LHR international arrival confusion
 

Recently I arrived from the US into Heathrow, perhaps terminal 4 but I
don't recall for sure. I was confused by the signs and I am wondering
what I should have done.

I hold a UK passport and my itinerary had a connecting flight. However,
I wasn't yet checked in for the connection, nor was my baggage checked
through beyond LHR.

So, just before passport control, there was a sign pointing left for UK
passports and right for flight connections. Which way should I have
gone, and why? I was confused because both directions seemed to apply!
But then I worried that if I followed flight connections, I didn't know
I would get to pick up my bag to get it onto the connecting flight, so I
followed the UK passports sign and ended up picking up my bag and going
landside and then I went and found check-in for my next flight, I just
didn't know if I'd needlessly gone the long way around.

-- Mark

LHR international arrival confusion
 

"Mark Carroll" wrote in message
...
Recently I arrived from the US into Heathrow, perhaps terminal 4 but I
don't recall for sure. I was confused by the signs and I am wondering
what I should have done.

I hold a UK passport and my itinerary had a connecting flight. However,
I wasn't yet checked in for the connection, nor was my baggage checked
through beyond LHR.

So, just before passport control, there was a sign pointing left for UK
passports and right for flight connections. Which way should I have
gone, and why? I was confused because both directions seemed to apply!
But then I worried that if I followed flight connections, I didn't know
I would get to pick up my bag to get it onto the connecting flight, so I
followed the UK passports sign and ended up picking up my bag and going
landside and then I went and found check-in for my next flight, I just
didn't know if I'd needlessly gone the long way around.

-- Mark

You did precisely the correct thing and for the right reason.

LHR international arrival confusion
 

In the last episode of , Mark Carroll
said:

Recently I arrived from the US into Heathrow, perhaps terminal 4 but I
don't recall for sure. I was confused by the signs and I am wondering
what I should have done.

I hold a UK passport and my itinerary had a connecting flight. However,
I wasn't yet checked in for the connection, nor was my baggage checked
through beyond LHR.

So, just before passport control, there was a sign pointing left for UK
passports and right for flight connections. Which way should I have
gone, and why? I was confused because both directions seemed to apply!
But then I worried that if I followed flight connections, I didn't know
I would get to pick up my bag to get it onto the connecting flight, so I
followed the UK passports sign and ended up picking up my bag and going
landside and then I went and found check-in for my next flight, I just
didn't know if I'd needlessly gone the long way around.

You can always stop and ask, but if your bag isn't checked through, you
need to pick it up, which in this case means entering the UK at this
point (and I'm assuming flying domestically to complete your travel?)

"Flight connections" means staying on the international side, in which
case you avoid customs completely. This is where I typically go,
traveling from Canada to Germany, but this is only an option if your
bags are checked through, to my knowledge there is no bag pickup/dropoff
on this side (nor would you likely be able to access your gate)

The fact that the UK does this, while the US requires me to enter and
then leave means that I fly through the UK on BA, and spend money at LHR
instead of spending money in the US and on a US airline when I travel.

--
Prayer has no place in the public schools, just like facts
have no place in organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers

LHR international arrival confusion
 

On Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:36:12 +0000, Mark Carroll
wrote:

Recently I arrived from the US into Heathrow, perhaps terminal 4 but I
don't recall for sure. I was confused by the signs and I am wondering
what I should have done.

I hold a UK passport and my itinerary had a connecting flight. However,
I wasn't yet checked in for the connection, nor was my baggage checked
through beyond LHR.

So, just before passport control, there was a sign pointing left for UK
passports and right for flight connections. Which way should I have
gone, and why? I was confused because both directions seemed to apply!
But then I worried that if I followed flight connections, I didn't know
I would get to pick up my bag to get it onto the connecting flight, so I
followed the UK passports sign and ended up picking up my bag and going
landside and then I went and found check-in for my next flight, I just
didn't know if I'd needlessly gone the long way around.

No, you've done exactly the right thing.

