Airline travel, a nightmare?

[NickD 202]

Milwaukee to Caracas with a stop over in Toronto. Check in luggage at Milwaukee, asked about those worthless locks on our baggage, leave them on. You don't get tickets anymore from FedEx or whatever, just show your passport, they printed the boarding passes in a instant, took our luggage and said will be automatically transferred to Caracas, they were. Not sure why we got their three hours earlier, took all but five minutes to check in, then sit on our cans waiting for the second hand on my watch to tick off each second that took several hours. Airports are as boring as hell.

We had a six hour layover in Toronto, wife wanted to see the city, found an Airport Express bus, 56 bucks for two round trip tickets, kind of steep for a 12 mile trip, but what the hell, we took a quick tour of the city, although I have been there many times before in my line of work. But the Airport Express Bus pickup map was wrong, we didn't walk back to where we got off, had to walk another six blocks. Got a little concerned due to Toronto traffic, while they like any other city are building skyscrapers like crazy, no new roads. Bus creped back to the airport, but we made it with minutes to spare. Picked up our luggage in Caracas, no problem, all there, only problem was trying to plow through the many cab drivers, step son was waiting to pick us up. All in all uneventful, but had to fill out a Canadian customs paper before we could leave the airport. They didn't check any of that stuff, could have been carrying a million bucks and a gun, but accepted our forms at a quick glance.

Now coming back, while we picked up our luggage and left Caracas without incident, wife said get the baggage claim tickets, nobody looked, just the cab drivers blocking us from leaving. We had to have our luggage checked twice even before reaching the ticket counter, military and civilian, but not sure why, they were BSing and not even looking at the screen. At the Air Canada ticket counter, only three ahead of us, but took about 45 minutes of standing before our turn came. Wife did all the talking this time, all in Spanish. Luggage was checked again and scanned, with the locks off, and was told they will be checked through to Milwaukee, we flew Air Canada, that was not true this time.

Last year we flew from Minneapolis to Bogota returning the same way but with a different airline from Bogota to Caracas, spend time both coming and going with wife's family in Bogota, I do not recall paying an airport tax as our ticket just said Bogota. With a flight directly to the USA as the final destination, had to pay Chavez an airport tax before leaving, 75 bucks for each of us, and not at one station but at two. My wife knew where to go, I would have been dead lost as no directions were giving, walked a couple of blocks to the first one, then another couple of blocks to the second, at the second, nobody was there, waited until someone showed up. A receipt was stapled to our boarding pass, 150 bucks extra wasn't aware of, but had the cash, guy in front of us was hurting, he was from Canada. He had money for the first tax, but didn't know about the second tax, but wife did call first, they just started that two days ago. Kpet quiet, paid our money and then we were finally free to wait for the plane.

We left at 1:05 AM, Caracas was dead with more military personel then passengers, we were the only plane taking off, but it took the Caracas tower 35 minutes to clear the flight path, wondered what the hell they were doing, just wasting fuel.

Arriving in Tornoto, wasn't in the best mood after being jammed in that tiny seat for over six hours and wondered if I should have paid 2,000 bucks more to get a couple of extra inches of space in first class, that is a joke, first class use to be first class. But was stopped by an immigration officer in Tornoto and told I had to pick up my luggage first, are you sure? The jerk couldn't even speak English, but we waited 45 minutes before I finally saw a suit case that looked like ours. Then the lines, those God awful long lines, first was immigration, no problem this time, wife had a US passport, I beat the gal to the punch with welcome to the USA. Since I had travelled to Toronto many times before, this was pure BS! Never had to go through all that ####### before, and this is Canada with over two thousand unprotected borders at Mexico. Doesn't that a$$hole calling himself a leader know that, I hate my fellow Americans that voted for that idiot, it's your damned fault.

Was told that Tornoto added more than 5 million square feet for security for travels from Canada to the USA, could walk in before all this BS.

So it was a three block walk from immigration to customs hauling luggage. Wife wanted to bring her doll collection and a lamp back, we couldn't add that to our luggage so I found a couple of boxes down there and packed them securely with rope around the packages. When we got to customs, dripping wet with sweat, found out they would not scanned the boxes, had to go another block, only took our luggage. What the phuck is the difference if you put stuff in a bag or in a box, I was really pissed off at this time, anothing phucking line to wait in! God, that place is a mess, time was running short, and while we never left the security area, had to be stripped search again before getting to our gate.

