Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Jun 14th 2018, 9:32 pm
#16
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
What about this then?
A 6 minutes pat down for a 90 year old in a wheelchair.
A 6 minutes pat down for a 90 year old in a wheelchair.
Jul 2nd 2018, 8:26 pm
#17
Senior Moment
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 5,008
Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Sorry you had to go through that Rete, it sounds horrendous. I had a couple of similar experiences of being separated, yelled at and searched at JFK. Treated with utter contempt by the TSA or whoever the immigration officers were simply for existing. Was made to stand up for 2 hours while waiting when I was pregnant, and told to stand up when I sat down on the floor after worrying I was going to faint. No reason for it, just needlessly cruel and power mad.
Jul 2nd 2018, 10:34 pm
#18
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Oh No! Sorry to hear this. I'm flying through Keflavik on a super-cheap flight from SFO-> Manchester; land in KEF at 6:40am, and fly out at 8am ... hopefully the airport won't be too busy then. On my return, I land at 2:50pm and take off at 5pm ... presumably more likely to be a zoo then.
I wonder what possesses them to be so rude/unhelpful ... I naively assumed they would be grateful for the fact that people are flying through their little dot on the map and be welcoming ... oh well. Now, I shall expect the worst and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised.
As for the airline itself ... I'm quite OK with having to pay for all the extras, and will pick up some good food at SFO and MAN before takeoff. I'm assuming I can buy something half-way decent at KEF also. I have my own movie collection on my various devices so don't need any in-flight entertainment. I personally hate the fact that airlines have taken away valuable 'foot space' below the seats in order to install the seat-back entertainment systems.
I wonder what possesses them to be so rude/unhelpful ... I naively assumed they would be grateful for the fact that people are flying through their little dot on the map and be welcoming ... oh well. Now, I shall expect the worst and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised.
As for the airline itself ... I'm quite OK with having to pay for all the extras, and will pick up some good food at SFO and MAN before takeoff. I'm assuming I can buy something half-way decent at KEF also. I have my own movie collection on my various devices so don't need any in-flight entertainment. I personally hate the fact that airlines have taken away valuable 'foot space' below the seats in order to install the seat-back entertainment systems.
Jul 3rd 2018, 4:44 pm
#19
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Iirc food options at Keflavik airport were limited and expensive. I know I was glad I stocked up at a supermarket in Edinburgh before my flight.
Jul 3rd 2018, 5:31 pm
#20
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Joined: Dec 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 18,825
Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Interesting to hear Iceland is not recommended, have almost gone that route a couple of times. In my naivety I had imagined the airport to be small and little used. My worse airport experiences seem to be in metropolises, JFK and LA.
Jul 3rd 2018, 11:02 pm
#21
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Not in Paris
Posts: 18,192
Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
KEF is small but busy. Nice enough but seriously expensive for food/gifts (as is the rest of Iceland). Think London prices but at least double again.
Jul 4th 2018, 12:44 pm
#22
Concierge
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,382
Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Paying for extras was not an issue nor a problem. If you don't mind paying on the plane for a cuppa noodles or for a few small pieces of dried out cheese and crackers, then you are all set. Buying food at KEF, if you have the time between planes (which you will) you will have long lines and will need deep pockets. On Air Icelandic the movies are free with quite a nice selection.
The problem is too many planes and to small an airport. Planes are not on time leaving. For example we were flying from Iceland to NY, the delay just to board was an hour and then another 1-1/2 hours sitting on the tarmac. We were to leave at 16:10 and at 15:30 they were just taking people for the flight for Denver. A couple on the cruise with us going to Texas was told in Munich at the check in counter that they would not be making their Texas connection with then got to KEF and were told to book a hotel for the night at that airport.
Personally, I found nothing nice enough about KEF.
The problem is too many planes and to small an airport. Planes are not on time leaving. For example we were flying from Iceland to NY, the delay just to board was an hour and then another 1-1/2 hours sitting on the tarmac. We were to leave at 16:10 and at 15:30 they were just taking people for the flight for Denver. A couple on the cruise with us going to Texas was told in Munich at the check in counter that they would not be making their Texas connection with then got to KEF and were told to book a hotel for the night at that airport.
Personally, I found nothing nice enough about KEF.
Sep 26th 2018, 4:51 pm
#23
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Returned yesterday from my birthday cruise down the River Danube from Budapest to Passau. The cruise line booked my airline portion of the trip to and from Europe. Never again ... will book my own in the future as I had done previously. Flew from JFK in NYC to Belgium via Brussels Airline with a plane change in Brussels again on Brussels Airlines. After a long walk to the next terminal, had to go through passport control again. There was only an hour between flights and this cut into the time needed to get from one plane to the next but after a 15 minute wait we made it through and were back to walking to the proper gate.
