Border Patrol Sun 22 Mar

[garyjohn951]

I was questioned extensively at AKL once for a <24 hours stay, but surprisingly - all was well when I mentioned MR.

I do 24hr visits from Mel - Auckland regularly, same as day trips to Perth and back. Never a problem.

 

[Flashback]

I do 24hr visits from Mel - Auckland regularly, same as day trips to Perth and back. Never a problem.

MEL-PER doesn't have Customs & Immigration though

 

[garyjohn951]

MEL-PER doesn't have Customs & Immigration though

True, but from a business sense same day trips are the norm and Perth/Auckland same distance, but who wants to stay in a third world city like Auckland for to long..................

 

[kpc]

I just watched the abovementioned show...what pisses me off about this show is that they don't show customs / immigration stuffs ups!! eg hassling a completely innocent passenger for hours. The "Customs" version on chnnnel 9, to its credit, actually does show customs / immigration getting it wrong from time to time!

 

[NM]

I have done plenty of <24 hour transits in London. Never been questioned in any depth when answering the "how long will you be in the UK?". Answers have ranged from "about 3 hours" (and it was quicker to transfer terminals landside) to "23 hours and 45 mins, so as to avoid paying the astronomical taxes".

I have also done less than 24 hours in Helsinki, Singapore and Hong Kong on several occasions. But these are generally transit locations on a circle fare and not a turn-around point of a return ticket.

 

[Flashback]

I just watched the abovementioned show...what pisses me off about this show is that they don't show customs / immigration stuffs ups!! eg hassling a completely innocent passenger for hours. The "Customs" version on chnnnel 9, to its credit, actually does show customs / immigration getting it wrong from time to time!

Not true, I saw an Asian lady 2-3 weeks ago who was innocent and held up for hours.

 

[yo yo ma]

I just watched the abovementioned show...what pisses me off about this show is that they don't show customs / immigration stuffs ups!!

I watch every week and they do actually show "stuff-ups". The man spoken about in the OP was held up for hours and then let go.

I would imagine it would be in the contract with Ch 7 that customs have final say over the episode before it goes to air... sounds reasonable to me.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Maybe the french guy is the ultimate MR geek and he managed to outsmart everyone.....

Book 2x one-way flights, one to and one ex Oz.

Get to Oz, cancel the return and let Australian customs fly you home for free and cash in on the points!!

Admitting he was doing it for that reason and he might have been allowed in the country and therefore the MR wouldn't be worthwhile!!

 

[misstam]

Arriving back to Brisbane Int. from the US about a month ago, there were signs up announcing that Border Security was being filmed.
Looking particularly 'rock-star dishevelled' from 30+ hrs travelling (RDU>DFW>LAX>HKG>BNE), I figured i had a better than average chance of ending up - albeit briefly - on TV.
Fortunately, the film crew had finished for the night.

Given that there were also notices saying to inform staff if you did not want to be filmed, I'm surprised more people haven't exercised that option... unless of course they were hiding some kind of endangered species in their toiletries bag & thought it may arouse suspicion...or if they weren't english speaking folks, as the signs were in english only...

Have any AFF'ers been filmed for one of these shows?

 

[rwatts]

...or if they weren't english speaking folks, as the signs were in english only...

I've often suspected that is why Asians and other non English speaking (at least as a first language) people are so heavily (over-?) represented in the show.

Richard.

 

[medhead]

Given that there were also notices saying to inform staff if you did not want to be filmed, I'm surprised more people haven't exercised that option...

How do you know they haven't exercised that option? If they had then they won't be filmed and hence wouldn't be on TV would they, so how would you know.

Maybe the french guy is the ultimate MR geek and he managed to outsmart everyone.....

Book 2x one-way flights, one to and one ex Oz.

Get to Oz, cancel the return and let Australian customs fly you home for free and cash in on the points!!

Admitting he was doing it for that reason and he might have been allowed in the country and therefore the MR wouldn't be worthwhile!!

Hey???? I have no idea what your on about, first everyone here seems pretty clear that he had a return ticket not 2 one ways.

Besides customs don't pay for the flight - the airline is required to take pax back who can't enter Oz. THe airline pays and no doubt they would charge the pax, or keep the money from the cancelled one way ticket.

 

[misstam]

How do you know they haven't exercised that option? If they had then they won't be filmed and hence wouldn't be on TV would they, so how would you know.

Haha, smarty-pants!

Perhaps I should have said "more people who wished they had've exercised that option"... like the 2 young english girls who were packing a wad of drugs - one of them got through customs, then waited for her friend outside. The friend never made it, but the officers coming to grab her as well did...

"oh look, there's Aunty Mary in the airport on TV! Gee mum, her bags must be dirty, that man is putting on gloves..."

 

[vt01]

Last year while travelling on a DONE4, I did a LHR-MCT-LHR as 2 of my Europe sectors. I was getting the most sectors I could out of my ticket and this routing was one of the longest. I arrived in MCT and departed about 3 or 4 hours later on the same plane on which I had just arrived(I don't quite remember the turn around). Rather than exiting through immigration and coming back in through checkin, I went through transit instead to avoid entering the country. Apart from saving the visa fee I thought it would just be easier and require less explanation. I did get some strange looks from the transit person as he was issuing my boarding pass and especially when he asked where I had come from and I pointed to the BA plane sitting outside!