Funniest thing you have heard from customs upon reentering your home country?
#226
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
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"Sign here and we will destroy them. If you don't sign we will hold them as evidence."
All over a few dozen fake Rolexes.
All over a few dozen fake Rolexes.
#227
Join Date: May 2014
Location: CMH, HNL
Programs: UA, HA
Posts: 583
HNL-ORD-YUL-EWR-HKG-ORD-YUL... one of my first mileage runs. Was feeling proud of that many hours in economy, that many timezones crossed, and very very frazzled. The poor Quebecois CBP agent couldn't make sense of my explanation that yes I was gainfully employed, and yes this was all I was traveling with, and yes this was my second time entering in as many days. Five nerve-wracking minutes later, the grunt of entry!
And all this time I'd thought the hard part of a MR was surviving the transit!
And all this time I'd thought the hard part of a MR was surviving the transit!
#228
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,483
Early 2000s at the Queenstown-Lewiston border crossing in New York, after checking my passport, the border agent ask me to pull into a garage. He closed the lane and walked behind my car. After pulling in, I was asked by the agent if he could hop into the driver seat. I consented and asked if there was a problem. "Oh, no problems. You are fine. I just wanted to see what it was like to drive this thing. Can I rev the engine?" At the time, I owned a rare, limited edition vehicle and the agent was a gearhead that wanted a closer look.
Not customs, but I ran into his cousin working for the TSA at BOS. At the time I had a brand-new, top-of-the-line 17" MacBook Pro going through the X-ray. He said he'd have to confiscate it for inspection. Similar story; I got it right back. Some of those folks are, at least some of the time, human.
#229
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: DFW
Posts: 8,028
The same happened to us - twice with the same agent - entering one of the smaller border crossings into Washington State from British Columbia in our brand-new 2006 Toyota RAV4 with the V6 engine. He was interested in buying one. The second time he asked us to pop the hood so he could see the engine compartment, and I have no doubt the people behind us in line thought he was looking for something devious.
#230
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,483
#231
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: Platinum, HH Diamond
Posts: 335
Flying Sydney to New Zealand to attend an Bledisloe Rugby final (Aussies V All Blacks). Tickets sold out, 98% All Black crowd to a tiny 2% aussie crowd (us).
Agent: Purpose for your visit?
Us: Going to the game tomorrow night.
Agent: Your tickets please
Me: (hand over eticket & boarding passes)
Agent: No. Your All Blacks ticket please. For the game
Us: What?
Agent: Well, it was worth a try (and he smiles)
The next day at the domestic security gates (private charter flight from Auckland to Dunedin for the game, 170 AB fans and only us 2 aussies), the security staff tried a similar thing and the pilot said over the loud speaker that we were to be served only water.
Agent: Purpose for your visit?
Us: Going to the game tomorrow night.
Agent: Your tickets please
Me: (hand over eticket & boarding passes)
Agent: No. Your All Blacks ticket please. For the game
Us: What?
Agent: Well, it was worth a try (and he smiles)
The next day at the domestic security gates (private charter flight from Auckland to Dunedin for the game, 170 AB fans and only us 2 aussies), the security staff tried a similar thing and the pilot said over the loud speaker that we were to be served only water.
Last edited by Osmo; Oct 28, 2015 at 3:24 pm
#233
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
Programs: United 1k, Marriott Lifetime PE, Former DL Gold, Former SQ Solitaire, HH Gold
Posts: 11,886
#235
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
Programs: United 1k, Marriott Lifetime PE, Former DL Gold, Former SQ Solitaire, HH Gold
Posts: 11,886
#238
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
Agreed. It is after all their job to prevent the importation of illegal goods. I'd be surprised if they got upset about a single counterfeit brand-name item, but "a couple of dozen" suggests they're being imported for resale.
#239
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
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That's what they told me. They allowed me to keep one and destroyed the others. It was the first time I'd had a problem in Customs and the next few times in I was a little concerned that I might be on a "List" and be subjected to extra scrutiny. I wasn't.
#240
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: United Mileageplus
Posts: 81
I was In Tijuana for a birthday party of a friend.
I told the USCBP guy at San Ysidro I went to a mexican birthday party for the first time and he asked how I liked the part, what I thought of it, whether or not I hit the pinata (I mentioned there was a pinata)
When Entering Tijuana by foot through the new customs and immigration inspection building on the Mexican side, the INM women thought P was part of my last name, since she saw the field Type=P (document type field in american passports)
I thought it was funny she didn't know what the type field was.
At the same time, there was a group of chinese tourists entering Tijuana by foot; the mexican immigration officials took their passports to one desk, filled out their immigration forms, called people up, and said in broken chinese, Qian Ming (Sign your name)
It was a funny process.
I told the USCBP guy at San Ysidro I went to a mexican birthday party for the first time and he asked how I liked the part, what I thought of it, whether or not I hit the pinata (I mentioned there was a pinata)
When Entering Tijuana by foot through the new customs and immigration inspection building on the Mexican side, the INM women thought P was part of my last name, since she saw the field Type=P (document type field in american passports)
I thought it was funny she didn't know what the type field was.
At the same time, there was a group of chinese tourists entering Tijuana by foot; the mexican immigration officials took their passports to one desk, filled out their immigration forms, called people up, and said in broken chinese, Qian Ming (Sign your name)
It was a funny process.