If your baggage isn't checked through you have to get through passport
control to get your baggage and then go through 'groundside security'
again to catch your flight.

LHR international arrival confusion
 

"DevilsPGD" wrote in message
...
In the last episode of , Mark Carroll
said:

Recently I arrived from the US into Heathrow, perhaps terminal 4 but I
don't recall for sure. I was confused by the signs and I am wondering
what I should have done.

I hold a UK passport and my itinerary had a connecting flight. However,
I wasn't yet checked in for the connection, nor was my baggage checked
through beyond LHR.

So, just before passport control, there was a sign pointing left for UK
passports and right for flight connections. Which way should I have
gone, and why? I was confused because both directions seemed to apply!
But then I worried that if I followed flight connections, I didn't know
I would get to pick up my bag to get it onto the connecting flight, so I
followed the UK passports sign and ended up picking up my bag and going
landside and then I went and found check-in for my next flight, I just
didn't know if I'd needlessly gone the long way around.

You can always stop and ask, but if your bag isn't checked through, you
need to pick it up, which in this case means entering the UK at this
point (and I'm assuming flying domestically to complete your travel?)

"Flight connections" means staying on the international side, in which
case you avoid customs completely. This is where I typically go,
traveling from Canada to Germany, but this is only an option if your
bags are checked through, to my knowledge there is no bag pickup/dropoff
on this side (nor would you likely be able to access your gate)

The fact that the UK does this, while the US requires me to enter and
then leave means that I fly through the UK on BA, and spend money at LHR
instead of spending money in the US and on a US airline when I travel.

The worst thing about the US systems is that those people who can't use the
visa waver have to go to the aggro of getting a full visa, just to transit
at a US airport

tim

LHR international arrival confusion
 

You can always stop and ask, but if your bag isn't checked through,
you need to pick it up, which in this case means entering the UK at
this point (and I'm assuming flying domestically to complete your
travel?)

You cannot trust airline staff to know the answer to this.

In traveling EU to US via Canada, I was told that I must collect my
check-on luggage in the *first* US stop, and re-check it. (this
sounded reasonable because i've had to do that in the past). But it
was bad info. *Two* staff members in two different cities along the
way gave these same wrong instructions.

I went to collect my bag, but it never appeared. I was forced to run,
stand in line, and re-enter the secured area to catch the next flight.
The bag was ultimately checked through the first city traversed in the
destination country, and arrived at my destination. I was needlessly
advised to go through TSA, and risk missing a connection.

Travelers need a more certain way of knowing, without relying on
airline staff. Sometimes there is a customs "pre-screening" check,
and sometimes not. Sometimes there are multiple international
airports (read: airports with customs). In some cases there is a
customs service for the destination country doing a full customs
process on the soil of a foreign country.

How can we know? There must be an algorithm.

LHR international arrival confusion
 

On Thu, 02 Jan 2014 07:49:00 +0800, Anonymous
wrote:

You can always stop and ask, but if your bag isn't checked through,
you need to pick it up, which in this case means entering the UK at
this point (and I'm assuming flying domestically to complete your
travel?)

You cannot trust airline staff to know the answer to this.

In traveling EU to US via Canada, I was told that I must collect my
check-on luggage in the *first* US stop, and re-check it. (this
sounded reasonable because i've had to do that in the past). But it
was bad info. *Two* staff members in two different cities along the
way gave these same wrong instructions.

I went to collect my bag, but it never appeared. I was forced to run,
stand in line, and re-enter the secured area to catch the next flight.
The bag was ultimately checked through the first city traversed in the
destination country, and arrived at my destination. I was needlessly
advised to go through TSA, and risk missing a connection.

Travelers need a more certain way of knowing, without relying on
airline staff. Sometimes there is a customs "pre-screening" check,
and sometimes not. Sometimes there are multiple international
airports (read: airports with customs). In some cases there is a
customs service for the destination country doing a full customs
process on the soil of a foreign country.

How can we know? There must be an algorithm.