Coming back to the US we were booked on Icelandic Airways from Munich to Iceland to JFK. Nice plane -- a 757. No meals served without charge and those offered were Cup of Noodles, a piece of cheese and crackers and nuts, a soggy sandwich (which the river cruise had ordered) of dubious chicken ? wilted lettuce, pink tomatoes and salad dressing on some dubious brown bread which was still 1/2 frozen. Offered a bottle of water for free. The only nice thing was the free movies. Watched that stupid movie "The Shape of Water" and a musical "The Greatest Showman". Land in Iceland. Disembarked not even on the tarmac but in some god forsaken area where you board buses to get to the terminal. No signs, no direction, finally found a monitor and our connecting flight was listed as being 38 minutes delayed. Walk, walk, walk. Crowded with rude and rushing people. Again have to go through passport control. I'm tagged.
Impolitely grabbed and physically escorted to a big room and given a number. Few minutes later, a man crooks a finger at me and beckons me to his small room and closes the door. Inside was the man and a female agent<?>. She grabs my three bags and throws them on a table and proceeds to open end them onto the table and paws through everything.Mister, impolite, motions for me to stand with my legs apart and arms out at shoulder height. Not one word spoken. Waves his magic wand over me and of course, I beep. I have a rod in my left arm from shoulder cup to elbow cup. I have breast cancer markers in both my breasts. I am wearing a hearing aid. He yells "take off your feet." I look at the idiot. "Take off your feet" and he points to my feet. I look him in the eye and said "You mean my shoes?" I take off my shoes and he indicates I am to pick them up. He wands them and motions for me to drop them. He then motions for me to lift each foot and he swabs them down. He lifts my pants legs and swabs my calves. He then swabs my hands, front and back and my lower arms.
He motions for me to put my shoes back on. The female throws things into the three bags helter skelter. Hey, there is $4,000 worth of hearing aid in that one bag alone. Be careful with it.
Looks again at my boarding pass and my passport, grabs my right arms and leads me to the outer door, hands me my documents and bags and motions for me to leave.
What the hell is that. I'm a grandmother, traveling with my daughters, I just celebrated my 70th birthday and this is how you treat people. Me? What the f* do you think I was?
Guess what Iceland and Icelandic Airlines. You will never see me on your airline or in your airport again. The flight was to leave at 6:30 and instead left at 8:00 which means we missed the third flight and had to book a room at the JFK airport hotel for the night.
Coming back to the US we were booked on Icelandic Airways from Munich to Iceland to JFK. Nice plane -- a 757. No meals served without charge and those offered were Cup of Noodles, a piece of cheese and crackers and nuts, a soggy sandwich (which the river cruise had ordered) of dubious chicken ? wilted lettuce, pink tomatoes and salad dressing on some dubious brown bread which was still 1/2 frozen. Offered a bottle of water for free. The only nice thing was the free movies. Watched that stupid movie "The Shape of Water" and a musical "The Greatest Showman". Land in Iceland. Disembarked not even on the tarmac but in some god forsaken area where you board buses to get to the terminal. No signs, no direction, finally found a monitor and our connecting flight was listed as being 38 minutes delayed. Walk, walk, walk. Crowded with rude and rushing people. Again have to go through passport control. I'm tagged.
Impolitely grabbed and physically escorted to a big room and given a number. Few minutes later, a man crooks a finger at me and beckons me to his small room and closes the door. Inside was the man and a female agent<?>. She grabs my three bags and throws them on a table and proceeds to open end them onto the table and paws through everything.Mister, impolite, motions for me to stand with my legs apart and arms out at shoulder height. Not one word spoken. Waves his magic wand over me and of course, I beep. I have a rod in my left arm from shoulder cup to elbow cup. I have breast cancer markers in both my breasts. I am wearing a hearing aid. He yells "take off your feet." I look at the idiot. "Take off your feet" and he points to my feet. I look him in the eye and said "You mean my shoes?" I take off my shoes and he indicates I am to pick them up. He wands them and motions for me to drop them. He then motions for me to lift each foot and he swabs them down. He lifts my pants legs and swabs my calves. He then swabs my hands, front and back and my lower arms.
He motions for me to put my shoes back on. The female throws things into the three bags helter skelter. Hey, there is $4,000 worth of hearing aid in that one bag alone. Be careful with it.
Looks again at my boarding pass and my passport, grabs my right arms and leads me to the outer door, hands me my documents and bags and motions for me to leave.
What the hell is that. I'm a grandmother, traveling with my daughters, I just celebrated my 70th birthday and this is how you treat people. Me? What the f* do you think I was?
Guess what Iceland and Icelandic Airlines. You will never see me on your airline or in your airport again. The flight was to leave at 6:30 and instead left at 8:00 which means we missed the third flight and had to book a room at the JFK airport hotel for the night.
