Thank You AA

There are absolutely few things more frustrating than having endured a long haul flight, landing, and then being stuck on the plane due to gate issues! So close and yet so far..... I feel for you.

I'm glad passport control went so well for you at both ends. May the rest of your journey go smoothly.

Thank you Carol. To reach Valencia on Monday I fly IAD to Madrid, have a one hour layover then fly to Valencia. I hope there are seats on a later Valencia flight because a good chance a 1 hour connection won't work.

The day prior I got the notice to check-in. Took 5 attempts to get them to accept my passport info. Process took 15 minutes.

I'm surprised they waited until check-in to request your passport info - other carriers start much earlier. Isn't it easier to add all of that to your profile after you create the booking?

I thought you'd got to the end of the 12-step programme by the title. Different AA I guess.

markcw, the screen for that didn't pop up during the booking process and I didn't pursue it.

The jetway... been there done that on Delta.

It's an industry issue IMHO.

Shall I now tell you a funny story ... or maybe you will not find it funny.

Some years back, we finally got our first non stop international flight to Europe. It was Austin to London.

So the first group is coming in from London to Austin and guess what, there were no immigration officer at The Austin Airport. We were so new at Internation al that we did not know enough to have immigration officers to screen those arriving from London. UGH

Immigration officers had to come up from the airport in San Antonio while the arriving passengers had to wait behind the gates to enter the USA. And it took hours ...

So it is funny now. Not so funny at the time.

We are so improved.

Ah gate issues.

My international flights depart from LAX ( aka Hell on Earth) It’s obviously where return flights land.

On a trip back from Turkey ( where I’d enjoyed the RS Istanbul tour) there were only 2 employees at immigration. Per usual I’d already filled out the immigration card before landing. After gathering my luggage I made my way to stand in the immigration line. Got to the check in point, gave my card to the guy. He looks at me and loudly stated “ you are bringing in Turkey!” I chuckled.
“ No I visited Turkey.” Again he utters “ You bringing in Turkey?!”

Now I think I’m being pranked and reply a little louder, “ NO I went to Turkey.”

Thankfully the other immigration employee leaned over and said something to him. The geography challenged man looked at me and smiled. I was waved through.

LAX is always an adventure in its own right.

The joys of travel these days. In the last two years, most recently at Heathrow, we have sat on the tarmac for over an hour at Bend, SFO, Dublin and Kona, Hawaii waiting for an open gate. I think Carol is right.

I have no idea how much of the day was in their control. To be fair the good stuff on the 787 was that boarding was fairly orderly, plenty of room in the overhead for luggage, no weighing or measuring, my Basic Economy seat was row 12 on the aisle like I prefer. The knee space was ... well at 6 foot tall the distance from my knee to the seat back was equal to the long dimension of my cell phone. Plenty. The food was pretty good and plenty of it and snacks and drinks were self-service in the galley without limit.

Huh, thanks for the interesting update, Mr E!

Airport E gates should be available to me as a resident, but weren't.

Sorry, do you mean there wasn't an immigration officer there, or they were closed? My understanding is as a permanent resident I can now Q with the EU citizens in CPH, just curious ahead of time so my jet lagged brain can absorb it, thanks! (PS, CPH immigration officer told me there are 2 types of residencies, at least here in the Cold North, so the officer needs to check which kind you have.... If that's any use to know at all!)

The rule as published, is those with EU passports or residency in the EU are exempt from EES. So I am exempt.

But in Hungary at least, despite the fact that all the directional signage says differently, you still have to go to the "Other Passports" line, coming and going.

Yesterday on the way out of Schengen at Budapest no one stopped me so I followed the signs for "Resident of EU" and got to the E- Gate. The scan machine digital display showed how to insert a passport and a Residency / EU ID card. It refused to read either so I went to the "Other Passport" line. On the way I passed an agent and was told to go to the Other Passport line, she didn't care i was resident.

I think the software isn't fully operational is the problem.

Same on the way into Schengen at Budapest, the signage says one thing, but they will still send you to the "Other Passports" line. BUT, because I am exempt from EES they just look at the Passport and residency card, scan it in the system. No fingerprints and no photo. One time they stamped my passport, one time not.

I suspect it will be a little different at every port of entry for a while.

EDIT: I've done a little more reading, don't count on getting in the EU passports line. But someday everyone after being enrolled will get an E- Gate, but maybe still different than the EU E-Gate.

Hahaha, Thanks, Mr E. I'm so glad I have a sense of humor and am not trying to make a close connection! Yep, I too am exempt, what I'm hoping to avoid is that 1-hour long Q in the 'Other' passport line I saw entering Schengen at CPH on May 30th, as I exited Schengen without anyone in front of me.

I will report back in mid August on my way back into Schengen.... Thanks for the laugh!

EDIT: I've done a little more reading, don't count on getting in the
EU passports line. But someday everyone after being enrolled will get
an E- Gate, but maybe still different than the EU E-Gate.

In the case of Germany, you can register now with Easy Pass - you have to register with the German police OUTSIDE of security. I wrote about this a few YEARS ago and most people gave me crap and thought I was silly because 'EES was coming soon' Ha ha ha. Meanwhile I think I've been through FRA EU-passport automatic gates 6~8 times. If you want the details, I can find the thread. (I wrote some info about filling out the application ahead of time & trying to find the dang office.)

For a very short period of time US passports were accepted with EU passports at AMS. What i read was every country gets to decide individually on that issue. I have a 2 hour transfer at Madrid next week, and it's my point of entry. I may end up sleeping in Madrid. I knew the risk but the ticket was $200 less (nearly 1 goat) than one that made better sense and I know Iberia will have to boot the bill if I get stranded.