"Can I clear customs without a passport?"

Yes, that is the topic of this thread. Your point being? :confused:

Quick Question,
If I go for ex. JFK-LHR-CDG, I only clear customs in Paris. It just came to my mind that someone can go to the transfer line at LHR and when they get back to the terminal just exit like anyone of us would do if forget something or decide not to go on their flight.

Yet if I go IAD-LHR-MAN, I am guessing that i will clear C/I in LHR because that is my first entry point into the UK.

Most of my intl travel is non-stop so i am not used to this.

Ben

Customs can be cleared without a passport, but first you have to get past immigration. :D

The US is one of the select developed countries that require luggage to be cleared at the first port of entry upon arrival into the country.

About your LHR example, the transfer line is not a method of avoiding immigration/customs because regardless of terminal you have to go through immigration and customs to get landside OR you will be clearing immigration/customs arrival at the next airport unless staying airside and not having checked luggage.

So am I really the only one who thinks it's pretty strange for an airline employee not to have a passport? :confused:

Not really, but I am not shocked in the least. Most airline employees in North America seem to only do domestic service; and until more recent changes, a fair number of countries in North America (islands included) would allow Americans -- I don't know enough about the neighbors to the north :eek: -- to enter with a birth certificate and driver's license.

Not really they could be ground crew that never goes anywhere but their local station. The majority of airline employees never leave the ground for work.

No profanity please!
Your question. You've got to be kidding. Of course not!

Btw, driver's licenses (no matter from which country) aren't recognized as a valid form of ID in many countries, as offcials there find it hard to imagine that a "permit to operate a certain type of vehicle" is the same as an ID card.

That's even more shocking. For me, at least. Why would somebody want to work in the travel, especially the airline industry when hr doesn't intend to benefit from the perks of cheap travel? I don't get it, but that's just me.

Then again, I'm sure there are professional stock brokers who don't have a bank account, marathon runners who don't have running shoes and computer scientists without a PC.

True. Still, a state-issued DL and birth certificate was more than sufficient for Americans to visit several countries in North America. A lot of countries in the US neighborhood benefited tremendously from making it easy for Americans to visit without a passport.

I was recently pulled over in Germany on a routine traffic stop that checked if my rental car (BMW X5, quite popular with thieves close to the Austrian border) happened to be stolen. So I wanted to give it a try and showed the cop my California DL. He had a good laugh - and then wanted to see some real ID. :D

Where does the OP say has no passport? If wasnt expecting to travel overseas then passport may be at home or elsewhere.

Naughty, naughty. :D

In the EU countries where I drive, it's generally state-issued driver's license AND passport from rental pick-up to rental drop-off; and that's what it would be if I were to get pulled over and be held accountable. :D