Return from UK - experience with MPC
I promised to review our return.
Last Tuesday we returned from LHR to DFW. Our flight (AA) was at 0930 and so of course I compulsively got us to the airport at 0630 via Hoppa Bus.
There was practically no one at Terminal 3 and we were 3rd in line for AA checkin, The agent chattily asked us questions that sounded like screening: Where had we been, for how long, what our occupations were ("retired") and what were they before retirement. All of this looking straight at us and not reading from a screen or entering anything. She didn't ask the usual questions (did you pack your bags yourself, and have they been in your custody since then?)
There is a common security line for the terminal and of course no TSA PreCheck at LHR (although that WAS printed on the boarding passes). It was fast. Had to remove laptop and Apple Mini from backpack and remove belt, but not shoes. My carryon was selected for inspection. He pointed at the screen and said "I need to know what that is" ... I replied "a Mac mini computer." He had me open it and removed the computer and one other electronic thing, and sent them through xray again. He swabbed a lot, but I never saw him put the swab through the machine.
He returned the electronics and rooted around the other side of the bag, and extracted a small jar of honey we'd had there since Spain. Too liquid, and, he said, too big, but I think it was < 100 mL.
At the gate entrance, an agent was asking similar questions as we had heard at the checkin to a person in front of us. She didn't ask us any questions. Again, not looking at a screen, but at the passenger's face.
There was no official UK passport control, and ours were not stamped.
It was an uneventful flight, except for the Pakistani woman seated next to us, who decided to lie down across all three seats when we went to the restroom....
I had earlier downloaded and configured the MPC (Mobile Passport Control), so as soon as we landed I was filling in the arrival info, which took 20 seconds. I didn't have a connection in the middle of the runway area, but as soon as we neared the buildings I sent it, and had a receipt in 30 seconds.
Upon entering the terminal, there are signs for different categories of passenger, and one for MPC is now included. It sends you to the Global Entry line, but when the agent greeting you there heard "MPC" he asked to see the pictures. We showed them, and he said "thanks, you can exit at booth 32" where another agent also looked at them. Total time in Immigration: 30 seconds. They didn't look at the passports, and didn't ask any questions. We had been out of the US for almost six months, so that surprised me a little. As our passports weren't stamped, we have no direct physical evidence that we exited the UK when we did. I am sure it's in the computers, and of course I could pull up proof if I had to.
On to Customs: our bags came out quickly and we walked toward the agents. There is not a "green channel" here, everyone talks to an agent. When she heard "MPC" she said, "oh good, hold your receipt over the scanner". You have to hold it about an inch up, not slap it down on the glass. We did that for both receipts, it boinged. This agent DID look at the passports (just the ID page) and then she said "thanks, all done." No questions at all. The trip arrival screen on MPC does have four questions about fruit, veg, meat, etc., and just a declaration that you haven't exceeded your allowances. Time here: maybe 90 seconds, as it took a few tries to get the receipt at the right distance the first time.
Someone grabbed our bags and threw them on the re-check belt, and we were off to the Skyway for transfer to terminal C.
This was certainly the fastest and most boring international arrival in our memory. We ARE admittedly 60-something nerds, but British TV has shows about the UK, US, NZ, Australian, and Canadian border agencies, and we expected more questions or surveillance. Not even a dog in sight this time.
