“All departures to America from T5B”
Mar 21, 2019, 7:55 am
#16
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,422
Surely, pre-clearance would be a huge benefit for those without Global Entry (who comprise the vast majority of passengers)?
Perhaps I'm misreading your post, but you seem to be saying that you would not like to see pre-clearance at LHR because then every Tom, Dick and Harry would have the same easy entry to the US that you currently enjoy.
Perhaps I'm misreading your post, but you seem to be saying that you would not like to see pre-clearance at LHR because then every Tom, Dick and Harry would have the same easy entry to the US that you currently enjoy.
Edit to Add: Also those with CCR and GF access will also have to head to the gate at least an hour, possibly 2 hours, before departure which would be a negative for all of them
Last edited by Steve_ZA; Mar 21, 2019 at 8:01 am
Mar 21, 2019, 8:37 am
#17
Join Date: Dec 2015
Programs: BAEC Blue
Posts: 247
Pre-Clearance isn't all it's cracked up to be. At pre-clearance in Dublin, they don't trust that Dublin airport has done its scanning job properly, so out come your liquids and electronics again and off come your shoes. If several US-bound flights are departing at the same time, the queues can be enormous. Global Entry helps with that, of course, but I still find GE on arrival quicker than on departure.
One other nice thing about immigration on arrival is that you clear into a quieter area of the airport. With pre-clearance, you're treated like a domestic flight and disembark into a terminal thronged with hordes of departing passengers.
One other nice thing about immigration on arrival is that you clear into a quieter area of the airport. With pre-clearance, you're treated like a domestic flight and disembark into a terminal thronged with hordes of departing passengers.
Having had a CBP officer threaten to send me home from PHL for “abusing the ESTA system” (I make just three 6 night trips per year!?) on a previous trip, I’m now much happier with the idea of being sent back to BHX from pre-clearance at DUB, than from, say, JFK to LHR
YMMV.
Mar 21, 2019, 8:39 am
#18
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 169
Pre-Clearance isn't all it's cracked up to be. At pre-clearance in Dublin, they don't trust that Dublin airport has done its scanning job properly, so out come your liquids and electronics again and off come your shoes. If several US-bound flights are departing at the same time, the queues can be enormous. Global Entry helps with that, of course, but I still find GE on arrival quicker than on departure.
Mar 21, 2019, 9:21 am
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,137
Aside from the T5B issue, I’ve done pre-clearance at DUB a few times (some good, some awful) and a fair few more clearing on arriving in the US (without GE, because I’m an infrequent peasant).
Give me pre-clearance any day ... the last thing I want at the end of a long flight/day is horsing around in an Immigration line at destination. And, IME, mingling with the Domestic pax at the far end is perfectly survivable if you you don’t have your head up your backside. At PHX, after Immigration & Customs you end up in the Reclaim Hall with everyone else anyway ... after a longggg walk!
I use LHR too infrequently to comment on the theory being expounded ... I can see benefits and disadvantages, especially with the very poor T3-T5 connection issue.
Give me pre-clearance any day ... the last thing I want at the end of a long flight/day is horsing around in an Immigration line at destination. And, IME, mingling with the Domestic pax at the far end is perfectly survivable if you you don’t have your head up your backside. At PHX, after Immigration & Customs you end up in the Reclaim Hall with everyone else anyway ... after a longggg walk!
I use LHR too infrequently to comment on the theory being expounded ... I can see benefits and disadvantages, especially with the very poor T3-T5 connection issue.
Mar 21, 2019, 10:58 am
#20
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Silver (OWS)
Posts: 765
It's not a trust issue more of a regulatory issue. The US and Ireland/EU have different screening requirements and therefore all passengers going airside at DUB pass through Irish security screening and passengers travelling to the US (on a pre-screened flight) also pass through US security. There was a trail in SNN a few years ago looking to a combined screening solution but I haven't heard anything of it since. Link
Mar 21, 2019, 11:42 am
#22
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: BA Silver; SPG Gold; UA; DL; AA
Posts: 207
my guess is they are going to stockpile all of the 772s with Rockwell-Collins IFE at T5B so all of us flying in/out of the NYC area are guaranteed the worst possible experience, especially on the 8-hour return home...
Mar 21, 2019, 11:52 am
#23
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,363
Mar 21, 2019, 12:13 pm
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,137
Mar 21, 2019, 12:25 pm
#26
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,422
T5B stands 544-558 (5 in total) are wide enough for an A380 - I alighted at one of these recently when all the capable gates at T5C were either obstructed or faulty. None of these have 3 airbridges though, so if they are used then the upper deck passengers need to disembark via the aircraft's internal stairs.
Mar 21, 2019, 12:30 pm
#27
Join Date: Oct 2017
Programs: Honors Diamond
Posts: 1,631
All of which could be solved with some limited investment in more buses, better control and passenger information systems, more and better trained staff and a better offer for premium passengers. Probably harder to identify will be a little more space for waiting, but some of this would be negated with a more frequent service.
I know probably easier said than done but there are real benefits of reorganising things. For example IRROPs could be much more smoothly handled for LHR-JFK passengers if AA/BA are co-located at T5B and T8.
Mar 21, 2019, 1:14 pm
#28
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,363
T5B stands 544-558 (5 in total) are wide enough for an A380 - I alighted at one of these recently when all the capable gates at T5C were either obstructed or faulty. None of these have 3 airbridges though, so if they are used then the upper deck passengers need to disembark via the aircraft's internal stairs.
Mar 21, 2019, 1:41 pm
#30
Fontaine d'honneur du Flyertalk
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Morbihan, France
Programs: Reine des Muccis de Pucci; Foreign Elitist (according to others)
Posts: 19,157
As far as I can see we have gone from all of T5B being for flights to the USA to pre-clearance in a single bound - yet for the life of me I cannot see how they could process all those passengers in that space. Maybe I will wait and offer opinion when this is actual fact rather than speculation on our parts.