As a general rule when your bags are checked in they are 'tagged'
with an international style tag. This has the trigraphs of any
airports transited and the final airport destination marked on it.

The check-in staff will also give you a stick on luggage claim
sticker, usually affixed to the small folder your boarding cards come
in.

Always check your paperwork and always make sure, from the people who
affix the tags to your baggage, where you will be collecting it.

LHR international arrival confusion
 

"Bill" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Jan 2014 07:49:00 +0800, Anonymous
wrote:

You can always stop and ask, but if your bag isn't checked through,
you need to pick it up, which in this case means entering the UK at
this point (and I'm assuming flying domestically to complete your
travel?)

You cannot trust airline staff to know the answer to this.

In traveling EU to US via Canada, I was told that I must collect my
check-on luggage in the *first* US stop, and re-check it. (this
sounded reasonable because i've had to do that in the past). But it
was bad info. *Two* staff members in two different cities along the
way gave these same wrong instructions.

I went to collect my bag, but it never appeared. I was forced to run,
stand in line, and re-enter the secured area to catch the next flight.
The bag was ultimately checked through the first city traversed in the
destination country, and arrived at my destination. I was needlessly
advised to go through TSA, and risk missing a connection.

Travelers need a more certain way of knowing, without relying on
airline staff. Sometimes there is a customs "pre-screening" check,
and sometimes not. Sometimes there are multiple international
airports (read: airports with customs). In some cases there is a
customs service for the destination country doing a full customs
process on the soil of a foreign country.

How can we know? There must be an algorithm.

As a general rule when your bags are checked in they are 'tagged'
with an international style tag. This has the trigraphs of any
airports transited and the final airport destination marked on it.

The check-in staff will also give you a stick on luggage claim
sticker, usually affixed to the small folder your boarding cards come
in.

Always check your paperwork and always make sure, from the people who
affix the tags to your baggage, where you will be collecting it.

Doesn't work like that when you are flying to a point behind a US gateway.
For instance London/Chicago/Denver will have a tag saying LHR/ORD/DEN but
you have to collect the bag at ORD, go through immigration then customs and,
as you exit customs recheck the bag with your domestic carrier.

But "Anonymous" was (if I understand him correctly) doing something like
London/Toronto/Denver/Butte. He says 2 airline staff told him to collect
the bag at Denver (1st US point) then recheck for Butte but his bag never
appeared at Denver and it appeared at Butte.

I think I understand what happened but it intrigues me a bit.

Toronto has airside transit (in other words you don't need to enter Canada
to catch another international flight). It also hosts US immigration.
What happens is you get off your plane from Europe, go to the US departure
area and en-route you go through US immigration (while still in Canada).
However, you don't go through US customs as far as I can see from the
airport website. In any case, when the plane arrives at Denver it is
treated by the US as coming from a US point (because immigration has been
completed) so there is no need for the pax to go through customs (or
immigration) and the bag can continue as an interline bag from one plane to
the next at Denver.

Something doesn't feel right in my explanation but based on what I see on
the Toronto Pearson airport website
http://www.torontopearson.com/Connecting.aspx that seems to be the process.

LHR international arrival confusion
 

"Graham Harrison" writes:
(snip)
Something doesn't feel right in my explanation but based on what I see on
the Toronto Pearson airport website
http://www.torontopearson.com/Connecting.aspx that seems to be the process.

Yes -- admittedly, I don't recall what happened with customs, but I
think I had a Halifax - Boston flight that had me do the US immigration
bit in Halifax on the way out, which was a surprise.

-- Mark

LHR international arrival confusion
 

Bill writes:

No, you've done exactly the right thing.

If your baggage isn't checked through you have to get through passport
control to get your baggage and then go through 'groundside security'
again to catch your flight.

Thank you very much to you and others for explaining. Hopefully they
have an easy corrective route for those who followed "flight
connections" not realizing this! (It would be an easy mistake to make
given how, coming to the US and connecting domestically, one gets quite
used to picking up one's bag in flight connections, for port-of-entry
customs reasons.)

-- Mark