Customs question

[debnjoe1438]

Hello, this may be a crazy question, however here goes. I am planning on flying from the US to Copenhagen. The flights I'm seeing go from the US to England to Demark. In England would I have to go through customs or would customs be at the final destinations? I wouldn't think one would have to go through customs when changing plans, (same air line) however I don't know.

Thanks

[FlyerTalker]

First off, recognize that there is "customs" and there is "immigration" and the two are quite separate.  Immigration is about the person entering the jurisdiction, while customs refers to items brought in.

For this situation, you would do both customs and immigration in Denmark, as the UK is just your transit point.  Depending on specifics, you may have additional security and document checks, but no official immigration or customs for being in transit.

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Depending on specifics, you may have additional security and document checks, but no official immigration or customs for being in transit.

 

On the assumption that the OP is considering a BA-BA itinerary, then there will definitely be security clearance at Heathrow between flights, but that will be the only formality (other than routine airline document checks, of course).

[debnjoe1438]

Thank you both, appreciate the information.

[LuckyStar]

On 10/18/2018 at 3:05 AM, Globaliser said:

 

On the assumption that the OP is considering a BA-BA itinerary, then there will definitely be security clearance at Heathrow between flights, but that will be the only formality (other than routine airline document checks, of course).

This happened to us on our way to Brussels from Denver. We had a layover at Heathrow.  It took us two hours to get through security.  We almost missed our connecting flight.  It was crazy.  We hadn't even left the terminal but I don't question matters in Europe.  They must have their reasons.  

[Globaliser]

12 minutes ago, LuckyStar said:

We hadn't even left the terminal but I don't question matters in Europe.  They must have their reasons.  

 

There's nothing particularly European about being security-screened between flights if the first flight has arrived from a foreign country. That's the normal process all over the world - including in the US. The exceptions are just that: exceptions.

[Sea saw 56]

We flew from the US on AA to Hamburg, with a stop at London Heathrow.  

We had to claim our luggage at Heathrow and go through security even though we were ticketed thru to Hamburg.

Luckily we had read in advance the need for a long enough layover when stopping at Heathrow.

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, Sea saw 56 said:

We flew from the US on AA to Hamburg, with a stop at London Heathrow.  

We had to claim our luggage at Heathrow and go through security even though we were ticketed thru to Hamburg.

 

That's very odd if you actually had a single ticket for the through journey. On which airline were you flying from Heathrow to Hamburg?

 

And did you buy the ticket from AA or from a travel agent? I'm wondering whether the travel agent actually sold you two separate tickets without telling you (which is a trick that some travel agents pull to offer a cheaper price), which would be one possible reason for your bags initially only being checked as far as Heathrow.

[Sea saw 56]

We purchased the ticket through AA ourselves.  When we arrived at Heathrow we were put on BA for the flight to Hamburg.

First time we've had to collect our luggage and take it through security before arriving at our final destination, but it was also our first time flying to Europe--so I assumed it was normal, and by the way, we were in business class.

[Globaliser]

That doesn't sound right.

 

If you arrived at Heathrow on AA and you had to collect your luggage, you would have had to have cleared immigration, collected your bags, cleared customs and exited into the landside (public) area, and then transferred from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 (probably by train, as it's the official landside transfer route). On arriving at T5, you'd have had to go upstairs to check-in and then check the bags again before clearing security and then going to the gate for your Heathrow to Hamburg flight. Is that what happened?

 

AA should have through-checked your bags to Hamburg, so that on arriving at Heathrow all you would have had to do was to take the airside transfer bus from T3 to T5 and clear security there before going on to your gate. You should not have had to deal with your luggage at all. It's hard to understand why AA didn't do this.

 

In any case, you can't take checked bags through security. Once you've collected them, you'd have to check them again with your next airline before clearing security.

 

So I'm very puzzled by what happened to you. Very odd.

[Sea saw 56]

This was a June 2017. When we checked in at the airport, the ticket agent told us it looked like we'd have to claim our bags at Heathrow, I hoped she was just 'confused' because she acted like it.   We had to take them through security and check them back in before we transferred to the other terminal to board BA.  It was a hassle, but as I said, it was our 1st flight to Europe.

Assumed it was normal. 

Springfield, MO ----DFW ----Heathrow ----Hamburg.

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, Sea saw 56 said:

We had to take them through security and check them back in before we transferred to the other terminal to board BA.

 

Very odd! It wouldn't have been security that you took the checked bags through - checked bags aren't allowed through security. And if you've got your checked bags as you exit Terminal 3 into the public area, you have to take them to Terminal 5 yourself. There's nowhere in Terminal 3 to drop them.

[Sea saw 56]

I had to check with hubby's (superior) memory on this one.  For us, the 2+ hour layover at Heathrow was rushed and stressful,   left us cutting it close for our next flight, thus my less than favorable memory of our first time through Heathrow.  We did have to get to T5 for the flight to Hamburg, and we did have to go through security again.

It was when our flight landed at Chicago (not our final destination) from Heathrow, on our way back home, that we had to collect our luggage and check it back in, as well as immigration, etc.  

Thank you for keeping after me and correcting my bad memory on this one, Globaliser, as I don't want to spread any misinformation.

 

[Globaliser]

22 minutes ago, Sea saw 56 said:

For us, the 2+ hour layover at Heathrow was rushed and stressful,   left us cutting it close for our next flight, thus my less than favorable memory of our first time through Heathrow.  We did have to get to T5 for the flight to Hamburg, and we did have to go through security again.

 

It was when our flight landed at Chicago (not our final destination) from Heathrow, on our way back home, that we had to collect our luggage and check it back in, as well as immigration, etc.

 

Many thanks for the further information about this. Indeed, having to do a inter-terminal transfer at Heathrow does make the connection process less smooth, although it is easier if you don't have to collect your checked bags and you can take the airside bus. FWIW for the OP, choosing a BA-BA connection on their itinerary will probably avoid the inter-terminal transfer (depending on the arrival terminal for the USA-Heathrow flight), although security must be re-cleared at Heathrow come what may. So you are right that a longer connection time will tend to reduce the stress of doing this.

 

And unfortunately, the bag collection etc at the US transfer point if doing an international --> domestic connection is equally inevitable! It's another thing that points to allowing a longer connection time if you want to make it less stressful.

[debnjoe1438]

Thanks for all the information.