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Post by housesparrow on Mar 10, 2012 14:00:05 GMT
Last night I made theh serious mistake of joining the e-passport queue at Gatwick Airport last night. It was much shorter than the line for the one or two manned poins so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
It took forever, and when I got there I understood why. The machines were so slow people thought they were broken, and of course there were no staff standing by to assist.
Call me a luddite, but next time I travel I shall go along with the flow.
Reminder to Sparrow: Not all of those standing in a long line are too stupid to realise there is an alternative.
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Post by everso on Mar 10, 2012 17:12:50 GMT
Last night I made theh serious mistake of joining the e-passport queue at Gatwick Airport last night. It was much shorter than the line for the one or two manned poins so it seemed like a good idea at the time. It took forever, and when I got there I understood why. The machines were so slow people thought they were broken, and of course there were no staff standing by to assist. Call me a luddite, but next time I travel I shall go along with the flow. Reminder to Sparrow: Not all of those standing in a long line are too stupid to realise there is an alternative. The older I get the more put off I am of travelling abroad. All the security, the queuing, the off-hand airport staff, the fart-arsing around never knowing whether you should put your passport back in your bag or whether they'll want to see it again. It's enough to make you stay in the UK forever. And getting Mr. E. to agree to booking anything further away than next week is like trying to get a winkle out of a shell without the aid of a pin. |
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Post by housesparrow on Mar 10, 2012 19:03:31 GMT
I went on my own. It was a walking holiday in La Palma (Riot, it would have made the WHW look like an afternoon stroll) and sadly Jack has problems pottering down the drive. We haven't been on holiday together for ages because he never knows when his feet are going to let him down.
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Post by jean on Mar 11, 2012 17:00:45 GMT
What is the e-passport queue? I have just negotiated Liverpool and Bergamo airports and I don't think I saw it!
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Post by housesparrow on Mar 12, 2012 18:16:24 GMT
What is the e-passport queue? I have just negotiated Liverpool and Bergamo airports and I don't think I saw it! It is one which is served entirely by machines; no human being in sight. You can only use it is you have one of the new e-passports, are over 18 ...and are feeling very brave. |
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Post by jean on Mar 13, 2012 10:30:09 GMT
A bit like the self-service tills in Tesco, then!
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Post by housesparrow on Mar 13, 2012 14:29:54 GMT
Much worse than Tesco because there was no-one around to call for help. The machine didn't tell you whether it was happily scanning your passport or had broken down or what, so people were calling out "This one's broken" just before the barrier opened to make them look like idiots.
The instructions told us to remove our glasses for the photograph and I remembered just in time, but had I not done so I swear that I might still be there.
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