Why in the hell do we have to bring a camera, notebook, and cell phones, well the computer was necessary in Caracas, the only way to check on our reservations, you know, just like checking on your on-line status for immigration. Tried calling Air Canada in Caracas several times, telephones and real people are now obsolete.

But these suckers had to be removed and turned on where some idiot would look at the screen. That required unpacking and standing there with my pants falling off. Wife was so screwed up, she almost forgot her purse and told to rush on through while trying to dress myself and making sure we had everything.

While our Air Canada Jazz flight from Milwaukee to Toronto parked in the main terminal with a short walk for our connection with that long wait, this time we had to find a bus to take us to that terminal. Swear that guy drove to Vancouver to find that terminal, but did get us there with seconds to spare. With a plane with 48 seats, only ten passengers were abroad, wonder how long AC will kept that flight, Milwaukee was dead, grabbed our luggage, all there, but they broke the handle from my wife's luggage. Complained about that, was told had to get on the internet to file a complaint.

It's easy to leave the USA, but pure hell coming back, wonder if they are trying to tell me something, and doesn't make sense why the security is so tight coming back. Only telling the terrorist not to come here to swipe a plane, but to leave instead. But what can you say when we have an a$$hole in the white house, that guy should either be in jail or a nut house.

[Donna A 4]

its true...easy to leave a pain to come back. husband went to syria with no problems...came back to only be told there was a problem with his green card registration number or something like that. they gave him a small problem and then let him go. geeeeeee, i thought the headaches were over when u got the green card. guess i was wrong.

[NickD 202]

its true...easy to leave a pain to come back. husband went to syria with no problems...came back to only be told there was a problem with his green card registration number or something like that. they gave him a small problem and then let him go. geeeeeee, i thought the headaches were over when u got the green card. guess i was wrong.

Wife and mother-in-law with a green card and visa respectively had a great deal of difficulty coming here alone. But no problems when I was with her with her green card. But can say this, if there was, would have been a DHS agent or whatever with a broken neck. They stripped searched both my wife and mother-in-law, and about as far away from a terrorist you can possibly go from the profiles!!! And made a mess out of their luggage, I was furious blowing my stack at my congressman and senator and my language would ban me from this board. Mother-in-law, about the sweetest old lady you could ever meet anywhere didn't deserve that kind of treatment, she doesn't want to visit us anymore, that is insane!!!

[DanielParul 50]

I didn't have problems travelling with the greencard except the excitement of being in India had worn off and the plane was just painful

[Mrs.J06 4]

its true...easy to leave a pain to come back. husband went to syria with no problems...came back to only be told there was a problem with his green card registration number or something like that. they gave him a small problem and then let him go. geeeeeee, i thought the headaches were over when u got the green card. guess i was wrong.

Wife and mother-in-law with a green card and visa respectively had a great deal of difficulty coming here alone. But no problems when I was with her with her green card. But can say this, if there was, would have been a DHS agent or whatever with a broken neck. They stripped searched both my wife and mother-in-law, and about as far away from a terrorist you can possibly go from the profiles!!! And made a mess out of their luggage, I was furious blowing my stack at my congressman and senator and my language would ban me from this board. Mother-in-law, about the sweetest old lady you could ever meet anywhere didn't deserve that kind of treatment, she doesn't want to visit us anymore, that is insane!!!

Wow, what an experience!

I have also noticed a difference between coming back to the US on my own (with green card) and travelling with my USC husband. Much less questions and most of the time a friendly "welcome back" - never got that when I came in by myself. But maybe I just picked the cranky officers, who knows. Sorry to hear about your MIL having such a hard time!

[rclouse 0]

Man that was hard to read. Remember subject-body-conclusion?

Like for the birth of our son, I'll be bringing my MIL here for the birth of our daughter later this month. That trip went great; we arrived at JFK on time and waited for one (1) person at immigration. The officer was friendly and courteous, then we found our bags pretty quick, then at JetBlue got an earlier flight to LGB. About as smooth as it could be. I hope this Monday will be similar at LAX, though I won't hold my breath.

[NickD 202]

Man that was hard to read. Remember subject-body-conclusion?

Like for the birth of our son, I'll be bringing my MIL here for the birth of our daughter later this month. That trip went great; we arrived at JFK on time and waited for one (1) person at immigration. The officer was friendly and courteous, then we found our bags pretty quick, then at JetBlue got an earlier flight to LGB. About as smooth as it could be. I hope this Monday will be similar at LAX, though I won't hold my breath.

