[Akib]

Originally Posted by goru
I actually spent less than 10 minutes from getting off the plane to getting into our car outside ZIA. One of the customs officers happens to be my mom's friend... he had this "handler" assigned to me who just grabbed me as I got off the plane and took me straight to an open immigration booth and then to baggage claim (good thing our's was the only plane to arrive at the time... I got my luggage almost immediately) and straight out through the green channel (where the customs guy was just chatting with my mom and aunts).

BTW, I came on Emirates and they forgot to give us the "disembarkation card" ... they only gave us the customs declaration one (which I didn't have to use anyway). So I saw a bunch of people rushing to get in line to get one of those cards while my "handler" just gave me one to fill out.

Also, I am told that if you are travelling from the US or Canada (and pretty much any place other than the middle-east), they don't really bother you much at ZIA. Plus, it really helps if there are no other planes arriving at the same time as your's.

But, I must say... ZIA is so totally different from what it was like back in '99 when I last came. Nothing seemed familiar. If I didn't have a "handler" I'd have probably have had to rely on the signs (and there seemed to be plenty)... but I don't think it would have been too much of an ordeal. *shrug*

Zia is a bit different I must admit. Also in customs for some reason half the ppl in the foreign passport line is bangladeshi passport, so sometimes the airport officials will move you to front of line if u have foreign passport (happened to me before).