpose...passport was in my bag and ID in my pocket so easier to get. The person looks at my boarding pass and EXPIRED EU ID for less than 1 second and let’s me through. What a total Joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Essentially this tells me that BA relies 100% on the immigration guys.

Also, what I never understood is how come there’s no immigration control when exiting UK into EU but there is one at the exit of all EU countries into the UK?!?! I get that Britain is not in Schengen but why is exit from the UK into EU treated differently than entry into the UK from EU?

when I tried to unsuccessfully board on Sunday, the immigration guy after giving me his approval said,” let me go to the gate and check with BA if they are willing to take you”. He went, explained and came back with a no. That’s an interesting situation....if the guy wouldn’t have checked himself with BA that I can fly, I would have gone to the gate and been fine. When he said “im fine to let you go if BA is fine”, I should have told him to let me go to the board myself. But because he was the one that raised the issue, that obviously prompted BA to refuse boarding. If he said immigration is fine with my exit, why didn’t he just let me go myself to the gate? I mean I didn’t think of asking this but I wonder if he would have let me? Once immigration cleared me, it would have been my own business if I was able to board or not. If yes, I continue. If not, I return.