Hi,
I am currently planning a pretty basic itinerary for travel in 2014. Planning a 17 day trip to visit London, Bath and Edinburgh. I can fly from NYC-LHR or from NYC - EDI. Heard some bad stories about the lines at customs at Heathrow though...would it make my trip a little easier to fly into Edinburgh or Heathrow?
Never flew internationally before so i'm not sure if there is really a difference at all.
Thanks for your advice.
Customs at Edinburgh or London
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Customs takes seconds if you go through the green channel.
Immigration will take longer - it can be an hour or more. It was bad during the run-up to the Olympics this year.
Edinburgh is a smaller airport but that is no guarantee that immigration lines will be shorter as there will be fewer immigration officers on duty. And it depends on how many international flights arrive at the same time.
It's not customs you need to worry about - you normally just walk through the green channel and sometimes there are no staff in sight. It's the immigration line that can take time, and at busy times, it can take an hour or more at Heathrow. Provincial airports have shorter lines, as most passengers are UK residents with British or EU passports, often on holiday flights. Apart from passport lines, changing planes at Heathrow, esp if it involves changing terminals, can be a slow affair so I usually avoid it.
Thanks for the info! You guys are right though, I did mean Immigration.
Heathrow can be very easy or a nightmare. If a couple of Jamacian flights come in together and late you have come to the wrong airport.
Edinburgh will be easier because at least one of the limited personnel will be devoted to non-EU arrivals. I have never taken more than 10 minutes from entering the terminal to picking up my bag and going out the green lane.
HOWEVER if it involves flying from Newark on a United (ex-Continental) 757, be aware that this is one of the most miserable possible ways to cross the Atlantic. It is 3-3 seating with no legroom.
Friends have enjoyed flying Aer Lingus since you can go through immigration in Ireland and take a short Dash-8 turboprop to EDI. Going through AMS or CDG is not better than going through Heathrow. I don't know about Manchester.
It's worth it.
Going through AMS or CDG is not better than going through Heathrow.
You don't pass through immigration at either AMS or CDG so I can't see how it's "not better" than going through LHR.
Indeed my advice whenever you don't want to fly into London is to either fly direct or fly via a mainland European hub (ie NOT Dublin) as then you avoid the worry of standing in an immigration queue while departure time for your onward flight gets closer.