Related note: I haven't been asked in a while, but I used to have to boot up my laptop at checkpoints to prove it was a computer. This is a pain because the darn things take three minutes to boot and three to shut down. Now I just claim that my batteries are dead!

I have a universal battery that's about the size and shape of a laptop computer but will plug into any number of different DC devices. I put it into a tray outside my luggage since it ALWAYS gets flagged as "do you have a laptop still in your bag"? It amuses me to watch the screeners try to figure the thing out. Screener: "Open up your laptop" Me: "It doesn't open, it doesn't have a screen. It's not a laptop." Screener: "Well, just boot it up then." Me: "It doesn't boot up. It doesn't turn on. It's a battery. It's not a laptop." Screener: (confused look) "Uh, okay, go ahead then."

Surely you jest. I've never even been asked to remove my laptop from its case even once at an Indian airport, let alone boot it up.

OK, here's the latest report.

Left DEL on a 3:25 AM flight to LHR. I had the battery to my laptop as well as a camera with a battery- no spares. No problem at all. Of course, the place is a pit and they wand everyone and there is NOTHING beyond Security but a few snack shops with soft drinks only. I had to get there 3 hours in advance. Could have done it with 2 hours but all it would have taken would be one more Immigration officer on break or one more family group ahead of me with complex issues and I woudl have missed my flight.

Great visit but getting out was no fun!

What I cannot stand about Indian airports -- besides their desperately-in-need-of-sprucing-up status -- is the lack of consistency in the amount of time required when departing. You can be through from start to finish in an hour or it can take you 4 hours. And there is no easy way of knowing in advance. All it takes is one rescheduled flight or a few emigration officers causing a slowdown (legitimately or illegitamately) and you have a by-the-skin-of-your-teeth arrival to the departure gate, where you have to deal with another madhouse.

I wait for the day when they have their act together more often.

Same here about lack of consistency...I left BOM for SIN 2 months ago on a saturday midnight flight and it took me 3 hours from baggage screening to getting the immigration stamp. Did the same saturday night flight yesterday and 15 minutes after entering the airport I was sitting in the lounge staring at 3 long hours ahead of the flight.

I was carrying AAA batteries (both loose and in my headphones) and had no problems with security.

I was asked to boot up my laptop once on arrival at MAA last year, was waved through with no problems on half-a-dozen pther occasions at BOM and BLR.

Savage25 - If you are flying SQ, ask the "prescreening" agent at the Raffles/First desk in BOM to escort you through emigration if the line looks long. They can take premium pax through the Diplomats/Crew lane on the extreme right so it can shave a lot of time off.

Good suggestion. Something similar has been known to work in Delhi too, although your mileage may vary.

B747-437B,

Thanks for the suggestion...I actually saw it happen 2 months ago when I was a lowly Elite Silver and had to check in at the economy counters (which contributed about 45 min). I didn't have to do it this time since there were only about ten people ahead of me in the immigration lines, but I did have a short chat with the SQ supervisor so that he remembers me in case I need to use it the next time

Flew in to BOM on friday and customs asked me to open my bags because I had a ball of Edam cheese in my luggage and they couldn't figure out what it was on the X-ray machine. They didn't give my laptop a second glance but hassled me on my iPod and QC2 headphones for about 10 minutes, asking me to pay duty on them. I was firm but polite and I had the printouts of the following pages from the Customs website with me, so they finally gave in and let me go. (Think they were fishing for a bribe?)

http://www.cbec.gov.in/cae/customs/i...s/tourists.htm
http://www.cbec.gov.in/cae/customs/i...al_effects.htm

As I was closing my bag, one of the officers standing next to me mentioned that when I was departing BOM, I should obtain an "Export Certificate" for the iPod and headphones from the Customs officials there, in order to avoid more hassles when bringing them into the country again. Before I could get any details from him, he ran off after a guy with a TV set going to the green channel.

Has anyone gotten this "Export Certificate" and does it work when coming into the country again? I assume one would get it at the desk after Departure immigration where there's a couple of Customs guys sitting?

There are a lot of crooks working at, for and with Bombay Customs. It's a quite insulting reflection on the Govt. of India that they cannot get their act together and allow such criminal activity to be permitted at one of India's main gateways.

I would speculate that certain flights (Singapore,MiddleEast) get extra scrutiny because in the past these were destinations from where folks brought in imported grey market goods for resale.