Canadian Customs Problems
Aug 12, 2007, 7:14 pm
#91
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Chilling with penguins
Posts: 13,043
Aug 12, 2007, 7:38 pm
#92
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: May 2002
Location: YEG
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 56,438
Originally Posted by Acrossenger
Does anyone know how to read the code custom agent put on your Canadian declaration card? i.e. R84 / K21...etc. Which ones are good and which ones are for secondary screening?
Aug 12, 2007, 9:04 pm
#93
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: BOS, MHT
Programs: AA ltg, B6, DL, UA, AS, SPG/Marriott Plt, HH, Hyatt
Posts: 10,052
when we fly internationally I always wonder why they dont give you enough time to clear the controls that they may have. I am not wanting to wait in airports but these days, if they are going to make you, the airlines should have planned for this.
Aug 12, 2007, 9:07 pm
#94
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA 1K, SPG PLT
Posts: 269
I just landed late Fri. night on the IAH-YVR CO flight just after midnight and it seemed less in my case to do with the codes than the red felt pen the initial customs agent circled around my travel dates and my coming from other country direct via U.S. for the secondary agent to check out, which was done in a fairly polite manner.
I posted something more detailed in the MR Turnaround thread a while back but, suffice to say, if you are traveling alone and look like a young backpacker type, you have been warned!
Aug 12, 2007, 9:10 pm
#95
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: BOS, MHT
Programs: AA ltg, B6, DL, UA, AS, SPG/Marriott Plt, HH, Hyatt
Posts: 10,052
I think Canada customs and immigration is farrrrr nicer and more professional than the US. I found the Irish to be rather nice too, and pretty accomodating if anything else, but they seemed a bit less up to par with putting in place the best workable system for processing people. Lots done by hand, etc.
I still think all countries should upgrade everything. I guess Canada got the squeaze put on them by some faction of the US Gov't and its current zeal over terrorism. Now we are a nation of fear, and man, you can sure feel it when you come and go! Sucks.
Aug 12, 2007, 10:33 pm
#96
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: united airlines
Posts: 4,967
What does Senator Stevens have to worry about? Surely, he has nothing to hide. (Don Young is another one who deserves some investigating.)
Aug 16, 2007, 7:12 am
#97
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
Programs: QF Lifetime SG, LH HON, OZ Lifetime Diamond +, HH Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 14,367
I then usually get the whole "asking the same question 5 times to see whether I will answer it differently or too similar" treatment but fortunately I never got the 2h package.
Aug 16, 2007, 10:01 am
#98
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 258
To join the party late:
I had EXACTLY the same unpleasant experience at YVR when coming for an overnight for a friend's big party. They didn't believe that 1) I would travel to their lovely country for a short weekend, and 2) I didn't need more than a small carry-on. They searched that little case over and over until they finally let me in.
I had EXACTLY the same unpleasant experience at YVR when coming for an overnight for a friend's big party. They didn't believe that 1) I would travel to their lovely country for a short weekend, and 2) I didn't need more than a small carry-on. They searched that little case over and over until they finally let me in.
Aug 16, 2007, 10:04 am
#99
Join Date: May 2006
Location: New York, London, Sydney
Programs: United GS/2MM, DL*P, VS*G, AA*EXP, Avis CHM, Hertz Platinum, Sixt*D, HH*D, HGP*P, Starwood*P
Posts: 9,847
Wow, that's ridiculous! TWO HOURS?!?!?!
That being said, while I have heard a lot of bad things about Canadian immigration, it was quite painless when I was in transit for the last time for 14 hours. I guess the fact that I was flying SFO-YYZ-TPA, which is somewhat logical helped. Either way, the agent was FAR from nice!
That being said, while I have heard a lot of bad things about Canadian immigration, it was quite painless when I was in transit for the last time for 14 hours. I guess the fact that I was flying SFO-YYZ-TPA, which is somewhat logical helped. Either way, the agent was FAR from nice!
Aug 16, 2007, 10:07 am
#100
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, US
Posts: 2,229
MRs are bad for the environment
I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadians ban mileage runs because of their negative impact on the environment, considering that flying of any type is bad for global warming, and now we add to that flying for no particular purpose.
Aug 16, 2007, 10:19 am
#101
Moderator: Coupon Connection & S.P.A.M
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Louisville, KY
Programs: Destination Unknown, TSA Disparager Diamond (LTDD)
Posts: 57,952
Could you back that up with peer-reviewed, scientific evidence, please?
