Security questions when leaving the UK?

The last two times I left the UK there has been a uniformed person with a little black box in the check-in line asking questions.  They ask the typical "has anyone asked you to bring anything on to the plane" questions but they've also asked more personal questions.

Yesterday, when checking in with my husband, they asked what our relationship was.  Also when the last time I was in the US and how long I stayed for.  They then scan your passport and you move on to the check in desk for the boarding cards.

A woman ahead of us was asked what her relationship was to the man she was checking in with and she kicked off a bit.  She wanted to know if they were immigration and why they were asking the questions.  The man checking our details said he was immigration, she asked to see his id, and then he back-tracked.

The woman's response got me thinking, why are they asking these questions?  Do you have any right to know the relationship of the person I'm travelling with?  If they really wanted to know when I was last in the US and how long I stayed for she could have looked through my passport that she was holding.  I'm a citizen of the US and have a right to travel back there whenever I please so why does it actually matter how long I was there for?

Heathrow and most of the airlines there have hired private staff to ask questions of departing customers and do a security profile.  Every since Lockerbie and the unrest in NI there has been a heightened sense of security.  I haven't been through Belfast airport in a while, but you had to show ID before you entered the terminal and send all your bags through the X-Ray before you could enter the check in area.  Let alone trying to fly on an El Al flight...

Lockerbie was in part caused by Pan-Am's irresponsibility in ensuring that luggage stayed with the checked passengers, and that flight originated from London with transfer baggage from Germany.  I generally got questioned by the security people whenever leaving from the UK to the US pre-9/11 and had the security stickers on the back of my old passport to prove it.

Lockerbie was a large part in the downfall of Pan-Am.  Most airlines hedge their bets and invest in private security procedures where prudent in order to mitigate their risk and exposure.  You don't want to be the airline that allows another bomb or terrorist on, do you?

It was probably easier to explain that he was an immigration then explain the intricacies of corporate risk mitigation and I am sure if she had pressed it, the airline would have kindly informed her of her terms of carriage and left her ass sitting in the airport refusing to fly her.

Personally, if I am in public, attempting to use a form of public transportation, my expectations of privacy are diminished and while I am an ardent supporter of privacy rights, I am also reasonable that answering any reasonable questions posed to me by government or airport personnel.

kitsonk, I know what you're talking about in terms of security questions pre-departure. I always get asked a variation on "who packed your bags and were they always with you?" before I check in. Though I don't think it ever got more thorough than that: like never asked why I was traveling and my immigration status or my relationship with hubby. However, it could be, as you said, airline/airport dependent, and it's been a while since I've flown out of heathrow. Although, as you, I will answer those if asked. Even if I disagreed with them being asked (and for the most part, I don't) I'm not brave enough to kick up any kind of security-related fuss at the airport.

Besides, I'm required to produce my passport to get on an international flight anyway, and all the answers to those questions are contained therein.

I remember the other question that I thought was odd!  Apparently our tickets showed up as one way tickets and they wanted to know why.  I said they weren't one way tickets.  Our tickets, not booked through the airline, are on Delta both ways, but because we have a lay-over in Paris on the way back the security guy thought they were one-way tickets.  The guy got all confused and go to go look up our itinerary before they would allow us to the desk to check-in. 

I don't mind security questions and did answer them peacefully, but I don't think they need so much information.  When I told her he was my "partner" she wanted to know if he was my husband or boyfriend.  I don't think it should matter if I'm travelling with my husband, or boyfriend.

This is all interesting to me, as I flew to the US from the UK twice in 2008 (and flew back again!), and was never asked any security questions at all...I always wait for the one about if anyone asked me to carry anything for them, who packed my bags, etc., but we didn't get any of those questions, let alone questioned about our relationship!

We didn't fly out of Heathrow, but we flew back once from Minneapolis and once from Chicago and went through Amsterdam both times - you think someone would've asked some questions.  I'm not complaining, mind you!!

