I have just left Davos and am now on my way to Paris. The Swiss trains are very good and reliable (well, they would be) but a warning -- I don't advise buying the cheese sandwich from the trolley. A brittle, granary baguette with a slice of cheese and -- worst of all -- a pickled cucumber slice.

There must be someone who likes pickled cucumbers -- just not me! I feel quite queasy with the very taste.

In Paris tonight, and enroute to LAX tomorrow. I had to buy a new ticket because my plans changed, so ditched the original ticket (cheapie, so no refund!) See my blog entry, "Fare's Fair," below. I am going via London -- cheaper than if I'd bought the ticket from London itself.

Let's hope Swiss International Airlines feel the same way about pickled cucumbers!

I am now in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum – it is an extraordinary event – but you can read more about that here on the CNN site. On my way out of Heathrow airport I enrolled in the British government’s new iris recognition scheme for speeding up the immigration clearance. It is based on a digital image of my iris that they took at that the airport. When I return to the UK I simply go into a booth, look into a camera and if the machine likes what it sees then the doors will open. I won't have to wait in line, or speak to an immigration officer.

Originally I hadn’t bothered with this scheme figuring this was designed for non-British passport holders who want to avoid the horrendous lines that can build up at Heathrow at peak times. I was wrong. British frequent fliers are encouraged to register.

This is all very similar to the old Inspass system available in the U.S. in pre-9/11 days. That used the geometry of your fingers as a digital print, which would then allow easy access to the U.S. After 9/11 and increased security Inspass was abandoned which was a great shame since when it worked it was a huge benefit to those of us who fly to the States frequently.

Unfortunately it often did not work. The computers crashed, the machine failed to recognize your hands or something else went wrong (but at least the machine directed you to the nearest officer, so you didn’t have to go to the back of the line).

Anyway, with the rules on biometric passports rapidly coming into force, it now seems everyone is keen to once again get frequent visitors enrolled in schemes that use biometric data such as iris or facial recognition, digit recognition or some other form of bodily attribute!

Even though the authorities say the data will only be used for immigration purposes I know many people have concerns that “once you are in the system you are there for good!” This is a risk we will have to take if we want the advantages it brings.

Of more immediate importance - will this iris-scanning machine work? I will report back once I have had a chance to re-enter my home country. What’s the betting?