... I'm flying through Keflavik on a super-cheap flight from SFO-> Manchester; land in KEF at 6:40am, and fly out at 8am ... hopefully the airport won't be too busy then. On my return, I land at 2:50pm and take off at 5pm ... presumably more likely to be a zoo then.
....
....
Sep 26th 2018, 5:12 pm
#24
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Our experience was that is was no worse than any other airport. Food was around $8 to $10$ for a sandwich, so expensive. they gave us all ipads for the short hop from BRM to KEF. The sandwiches we brought onboard were better than the majority of airline food. The only annoying thing was that our stroller went to luggage claim and nobody told us there were free strollers for us to use to get to baggage claim.
Sep 26th 2018, 9:41 pm
#25
Concierge
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,382
Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Yes, my flight landed in one terminal and had to go to another terminal. I will never book a flight again through Iceland. It might be a beautiful country but it never was one that was on my bucket list. My next European flight will be to Portugal and returning from Spain next fall.
Sep 26th 2018, 10:14 pm
#26
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
The sandwich I picked up at SFO was $12, as was the salad I bought. $8-$10 is 'cheap' by airport standards!
Sep 27th 2018, 3:33 am
#27
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Yes, my flight landed in one terminal and had to go to another terminal. I will never book a flight again through Iceland. It might be a beautiful country but it never was one that was on my bucket list. My next European flight will be to Portugal and returning from Spain next fall.
I actually had a 3 1/2hr layover at Keflavik on my way back from Edinburgh to San Francisco. For the first 2 1/2 hours, I thought the airport was kind of cool. It was only the last hour when the airport rapidly filled and it was an utter shambles even getting down the corridor towards my flight's gate, that I realized that this airport simply couldn't cope with the volume of passengers it gets.
Sep 27th 2018, 9:34 am
#28
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Pretty sure there's only one terminal at Keflavik, although it does have separate Schengen and non-Schengen zones.
I actually had a 3 1/2hr layover at Keflavik on my way back from Edinburgh to San Francisco. For the first 2 1/2 hours, I thought the airport was kind of cool. It was only the last hour when the airport rapidly filled and it was an utter shambles even getting down the corridor towards my flight's gate, that I realized that this airport simply couldn't cope with the volume of passengers it gets.
I actually had a 3 1/2hr layover at Keflavik on my way back from Edinburgh to San Francisco. For the first 2 1/2 hours, I thought the airport was kind of cool. It was only the last hour when the airport rapidly filled and it was an utter shambles even getting down the corridor towards my flight's gate, that I realized that this airport simply couldn't cope with the volume of passengers it gets.
https://travelwidget.com/Keflavik-In...t-terminal-map
Official airport map - terribly constructed diagrams, but there is a small 'key' in a circle, showing in red where the current 'diagram' is in relation to the whole. The Level 1 area I'm talking about is identified as "FIRST FLOOR - GATE AREA D15 -34" and the Level 2 area is identified as "SECOND FLOOR - GATE AREA C21-36". As you can see, 'Second floor gate area c21-36' has border control, while First floor does not.
https://www.isavia.is/en/keflavik-ai...acilities/maps
This page looks somewhat informative: How to get from Keflavik International Airport to Reykjavik – ICELAND FOR DUMMIES , although the association of 1 with arrival and 2 with departure didn't fit my experience (arrive/depart from level 1).
Sep 27th 2018, 3:24 pm
#29
Concierge
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,382
Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Yes, I had to change levels after getting off the bus and when I put my ticket's barcode on the machine to allow me into the other gate area, I was pulled aside and taken for search and questioning.
Unfortunately, I did not find the airport cool. I found it crowded, small, unorganized and personnel unfriendly. It reminded me of a cattle holding area with a single chute where the cattle go through to be branded.
Unfortunately, I did not find the airport cool. I found it crowded, small, unorganized and personnel unfriendly. It reminded me of a cattle holding area with a single chute where the cattle go through to be branded.
Last edited by Rete; Sep 27th 2018 at 3:26 pm.
Sep 27th 2018, 5:15 pm
#30
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Re: Border/Passport Control in Iceland and Belgium
Yes, I had to change levels after getting off the bus and when I put my ticket's barcode on the machine to allow me into the other gate area, I was pulled aside and taken for search and questioning.
Unfortunately, I did not find the airport cool. I found it crowded, small, unorganized and personnel unfriendly. It reminded me of a cattle holding area with a single chute where the cattle go through to be branded.
Unfortunately, I did not find the airport cool. I found it crowded, small, unorganized and personnel unfriendly. It reminded me of a cattle holding area with a single chute where the cattle go through to be branded.