One way tickets are like the big red flag in the airline industry...  I don't know where this perception came from, but I do think the vast majority of terrorists only book one way tickets.  Pre-9/11, I had to book a few one way tickets and boy, did I get the third degree.  Now everyone gets it, but it was remarkable in that day and age.

Your open-jaw (which is what the airlines call a layover, where I am assuming you deplaned in Paris and left the airport) would have appeared on the surface like a one way ticket without the itnerary.  Again, I don't know if you left via Heathrow, but that has been pretty typical experience in my estimation.  Gatwick, I tend not to get as much interrogation.

Whether it is logical or not, there have been apparently a lot of [url:http://www.thestar.com/World/Columnist/article/552561]fears[/url] around Al Qaeda using females to further their agenda, so I am sure the risk assessment folks at the airlines have decided that the hired goons should try to ascertain the relationship of any males and females travelling together.

Maybe the lay-over is the reason.  The flight was LHR to ATL on Air France operated by Delta.  On the way back it was ATL to CDG on Air France operated by Delta, then CDG to LHR on Air France, not operated by Delta.  It was bought as one flight and Delta and Air France are partners.

Maybe this kind of security is just normal now.  DH never wants to fly to the US and I really don't blame him.  Partnered should be a good enough answer for our relationship for anyone but immigration.

I've gone back and forth many times, and I occasionally get closer questioning -- and have done for years. Maybe once in ten. It's probably random, but I think one time I got pulled out of the line because I was wearing my spiffy new aviator sunglasses.  I was rather flattered that I could look potentially menacing, but I took them off and became a boring middle-aged American woman again and they waved me through.

I think sometimes they just want to talk to you a little and see if you get rattled. That's okay by me, even when it's an inconvenience.

My DH was scrutinized the last time he flew out of Heathrow to New York.  Before he checked in, he was asked for his passport, driver's licence, credit card and employment id, by security personnel.    They took away his documents for several minutes. 

They asked about his employment and something to prove he works there.  The only reason he had his id card was because the time he was arriving back home, he might have needed it to get in his office.  Normally, he would not travel with it. 

he travels a lot and this is the first time he's been scrutinized like this.  Is there a reason for this? 

Never ever had this happen to me and I fly a reasonable amount. The only time I've been questioned/had luggaged examined was by US officials at border control, never in the UK beyond the usual "how long were you away and where did you go".

It seems very odd. I think I would have kicked up a fuss too if it had been a private contractor and not an official asking me the questions.

I just realised, it doesn't matter what route I flew.  Everyone was questioned when they checked in.  DH doesn't think either the States or UK handle personal information very well so he doesn't like to give it .  It must be a new thing, for me at least, at Heathrow or Delta.  I really don't like it.  What are they doing with the extra information?

This is not by immigration, the check in desk staff, or the security people.  This is when you're waiting in line for the check-in desk, before you have your boarding pass, and are still in the UK, which is where I live. 

Never ever had this happen to me and I fly a reasonable amount. The only time I've been questioned/had luggaged examined was by US officials at border control, never in the UK beyond the usual "how long were you away and where did you go".

It seems very odd. I think I would have kicked up a fuss too if it had been a private contractor and not an official asking me the questions.

Do you think maybe they're shifting some of the US immigration functions over to the departure ports? I also fly a fair bit and never had anything as thorough. I think I'd be a bit freaked out at being examined like that before departure.

The most closely I was ever questioned was the very first time I visited the UK in 1997. I was stopped at Heathrow headed back to the States -- which makes no sense at all -- and was question by UK personnel. They dumped out my purse and asked about my prescriptions and everything. It was most odd.

it seems whenever I am going thru Bristol to fly home to the states at security they empty my purse and everything and then before I board the plane they pull me aside and search me...I must just have a big bullseye on my forehead...but I have gotten so used to it...it is a routine now lol

The guy with the little box is always at the continental counter asking me if I gave my bag to someone...he has never asked anything too personal though...I guess I am just so used to all the security and what not I will answer whatever anyone asks me...