Originally Posted by
JB in AZ
I confused LHR with our experience in ORD, where (due to this being the first stop in the US after being abroad) we DID have to collect and recheck baggage, an also had to take a bus between terminals.
Yes, countries divide in two in this space: those like the USA which clear Customs at the port of entry, Australia, India, South Africa are the same; and those where you clear Customs where-ever you end up, which is UK, rest of Europe, some parts of Latin America. USA has actually greatly improved Customs handling (as opposed to immigration) so the USA could quite easily go to the Europe model now and save a huge amount of labour cost in the process.
ORD makes LHR look like a picnic!