I could expect such treatment in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but between Toronto and Milwaukee? That was a bit too much for me especially since I made that trip many times in the past as a free person. Really have a problem in this country, elect an idiot for a president that choses to put more idiots in charge of such agencies as the DHS, FBI, FAA, and CIA that created this whole mess in the first place. I do not like to suffer for that, nor should anyone else. Most people accept it, I don't!!

[Kevin&Leilei 1]

A lot depends on which immigrations officer you get, and what mood he happens to be in at that particular moment. Last time I reentered the US (I'm the USC), the only question I got was "Did you have a nice trip?" Another time, I almost felt like I was being interrogated. The guy asked me where I went, how long I was there, why I went there. When I answered "visiting my girlfriend," he sort of smirked and said "visiting your girlfriend, huh?" like he didn't believe me. Then he started asking, what kind of work do I do, and even asked how I paid for the trip. I wanted to say, "None of your @#$%ing business," but then I'd probably be sitting in a prison somewhere as a suspected terrorist. Then he marked my customs form for an extra inspection. All they did though was run my luggage through another x-ray machine.

Chinese immigration: Officer takes your entry card, checks your passport and visa, stamps it, gives it back, usually without saying a word to you. "Customs" is basically just a gate, sometimes unmanned, that you walk through.

[alienlovechild 75]

I could expect such treatment in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but between Toronto and Milwaukee? That was a bit too much for me especially since I made that trip many times in the past as a free person. Really have a problem in this country, elect an idiot for a president that choses to put more idiots in charge of such agencies as the DHS, FBI, FAA, and CIA that created this whole mess in the first place. I do not like to suffer for that, nor should anyone else. Most people accept it, I don't!!

I doubt that Obama will fundementally change procedures in the airports. Your point about the origin of the flights being significant is laughable. The hijacked flights during 9/11 were all domestic.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Milwaukee to Caracas with a stop over in Toronto.

Okay... maybe I just don't understand this post, but why would you start at Milwaukee, stop in Toronto and then go on to Caracas? As far north as Milwaukee is, wouldn't the trip have been faster if you went straight to Caracas? Even if you needed to stop somewhere, it probably would've been in the U.S. (most likely Houston or Miami), so no extra immigration hassles would've occurred. It seems like stopping in Toronto (which is one of Canada's busiest and least friendly airports) is unnecessary and just prolongs the trip.

[NickD 202]

Milwaukee to Caracas with a stop over in Toronto.

Okay... maybe I just don't understand this post, but why would you start at Milwaukee, stop in Toronto and then go on to Caracas? As far north as Milwaukee is, wouldn't the trip have been faster if you went straight to Caracas? Even if you needed to stop somewhere, it probably would've been in the U.S. (most likely Houston or Miami), so no extra immigration hassles would've occurred. It seems like stopping in Toronto (which is one of Canada's busiest and least friendly airports) is unnecessary and just prolongs the trip.

Could have saved even more on airline fares if the trip took 36 hours and ended up in Russia instead. Toronto had a very nice airport before 9/11, which was the last time I was there and was like going to any other US city, was just a bit shocked. Going down was a snap, baggage was checked through and did want to use Air Canada, not nearly as corrupt as what our FAA has become under GWB, and believe me, I know this as a certified FAA specialist, FCC license holder, and a pilot myself, we have pure idiots running these once highly respected government agencies. I know what's going on!

Normally I would fly out from a small airport only 30 miles from my home, was only a couple of bucks more and could connect at O'Hare or Minneapolis, that is history. While Midwest was doing great last year, broke this year with huge layoffs, reduced flights and would have had to pay 700 bucks more with an additional 12 hour delay, this is how our country is really screwed up today. Also the DHS spent billions putting up barbed wire fences on all of our smaller airports in the last six years. Gates are locked with a padlock and chain that rusts, carry a bolt cutter with me just to get in that I can snap open in two seconds, but have to bring a new lock as it is required now.

In Toronto, had an icy rain, just told my wife, get ready to get off if they don't deice the wings, she didn't even know what I was talking about, but they did deice the wings, sometimes skipped to save a couple of bucks that can end up in a disaster as well as standard maintenance practices, have many friends that are A&P's and listen.

With my military background seen many holes in airport security, I want security, I don't either want my wife or I to die, but we really have a bunch of idiots running this country, and that really upsets me. Did embarrass my wife when I yelled at a guard, but didn't get arrested, he knew what I was telling him was true.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

And once again Pearson proves worthy of the Globe And Mail Magazine's continuously-running (for over 20 years) rating of it as "crashing semi", the worst amongst all Canadian airports!