Long queues at T5 border control
Apr 15, 2012, 9:12 am
#76
Join Date: Apr 2008
Programs: Lord OPebble - Mucci of the Hour. Diamond Class MUCCI.Chevalier du Circle Intime de Pucci
Posts: 7,088
Apr 15, 2012, 10:49 am
#77
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Programs: Battleaxe Alliance
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Apr 15, 2012, 1:38 pm
#79
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 615
Neither e-passport machines, nor the now moribund IRIS, are exclusively reserved for a self-proclaimed travelling elite.
Apr 15, 2012, 1:44 pm
#80
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: San Diego
Posts: 2,691
T5 wasn't too bad tonight at about 6pm; thankfully I was first off the completely full A340-600 as I suspect the people last off might not have fared so well. In all it took about 15 minutes from joining the back of the queue to handing over my passport, which is about the same as at Gatwick last Sunday.
Things seemed fairly well organised and the good thing was that even though the queuing system was very long, it kept moving which at least makes you feel like you're getting somewhere.
The annoying thing was that, despite there being many tens of brightly coloured BAA 'information' staff, they didn't seem at all clued up. They were trying to run some kind of staged entry into the queuing system, despite the fact that to get to the FCC you had to walk through the queue. When I asked where I should stand to get through to immigration I was met with a completely blank stare! Fortunately the queue started moving and someone else barked a slightly more comprehensible instruction, so I just joined the back of the queue.
Edit: Even though I am entitled to use neither, Iris was working fine with no queue, but the eBorder gates were totally broken and that queue was just being directed into the main snaking line.
Things seemed fairly well organised and the good thing was that even though the queuing system was very long, it kept moving which at least makes you feel like you're getting somewhere.
The annoying thing was that, despite there being many tens of brightly coloured BAA 'information' staff, they didn't seem at all clued up. They were trying to run some kind of staged entry into the queuing system, despite the fact that to get to the FCC you had to walk through the queue. When I asked where I should stand to get through to immigration I was met with a completely blank stare! Fortunately the queue started moving and someone else barked a slightly more comprehensible instruction, so I just joined the back of the queue.
Edit: Even though I am entitled to use neither, Iris was working fine with no queue, but the eBorder gates were totally broken and that queue was just being directed into the main snaking line.
Apr 15, 2012, 1:55 pm
#81
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Wild Wiltshire
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Apr 15, 2012, 1:59 pm
#82
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: somewhere north of London, UK
Programs: HH Gold, BA Silver, Accor Silver
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Apr 16, 2012, 5:36 am
#83
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Glasgow, UK
Programs: BA, UA, Marriot
Posts: 2,196
They say that we eventually import everything from America and now it seems we have imported tedious slow immigration queues. The agents don't quite seem to have the Soviet/SS-style attitudes, but they now have uniforms so this is perhaps only a matter of time. I arrived T1 on Friday night to the same chaos as mentioned earlier re T5. No IRIS and 1 of the 3 ePassport readers not working. And as a side note to the young lass (who I think was a BAA employee) trying to shepherd the queue, the "e" in ePassport is not short for "electronic"....
Probably took about 20 mins to get which I think is inexcusable. I dread to think what will happen during the Olympics.
Probably took about 20 mins to get which I think is inexcusable. I dread to think what will happen during the Olympics.
Apr 16, 2012, 6:35 am
#84
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: In the sticks
Programs: VS FC Gold, BA EC Gold, Amex Centurion, EK Gold, ex-G-ATVK driver
Posts: 1,834
T5 at 06:25 this morning, it took 5 minutes. However they were clearly gearing up for a big one, with only single escalators working from the monorail thingy and tensa barriers up everywhere.
Thankfully the checked bags were on the carousel as we got there.
H
Thankfully the checked bags were on the carousel as we got there.
H
Apr 16, 2012, 6:41 am
#85
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,775
Indeed, doing so in some parts would ensure you simply disappeared!
The trouble is, I think as the undisciplined rabble that British society has become starts to educate our children in the same abandonment of rules, it is easy to forget that many other other places in the world have zero tolerance for law breakers.
Apr 16, 2012, 6:46 am
#86
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: London, UK
Programs: Not much these days: BA Silver, Bonvoy Lifetime Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 1,326
I've never been rejected at IRIS. When I've tried to use ePassport, I've always been rejected and had to go to the border official. I don't think it's a passport problem, I regularly transfer at Helsinki where I use similar technology to enter Schengen and it takes a few seconds and I've never been rejected. I've tried the UK ePassport gates maybe 3 or 4 times now and it either hasn't recognised my passport or doesn't like the look of my face. But when Iris gazes into my eyes, there's never a problem...
Apr 16, 2012, 6:52 am
#88
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: London, UK & Oslo, Norway
Programs: Mucci (Diamond Hairbrush Status), BA Gold (earned on almost all (wh)Y travel), *A Gold.
Posts: 567
Apparently according to the BBC it was chaos again today. I've found an e-petition for IRIS. Only seven or so signatories at the moment.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29857
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29857
Apr 16, 2012, 8:06 pm
#89
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,190
Apparently according to the BBC it was chaos again today. I've found an e-petition for IRIS. Only seven or so signatories at the moment.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29857
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29857
rb211.
Apr 16, 2012, 9:53 pm
#90
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BOS
Programs: BA Silver, Mucci
Posts: 5,289
"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.