Former Lancastrian

But cashiers don't have the legislative authority to do that. Another member of the public who feels that the authorities should believe everything they are told and not check people for prohibited, controlled or restricted goods or if they believe they should do that they can do it to others but not to them as no member of the public ever lies especially to border officers.

Shard

It is a good example by JS, but I can't say the same for your analysis of it. Corporations don't have the same duty of impartiality as public services have.

Tirytory

What a ridiculous analogy. Certain jobs are to do with safety for us and others. That doesn't make them a jobs worth, it means they are enforcing rules brought in for our safety... This applies to all manner of jobs..

scrubbedexpat091

I think most people's issue with border guards is less about the checking and more about the attitude the guards have towards the public.

I don't care about the questions or the checking, but I do care about the bad attitudes most guards seem to have and the level of rudeness shown to the public.

bats

This.

Former Lancastrian

I totally agree with this. Im sure many on here have had good or bad experiences with any Customs in many a country. There again from my side you don't get to see the attitudes by members of the public given to us. I even got the I pay your salary today from a person who was on the phone 1300 kms away from me. Even though she was totally at fault for the situation she was in I bore the brunt of her call.
We are human as well and its easy to say we should always remain professional at all times but we all have snapping or breaking points. How many parents have shouted at their kids after a bad day. Did they really deserve it or was that your breaking point.
Yes we have some power hungry badge wielding individuals but find me a law enforcement agency that doesn't have them.

Gozit

+1 to this.

I've generally found CBSA to be pretty pleasant, none of these over excessive passport checks you guys speak of, but if that happens on my next trip out and back then i'll be fairly annoyed.

Its not the CBSA agents themselves that people are pissed off with [in this thread] , but the excessive checkings. In the EU going in as a tourist, before I became an EU citizen, so traveling on my Canadian passport, my passport was only checked once. If coming back into Canada it was checked 3, 4 times i'd be fairly upset.

US CBP agents have been terrible though. Last time we flew into orlando from Toronto, the CBP guy at the desk proceeded to make a bunch of racist remarks about the people who had just passed through. Other than that all the CBP agents I've dealt with have been just rude in general.

scrubbedexpat091

Yes they can be especially when one isn't in possession of a US Passport, I do find they tend to be nicer overall to USC vs those on a foreign passport.

For Canada my experiences have been a mix, but mostly good.

Jamaica has been the only country where I can say the experience was down right horrible, so much so, I will never go back there.

Australia wasn't bad, lots of questions, but they were mostly friendly overall.

Mexico they don't seem to care much about anything, and it was very random with the red light/green light system for bag inspection. Press a button, get green you went through, get red and they searched you.

(Not sure if Mexico still does this.)

Walking across into Mexico from some borders, Mexico doesn't even have checks, you just walk across through the gate and off you go.

Gozit

Yeah.

I'd be intrigued to know what happened... Never been to Jamaica so its news to me.

I don't remember it but the one and only time I've been to mexico was when i was about 4, my parents didn't quite like it so we've never been back.

Some Canadian-US border points don't have checks. There's even a city where one half is Canadian and one half is US

Steve_

The problem with the bag fee is that it forces people to use the largest carry on possible, and okay, the airline is checking to make sure it's not too large - the problem is that different countries have different maximum sizes for carry on luggage. So your bag may be okay on the way to, say, the UK, but too big on the way back.

As for CBSA, they run the gamut from excellent to hopeless. I had to file a complaint with the superintendent recently.

My basic problem with CBSA is they seem to be more concerned about collecting sales tax than anything else, whereas the Americans treat everyone like they might be a terrorist. Surely there is some happy medium.

Frankly if they could get this "Beyond the Border Initiative" finished, the next logical step would be to remove border controls between the US and Canada.

Gozit

No thanks.

caretaker

The price is out of my control so if I need a suitcase I'll pay if I want to fly. At the airport it's CBSA that often looks like a waste of money and the fact it's my money makes it worse. I resent any hint of power trip from civil servants. A lot of them are ok though, as are nearly all airline staff I've met.

Gozit

+1.

MarkG

Excellent news. I'm tired of getting on board a plane, when I have to slum it in economy class, only to discover that the bin over my seat is already full with someone else's massively oversized bag. Or their guitar, on one recent flight.

That said, the fees for checked bags are annoying. I can live with one, but how many people really fly without any at all? That's like selling you a ticket and then charging you for fuel.

Oh, hang on...

scrubbedexpat091

I was working for an airline at the time, and using my benefits to go there, and as such was space available and not confirmed since well airline employees flying non-revenue fly space available.

I was accused of trying to illegally move and live in Jamaica, and because my ticket had no return date it must have meant I had no intention to live. It was a miserable experience.

I for one will not go back, wasn't impressed with the place, and adding the level of rudeness and unprofessional behavior of their border officers, well lets just say I don't recommend vacationing there.

I'll just go to Puerto Rico or US Virgin Island if I ever go back to that region of the world.