Aug 16, 2007, 10:56 am
#102
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
..... and driving solo is better than flying with others? Not always, especially when it is also more expensive.
Aug 17, 2007, 10:34 pm
#103
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 8
I was on the cheap NW fare from Winnipeg to Bucharest last year. Drove from MN to Winnipeg and was stopped by Canadian customs for 2 hours at the border while they searched my car from front to back - every single item in my glove compartment all the way to the trunk. Opened every suitcase, looked through everything, turned on my laptop looking for stuff. Finally allowed to go 2 hours later (fortunately I left early enough to try and catch an earlier flight from YWG to MSP so I had enough time to make my originally scheduled departure).
Returned to the US a week later (didn't use the fare just for MR purposes - had things to do in Europe). Upon returning to the US in MSP I was also singled out for similar scrutiny by the US customs officials. Same drill though easier since only had my luggage and not all the junk in my car. But similar questions, similar scrutiny, similar search of laptop. After the initial questioning by the US officials, one told me they were going to search my luggage and asked if I wanted to change any of my answers. I said, "No." In retrospect I should have said, "Do you mean are you asking me to lie?" At the end I did mention that I had been scrutinized twice on this trip and asked if I was on some "list." He said no and the best way to avoid the scrutiny is to tell the truth. I said, "I did but I still was screened." He didn't answer.
Frustrating but next time I am selected I will probably say very little and just let them look through everything. They are going to look anyway whether I answer their questions or not. I know this might sound confrontational but I would just say something politely like "I prefer not to answer that." I would probably only do this upon entering the US since they could not deny me entry into my own country without reasonable cause.
Returned to the US a week later (didn't use the fare just for MR purposes - had things to do in Europe). Upon returning to the US in MSP I was also singled out for similar scrutiny by the US customs officials. Same drill though easier since only had my luggage and not all the junk in my car. But similar questions, similar scrutiny, similar search of laptop. After the initial questioning by the US officials, one told me they were going to search my luggage and asked if I wanted to change any of my answers. I said, "No." In retrospect I should have said, "Do you mean are you asking me to lie?" At the end I did mention that I had been scrutinized twice on this trip and asked if I was on some "list." He said no and the best way to avoid the scrutiny is to tell the truth. I said, "I did but I still was screened." He didn't answer.
Frustrating but next time I am selected I will probably say very little and just let them look through everything. They are going to look anyway whether I answer their questions or not. I know this might sound confrontational but I would just say something politely like "I prefer not to answer that." I would probably only do this upon entering the US since they could not deny me entry into my own country without reasonable cause.
Aug 17, 2007, 11:23 pm
#104
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Toronto, ON but someday (hopefully) OGG or ACK
Programs: DL, AA, US, AC, Marriott Platinum, HHhonors Silver (Woo Hoo!)
Posts: 263
No it can't be proven, probably just a gut level speculation on the part of the poster who made the original assertion, given Canada's cultural obsession with climate change. Any part of the world that will use the government power of command and control to take away the freedom to make choices (such as the eventual banning in Ontario/Toronto of incandescent light bulbs and gasoline powered lawn mowers) rather than use economic incentives to encourage making societally beneficial choices (such as taxing the aforementioned offending products or subsidizing energy saving alternatives) is obviously one part of the world where the populace has been whipped into a hysteria where rational thought and dialogue no longer rule. When the atmosphere of hysteria and panic has been set in motion, any governmental policy that reacts to this atmosphere, however illogical it may sound to a dispassionate outsider, becomes plausible.
As for the topic at hand, this clearly seems to be a YMMV situation. As an American living in Canada, I have been treated courteously and professionally by customs agents on both sides of the border without exception. However, my good fortune might be due to the fact that I am the most non-threatening looking male in the Western Hemisphere (the word nebbish may be the most appropriate adjective to describe my appearance).
As for the topic at hand, this clearly seems to be a YMMV situation. As an American living in Canada, I have been treated courteously and professionally by customs agents on both sides of the border without exception. However, my good fortune might be due to the fact that I am the most non-threatening looking male in the Western Hemisphere (the word nebbish may be the most appropriate adjective to describe my appearance).
Aug 17, 2007, 11:24 pm
#105
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
Every EU country scans your passport into the Schengen Information System upon entry. You can read about it here.
