Trip to the US East Coast
Thanks to "Sex and the City", Ibrahim and I decided to take a week off to visit the east coast of the USA... below is my "report" on the trip :)
August 12, 2005: Leaving Victoria
To save something like $1000, we took slightly complicated route: Victoria, Vancouver, Chicago, Albany, and to avoid complications, all our luggage was carry-on.
The travel agent told us that we need to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight, especially that we are flying to the US. Our flight takes off at 6 a.m., so we were there 3:30 a.m. only to find the airport closed!!!!! We waited for an hour until the counters opened at 4:30. When we got the agent, she told us that our names have been flagged as “high profile” travelers!! Surprise surprise! I wonder why?? Maybe bec we are Muslim Arabs? Anyhow, she had to make a few phone calls before she cleared us. She was really nice, and decided to put us on the 5:25 a.m. flight bec she anticipated that we will run into more trouble in Vancouver.
We bordered the plane, the captain welcomed us all, turned on the engine, and got ready for take off. A few seconds later, he announces that we all have to get off and change planes :) that was hilarious! I felt I am in a bus station not an airport :)
Anyhow, we arrived in Vancouver at 6:00 a.m. Paranoid as they are, the US customs clears passengers out before they bored the plane! They reserved an entire section in the airport and setup their offices on Canadian grounds labeled “welcome to the USA”!!!!!!!! Of course, those holding US and Canadian passports lined up in a separate line than those carrying “other” nationalities. We stood in line for a little over an hour. We noticed that all agents do not even smile! Our agent looked at our papers, asked us the same questions they ask every time, took our photos and fingerprints, then asked us to go into the next room for an interview! Just for the record, we go to the US almost every two months, and this has never happened before!
Anyhow, we went into a room to find other “high profile aliens” from Iran, Iraq and China. People emerging out of the interviewing room looked scared and pale (I am not exaggerating). From the windows we could see the agents laughing, but as soon as anyone enters the room, they put on their arrogant, sarcastic faces! There was even a Canadian young man who lives in Miami, and who was in Vancouver visiting his parents. They made him wait for 3 hours before interviewing him!!! He missed 2 flights! An hour later (by that time it was 7:50 a.m. and our flight to Chicago takes off at 8:30 a.m.), they called Ibrahim in. They asked him the silliest questions, and left him standing with no one attending to him for more than 30 minutes. They were very rude to him. They asked him what he used to do in the middle east, and he told him he sold chocolate, so the agent goes “yeah, you in the middle east are spoilt”!!!!!! among other degrading comments. I had repeatedly asked the agents about what happens if we missed our flight, and they assured me that they will take care of everything.
We were finally released at 8:40 a.m.!!! ten minutes after our flight took off!!! Of course, there was no one to help. No one even tried to help! We ran across the airport looking for an airline agent, and finally found one at the other end of the airport (20 minute run). Initially, he accused us of being late and missing the flight, but finally he understood that we were held up at the US customs from 6 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.!!! He made a few calls, and managed to put us on the next flight leaving at 11:25 a.m.
We were supposed to wait for 3 hour in Chicago airport, but thank God we managed to get seats on a flight leaving to Albany right away, so we arrived in Albany 3 hours ahead of schedule :) that was the highlight of our day!
My cousin, Raghad, and her husband, Asaad, were waiting for us at the airport. We all went out for dinner (our last meal was breakfast!), and finally hit the sack at 2:00 a.m.
August 12, 2005: Leaving Victoria
To save something like $1000, we took slightly complicated route: Victoria, Vancouver, Chicago, Albany, and to avoid complications, all our luggage was carry-on.
The travel agent told us that we need to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight, especially that we are flying to the US. Our flight takes off at 6 a.m., so we were there 3:30 a.m. only to find the airport closed!!!!! We waited for an hour until the counters opened at 4:30. When we got the agent, she told us that our names have been flagged as “high profile” travelers!! Surprise surprise! I wonder why?? Maybe bec we are Muslim Arabs? Anyhow, she had to make a few phone calls before she cleared us. She was really nice, and decided to put us on the 5:25 a.m. flight bec she anticipated that we will run into more trouble in Vancouver.
We bordered the plane, the captain welcomed us all, turned on the engine, and got ready for take off. A few seconds later, he announces that we all have to get off and change planes :) that was hilarious! I felt I am in a bus station not an airport :)
Anyhow, we arrived in Vancouver at 6:00 a.m. Paranoid as they are, the US customs clears passengers out before they bored the plane! They reserved an entire section in the airport and setup their offices on Canadian grounds labeled “welcome to the USA”!!!!!!!! Of course, those holding US and Canadian passports lined up in a separate line than those carrying “other” nationalities. We stood in line for a little over an hour. We noticed that all agents do not even smile! Our agent looked at our papers, asked us the same questions they ask every time, took our photos and fingerprints, then asked us to go into the next room for an interview! Just for the record, we go to the US almost every two months, and this has never happened before!
Anyhow, we went into a room to find other “high profile aliens” from Iran, Iraq and China. People emerging out of the interviewing room looked scared and pale (I am not exaggerating). From the windows we could see the agents laughing, but as soon as anyone enters the room, they put on their arrogant, sarcastic faces! There was even a Canadian young man who lives in Miami, and who was in Vancouver visiting his parents. They made him wait for 3 hours before interviewing him!!! He missed 2 flights! An hour later (by that time it was 7:50 a.m. and our flight to Chicago takes off at 8:30 a.m.), they called Ibrahim in. They asked him the silliest questions, and left him standing with no one attending to him for more than 30 minutes. They were very rude to him. They asked him what he used to do in the middle east, and he told him he sold chocolate, so the agent goes “yeah, you in the middle east are spoilt”!!!!!! among other degrading comments. I had repeatedly asked the agents about what happens if we missed our flight, and they assured me that they will take care of everything.
We were finally released at 8:40 a.m.!!! ten minutes after our flight took off!!! Of course, there was no one to help. No one even tried to help! We ran across the airport looking for an airline agent, and finally found one at the other end of the airport (20 minute run). Initially, he accused us of being late and missing the flight, but finally he understood that we were held up at the US customs from 6 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.!!! He made a few calls, and managed to put us on the next flight leaving at 11:25 a.m.
We were supposed to wait for 3 hour in Chicago airport, but thank God we managed to get seats on a flight leaving to Albany right away, so we arrived in Albany 3 hours ahead of schedule :) that was the highlight of our day!
My cousin, Raghad, and her husband, Asaad, were waiting for us at the airport. We all went out for dinner (our last meal was breakfast!), and finally hit the sack at 2:00 a.m.
posted by Toujan B. Atari at 5:10 p.m.
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