Getting in to the US was quite a chore. I was expecting
a delay (due to the Iraq war having started) when I had to change
planes at Los Angeles - that was a task that took nearly three
hours.
It's not helped by the fact that they only had 2 immigration
staff to handle all the non-US passengers from two jumbo jets. Security
is what they would call tight, but what I would call oppressive
- and to be honest the whole security set-up is pathetic... the
American security staff really couldn't organise a piss-up in
a brewery. They have a new Federal agency to handle security
at airports, which seems purely designed to piss people off -
whilst it might look to the American public they are doing something
to keep them secure, in reality they are far less effective then
the security at your average European or Australian/NZ airport.
Bizarrely you have to collect your own baggage, go out of the
secure area and go back through security again. I had my
carry-on bag checked three times, but they didn't ask me for
any ID or verify I was the correct person at the gate. (It's
common at many UK airports nowadays for your picture to be taken
when passing through security - and at the gate, when they swipe
your boarding card, they check to make sure the picture matches.)
