 Poster: A snowHead
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Just booked GVA flights for an Alps trip this weekend  .
Further to previous posts, has anyone hired a car from the Swiss side of GVA recently?
Any updates on driving into France? Is it still problematic? Just that Swiss side hire is coming up a lot cheaper than French side....
Cheers!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 13-07-16 19:21; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm in France with Budget car from Swiss side of Geneva at present. No problems. I didn't ask......
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Cheers Pam!
I'm getting mixed messages from various websites and suppliers - eg Argus Car Hire (broker) don't know - 'You need to check with the supplier .'
Budget website specifically says you can only drive to/from France in a car with an EU plate. Have you got one Pam??
Oh...and Budget rentals via Travelsupermarket aren't coming up as unlimited mileage but 0.3CHF per km.
I'm still confused - and don't know who the hell to book with... 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
I'm getting mixed messages from various websites and suppliers - eg Argus Car Hire (broker) don't know - 'You need to check with the supplier .'
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Argus told me to request an EU plate from the supplier
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Cheers johnE 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I didn't realise there was a problem. Has new legislation been introduced to restrict crossing the border?
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@SCollier1, EU customs rules have been updated and simplified, in the process teh car hire companies have noticed that technically, what they have been doing, like, forever, doing is technically somewhat tricky.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The response I got from Europcar, whom I booked with for this weekend.
The European Union (EU) has issued new customer regulations.
In future, customers who are domiciled in the EU may drive into the EU with rental vehicles
bearing Swiss registration plates only if they are returning to their place of residence.
The implementation rules of customs agencies for the new regulation are as yet not known.
Europcar Switzerland is closely working with the agencies to arrive at alternative options so that
EU-domiciled customers of Europcar Switzerland can freely move in the European zone also in
future.
So far, we have not had any customer experiencing any issues while leaving the country.
Should you, against all expectations, be detained at the time of crossing the border, please
contact your rental station.
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I've just updated the thread heading.
Just back from a 10 day trip:
- Hired with Dollar via Auto Europe from Swiss side.
- Advised at hire desk that there would be no issues with cross-border travel.
- Car had Swiss plates.
- No problems leaving Switzerland/entering France - just waved through by customs.
Panic over?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Of course most of the time I have been driving around France this week no one would notice that I was an EU resident in a Swiss registered car, but the real test will come when the French police trace the Swiss registered car flashed by the speed camera leaving Chambery at over 90.
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- No problems leaving Switzerland/entering France - just waved through by customs.
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Are those border posts ever manned? Actually I was turned back once because my car didn't have a motorway vignette, but that was a 100m after the border. Technically Switzerland is the only country in the world to refuse me entry. Fortunately they didn't stamp it on my passport.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The Border Guards are quite often very busy on Saturdays, when Swiss residents do a fresh meat supermarket run into France. I have seen the Guards wearing ticket machines, for issuing fines and receipts, after they have searched a vehicle.
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So you can be fined for taking meat from France into Switzerland??
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You know it makes sense.
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So you can be fined for taking meat from France into Switzerland??
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@mountainaddict, yes. There is a daily customs limit of 1kg per adult. If you are caught bring more into Switzerland you can be fined.
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Poster: A snowHead
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CheersGämsbock - I live and learn!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@mountainaddict, I never thought about it till I moved here... there was a thread on here last year sometime about someone how got a massive fine for bring across a turkey and various other meats at Christmas!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The meat import restrictions affect both Tourists and Residents of Switzerland. I met an English couple in Crans Montana who had just been fined for bringing enough meat in to cover their 2 week holiday. They were pretty angry.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Another datapoint - collected my Avis car a Gva Swiss side on Friday night. Had a chat with the guy about the new "rules". He said that all of the car hire companies at Gva had now concluded that they were nonsense, there had been no problems and there would be none. He implied that there might have been an unofficial conversation with the border guards "they will telephone us if there is a problem, we all just carry on as before".
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| I met an English couple in Crans Montana who had just been fined for bringing enough meat in to cover their 2 week holiday. |
Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just ditch the meat (& buy it again in CH) than pay the fine ??  I bet Swiss fines don't come cheap....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@mountainaddict, once you've been caught there's no getting out of the fine, regardless of whether you actually bring the product in or not.
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@Gämsbock, I think that technically you are "caught" as you bring it in. I.e. It's in already.
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It would be a completely new take on customs rules if you could opt to discard your contraband rather than pay a fine.
"OK officer, it's a fair cop, I hope you and your friends will enjoy the cocaine"
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@pam w, they do anyway!
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Just heading over next month and I've found this thread invaluable. Thanks for the data points @snowdave, @mountainaddict
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Note that as well as meat, there are limits on alcohol too.
For anyone self-catering in Switzerland (and with the current exchange rate I can see why), here's the list of what you can bring over the border without being fined:
http://www.ezv.admin.ch/zollinfo_privat/04342/04343/05772/index.html?lang=en
No limits on "aquatic invertebrates", but they don't work as well in tartiflette.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The Swss Customs Guide as above is useful and pretty clear. http://www.ezv.admin.ch/04670/index.html?lang=en
The is also a mobile app which is easy to read through as well, and worth downloading if you want to check en route. Go to the AppStore and look for 'Travel & Goods' - the icon is grey, with a swiss cross in the top left and 'Customs' in white at bottom right. All in English. This will be automatically updated which is also useful.
We've been stopped at the France/Swiss border at Crux (between Pontarlier and Vallorbe) by the Swiss about four times out of the last six or seven crossings we've made in the last three years. Twice they've had a look in the back and asked about furniture and groceries each time.
A lot of foreign owners bring furniture in for their apartments and chalets, as frankly, the choice in CH is not great. Stuff like the all-oak living/dining room things and trendy on-line products (like MADE) are a lot cheaper. When we had our apartment kitchen refurbished we got the parts list in the UK and priced it up and it was 20%+ more expensive for exactly the same components in Ikea CH versus UK. But it wasn't worth the hassle and cost of hiring a van etc.
The import duty on furniture is 8% whether or not you've paid VAT in the UK.
I'd recommend checking on the app which is very easy to drive. It isn't worth trying to break the rules, to my mind. But you could do so unintentionally if, say, you were bringing-in meat and alcohol for a big group or family but most of the group were flying separately. The allowances are per person or those in the car.
I'd recommend getting your vignette before you cross through customs, if you want to stand the best chance of being waved-through. You can get it online from the Swiss Tourist Centre in London (http://rail.stc.co.uk/en/products/motorwaysticker).
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