Security, Immigration & Border Control

[Seasider]

I am probably being cynical, but trebling the cost for fast track is not going to be the answer. Are BHX trying to make passengers think that £20 per person is worth it?

 

[Kevin Farnell]

£80 for a family of four That would go a long way towards a family meal out while on hols!

 

[Deleted member 8277]

I am probably being cynical, but trebling the cost for fast track is not going to be the answer. Are BHX trying to make passengers think that £20 per person is worth it?

Looks like the airport has confidence in the new security area

"Premium Fast Track vouchers can only be pre–booked online for a cost of £7 (£20 from 1st July 2024) per person"

Maybe I'm being cynical now but have BHX created a "new queuing normal" to benefit financially from fast track tickets. That wouldn't surprise me as they seem to keep plugging the new normal every time they get bad press.

 

[TM3]

Don't know why they don't let you pay fast track on the day as that is when you know if you need it.

 

[MB1]

Looks like the airport has confidence in the new security area

"Premium Fast Track vouchers can only be pre–booked online for a cost of £7 (£20 from 1st July 2024) per person"

WOW!

Sounds like the airport already know the summer isn't going to be great and they're setting up to profiteer nicely.

Whilst Mr Barton's Luton experience may have paid dividends in the relationship with the orange airline (although I think they'd inevitably have ended up with a base here, Barton or not), it seems under his leadership BHX is embracing the cheapskate everything bodged together at the lowest possible cost way of doing things, like LTN! No thought given to the customers, just fleece them the best we can.

 

[jfy1999]

i don’t remember if it has been asked on here before, but will this rebuild increase the overall number of security lanes?

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Don't know why they don't let you pay fast track on the day as that is when you know if you need it.

Good point, but it possibly works the other way round. If people have booked it in advance, it prevents people from turning up on the day and realising they don't need it.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

i don’t remember if it has been asked on here before, but will this rebuild increase the overall number of security lanes?

Hi JFY,

Going by what BV had posted, this will reduce the number of lanes.

What annoys me when trying to catch a flight and there is a long queue (even with fast-track, it becomes uncomfortable) is when you get to the top, only half of the lanes are open. - Wouldn't ensuring that security lanes are fully staffed at busy times shorten the wait.

 

[TM3]

Good point, but it possibly works the other way round. If people have booked it in advance, it prevents people from turning up on the day and realising they don't need it.

I only really want to pay the £20 if I need to fast track though, sometimes the airport genuinely is empty.

I flew Emirates a month ago on a Saturday night and I had fastrack included on my ticket, the airport was completely dead.

The fastrack lane was closed anyway, there was just one lane open towards the far end of security.

I had my bag pulled up for a search even though I had taken out my laptop, liquids etc as per instructions. I wasn't the only one. It seems like they are a bit trigger happy with the bag search to me, maybe they picked it out because it had an Emirates business priority tag on it?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Looks like the airport has confidence in the new security area

"Premium Fast Track vouchers can only be pre–booked online for a cost of £7 (£20 from 1st July 2024) per person"

The 'Premium Fast Track' is for arrivals to gain faster access to UKBF checkpoints.

For departures I've just done an August dummy booking for 'Express Lane Security' and it is still £5 (with limited on the day tickets available for £7.50).

 

[rollo]

The 'Premium Fast Track' is for arrivals to gain faster access to UKBF checkpoints.

For departures I've just done an August dummy booking for 'Express Lane Security' and it is still £5 (with limited on the day tickets available for £7.50).

Correct - I booked fast track the other day fo £5 and noticed that they were offering arrivals fast track at twenty quid a pop.

 

[TM3]

Serious question. Is the 3 hour queue only on Mondays or is it likely to be every day over Easter? I have to travel to the Channel Islands and I'm not prepared to stand in a 3 hour queue for a flight that lasts less than an hour.

Otherwise I have an EMA service but it's less frequent.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Serious question. Is the 3 hour queue only on Mondays or is it likely to be every day over Easter? I have to travel to the Channel Islands and I'm not prepared to stand in a 3 hour queue for a flight that lasts less than an hour.

Easter has been and gone. Did you mean the May day or Whitsun Bank Holiday?

 

[TM3]

Sorry I assumed this rush was to do with the Easter holiday period, I actually mean in the next 2 weeks.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Sorry I assumed this rush was to do with the Easter holiday period, I actually mean in the next 2 weeks.

From what I can find online, Spring Half Term runs 27 to 31 May this year and is likely to be busy. As to how busy the non school holiday weeks are, I'm not sure.

 

[TM3]

So these delays (which from the newspapers were 24th & 26th of April) are nothing to do with any particular busy period, they are just as it says, the new normal until the terminal is ready?

 

[Jon Dempsey]

The 'Premium Fast Track' is for arrivals to gain faster access to UKBF checkpoints.

For departures I've just done an August dummy booking for 'Express Lane Security' and it is still £5 (with limited on the day tickets available for £7.50).

Thanks Ray, apologies for jumping the gun everyone.

 

[Otisblue]

My brother flew out to Denver this morning via Frankfurt on the 9.10 Lufthansa flight ( LH953 ).

He had received an email yesterday from Lufthansa asking him to arrive at the airport early due to
the potential delays with getting through security.

They arrived at 7am, and from bag drop to getting through the 'new' security was 20 minutes.

A couple of comments he made.........long queues for the lifts, but the queue was being managed and
moved quickly. A lot of bags were being selected for examination which as has been mentioned in other posts is bound to slow the process down.

Overall he was very happy with his experience today, so hopefully getting through security will improve as the new scanners and processes bed in.

And just to add, on 15 April I flew to Tenerife with Easyjet ( great flight ), and from bag drop opening to getting through 'old' security took 30 minutes. The experience was fine, although we were held at the lifts for about 10 minutes and when we got upstairs it was empty.

 

[HPsauce]

Relatives of mine have just flown LS1361 to PMI. They were apprehensive about delays, but said the overall experience was fine, and no worse than previous trips abroad in the last year from BHX. It departed just a few minutes late.

 

[Bhx_fifteen]

Silly question perhaps but - for those arriving via train and accessing the “new” security area, can you take >100ml liquids?
Or are they keeping the “old”/current rules the same throughout the airport for consistency until 1st June?

Just wondered if anyone who has travelled recently is aware, as I fly on Thursday and it would be fab to take some home favourites through that I can’t find abroad