Long queues at T5 border control
Apr 14, 2012, 2:26 pm
#61
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BOS
Programs: BA Silver, Mucci
Posts: 5,289
It's not a silly question at all.
"Fast Track" is a service subsidised by BA, and offered by the UK Border Agency, to enable invited people with non-EU passports to by-pass the tortuous immigration queues at T5.
Note that EU passport holders (officially, at least) are left to fend for themselves.
To be "invited" in the first place it seems that one should arrive at T5 after travelling in F at least, or CW at a pinch. The invitations are handed out by the CSDs on incoming flights.
"Fast Track" is a service subsidised by BA, and offered by the UK Border Agency, to enable invited people with non-EU passports to by-pass the tortuous immigration queues at T5.
Note that EU passport holders (officially, at least) are left to fend for themselves.
To be "invited" in the first place it seems that one should arrive at T5 after travelling in F at least, or CW at a pinch. The invitations are handed out by the CSDs on incoming flights.
Apr 14, 2012, 3:34 pm
#62
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: London
Programs: BA Blue, Hyatt, Marriot, HHonors
Posts: 378
45 minutes ain't bad, once was @ JFK and the line was getting longer and longer, imo it almost reached the plane. I asked the immigration officer how long before everyone gets processed, he looked and said around 2 hrs, when I had an astonished look on my face, he said once during the summer it was 5 hours. When I said that it really is very embarrassing for a first world country to have 3 world service, he said that they were cutting down on employees with no plans to hire again.... Shame.
Apr 14, 2012, 4:17 pm
#63
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: under the flight path near Windsor
Posts: 108
Theresa May's AHHSS is on the line for the rest of the summer.
Hope she isn't planning a relaxing break ... for example 3 weeks in a private villa on a private island paid for by a Tory donor who evades UK tax.
But - here is how it will go - courtesy of the boys in Gideon's kitchen closet:
1. Hype up the terror alert
2. Massively increase the Border Controls, U-turning on lots of staff reductions.
3. Cost for this year about 5 x as much as it would have been with proper experienced trained staff.
4. Won't show up in UKBA budget because it will be booked to Olympic Security.
5. To add cr@p to incompetence, tell everyone that the Olympic over-run was due to 'problems we inherited from the previous administration'.
6. Go home and check the value of your Trust Fund.
Hope she isn't planning a relaxing break ... for example 3 weeks in a private villa on a private island paid for by a Tory donor who evades UK tax.
But - here is how it will go - courtesy of the boys in Gideon's kitchen closet:
1. Hype up the terror alert
2. Massively increase the Border Controls, U-turning on lots of staff reductions.
3. Cost for this year about 5 x as much as it would have been with proper experienced trained staff.
4. Won't show up in UKBA budget because it will be booked to Olympic Security.
5. To add cr@p to incompetence, tell everyone that the Olympic over-run was due to 'problems we inherited from the previous administration'.
6. Go home and check the value of your Trust Fund.
Apr 15, 2012, 2:25 am
#66
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: UK
Programs: Mucci, BA LTG + GGL, SPG LTP, HHonors Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador
Posts: 12,695
That's the problem with my pompous Internet generalisations after a few G&Ts...I apologise, it wasn't my intention to imply anything about you specifically; and I certainly don't actually think anything of the sort based on your very helpful previous posts on FT, sorry 
It'd have to be a pretty warped world where we're conditioned to expect such monumentally crap service from lazy Government civil servants when 15 minutes to enter one's own bloody country gets a thumbs up. Oh. 
Last edited by G-BOAC; Apr 15, 2012 at 9:30 am
Apr 15, 2012, 4:34 am
#67
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 2,483
https://twitter.com/#!/paulcsweeney/...481024/photo/1
http://yfrog.com/odjo1cnj
I think the 2nd one looks like T5
Apr 15, 2012, 4:43 am
#68
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,407
My experience is that the e-passport gawa are slower and far more unreliable than IRIS. Add in that anyone can use them - thus attracting tourists and other slow moving obstacles - and they are pretty painful to use.
Apr 15, 2012, 4:46 am
#69
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,775
looks like you were lucky...a couple of pics from tweets earlier today:
https://twitter.com/#!/paulcsweeney/...481024/photo/1
http://yfrog.com/odjo1cnj
I think the 2nd one looks like T5
https://twitter.com/#!/paulcsweeney/...481024/photo/1
http://yfrog.com/odjo1cnj
I think the 2nd one looks like T5
Apr 15, 2012, 4:53 am
#70
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,711
- Conformance check (BAA administered) of boarding pass
- Boarding pass check (BA administered) - this may include a look at your passport, mainly to see if you're allowed into your final destination
- Pre-security check downstairs - random (BAA administered)
- Main North security check upstairs (BAA administered)
The last stage can get congested especially if a plethora of 747s arrive simultaneously in the 6 - 7 am area, leading to passengers being held downstairs for a bit. You occasionally see rants about it here, but my personal experience is that it's not that often, and rarely takes more than a few minutes. There is a Fast track for this route, but with the layout of North upstairs it doesn't really matter that much, except for the status obsessed....
Apr 15, 2012, 5:18 am
#72
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 2,483
The last stage can get congested especially if a plethora of 747s arrive simultaneously in the 6 - 7 am area, leading to passengers being held downstairs for a bit. You occasionally see rants about it here, but my personal experience is that it's not that often, and rarely takes more than a few minutes. There is a Fast track for this route, but with the layout of North upstairs it doesn't really matter that much, except for the status obsessed....
Apr 15, 2012, 5:34 am
#73
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Gold, TG Gold, HHonors Diamond, SPG Plat
Posts: 8,665
