Geneva airport - reminder if huge security queues

A snowHead

@mr. mike, an easier way of doing it would be to use carrentals.co.uk - they let you choose between french side or swiss side (and you can switch to USD, and set your country as US still on there...). There might still be a bit of a mix, but shouldn't be too bad.

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thanks, but bizarre that that site only shows me premium offerings for 7 january to 14 january? 4x4, suv, etc.?

Edit to add: oops, showing my provincialism, I listed pickup time as 2:30 rather than 14:30, so I guess that kicked in some sort of filter that limited me to premium options only. With that correction made, the list of options expanded dramatically and in a much more economical manner.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Have you looked at the Geneva Airport website? This links to the '.ch' sites of the incumbent car rental companies - one way or another, you're renting from them in the end, anyway. However, sometimes, these local .ch (Swiss) landing pages have cars/rates not shown on the '.com' site.

http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/

Intermediary comparison sites can be fine, but I always think it's also worth looking at the rental companies Swiss sites directly as well, just as a baseline. The website above also has useful maps for both the Swiss (Cointrin) and French (Ferney) car rental zones.

I'm going to court contradiction by saying that if you're unfamiliar with Geneva Airport's environs, I wouldn't hire from the French (Ferney Voltaire) side, unless the price difference is substantial. On the basis that it's much more difficult to navigate back to. As ever with car rentals, make sure you normalise the comparison - French rentals sometimes don't include winterization etc. Also on both sides, the very cheapest cars may only be meant for driving around town or locally (e.g. Smart cars are really small).

The GVA Airport App ('GVApp' - white plane taking off against a blue background with control tower) would also be useful to download before you arrive as well. It'll track your flight status and send airport alerts if you enter the requisite details.

Tip for Swiss Rental pickup/return: When you collect your car, just turn around and make a note of the entrance arrangements: On return the signage isn't helpful - you turn right, back into the car park by the shuttle bus stop, and you want the right hand barrier (the left barrier is an up-ramp to normal parking); you reach out and take a ticket from the machine; drive only another 20 yds or so, and there's another barrier where you insert the ticket (go figure); on the other side are the car rental return bays. First time you return a car, the process is so counter-intuitive (why two barriers?) that you think you must be doing something wrong.

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@mr.mike - Addendum: If you're going to some of the Swiss resorts, it might be worth looking at taking the train/bus/télépherique. The viability will depend on when you're travelling, and which resort. See https://www.sbb.ch/en making the start location 'Geneva Airport' - some locations are well-connected and with a station at the airport, can actually be easier than driving.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

LaForet, thanks--rented in GVA last year. I don't remember the rental car return, but I guess I managed because they didn't charge me for a stolen vehicle.

We got the rental car set up the old fashioned way (actually just got someone on the phone), so they verified (repeatedly) that we were renting from Swiss side.

As for public transport, I would much prefer and investigated. However, we are doing a "2 stop" trip (one of my tricks to keep my wife, who only tolerates rather than loves, skiing intrigued), and could not work that out with transit. Plus, having the car allows us to go from stop 1 to stop 2 without doing so during valuable ski hours, so I can ski each day.

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@mr. mike, for future reference, if Swiss1-Swiss2, often easier and faster by public transport than driving.

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@under a new name, but, alas, stop 2 is in France. Don't be misled by the fact that I'm in the US. I actually appreciate public transport and seek to use it for a variety of reasons. I have investigated for this trip, and it's not going to work for the itinerary I have planned.

Here you go: GVA to St. Luc, SU on a Sunday afternoon for 2 days and 3 nights, then from St. Luc to Les Gets, FR Wednesday a.m. for 4 days/nights, and then Le Gets back to GVA Sunday for afternoon flight out.

If you can work that out for me better with transit than a car, I'm all ears. Valid to point out that I could have put together a plan that would work better with transit, but, for this plan, I have concluded I need a car.

After all it is free

@loatie, Thanks for posting this, I can confirm the French security was open for business at 06:00 on Thursday, there was no queue at all - much quicker and less pressured than the main security queues.

@boredsurfin, glad it was of use to you

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I am going back to London next Saturday for the final of the Masters.
Last time I flew back was Friday evening Dec 1st, and it took 1hr to clear security (Swiss side), I had to run to make the flight, and was the last pax to board. Thank you to BA for waiting btw Smile

I read you cannot check in for international flights on the French side, but if I have already checked in online, and have only hand luggage, and am travelling on a Saturday, then what are the chances that I can use the Ferney Foxtrot to my advantage?
Or is there some curve-ball waiting to scupper me like the French security have their lunch break on Sat from 12-2 so I need to go on the Swiss side ?

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Just to clarify, can you use the French side security if you have an international flight, or only if you're flying within France?

I was at GVA on the 23rd Dec and it was chaos! Luckily I had loads of time thanks to my 4am transfer pick up...

Cheers

@WindOfChange, Since you only have hand luggage, and have checked in online, you're the perfect candidate for the "Ferney Foxtrot" as you put it. The only curve ball will be if there are no domestic French flights expected to arrive or take off, then it's likely to be closed but you will know this once you've had a peek from the Swiss side. Or just look up at the big departure boards for the French side flights on the Check-In level.

You know it makes sense.

@jangab73, Thanks for that.
It looks like there is a Paris CDG flight landing at 12:15, and one from Orly at 13:20 on Saturday, and departures to Paris CDG and Nantes at 12:05, 12:50 & 13:00, so I could be in luck.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Tom Doc, it's definitely worth the money IMO. I get it free but usually have to pay for the kids, and I do it almost every time. Totally reliable, never waited more than 3 mins.

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A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@snowdave, Agreed

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We have friends who have done just that. They checked their hold luggage in on Swiss side and got their boarding passes then saw the big queue for security Swiss side so went through security on the French side with no queues there.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

can somebody advise me about the priority lane booking. if i book up for 2 people at the same time via the online forms, do i get 2 barcodes to print out or just 1 barcode for 2 people.

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@compostcorner, never done it but must be one each...

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@loatie says,

After all it is free

@geoffers,

Security as in the hand baggage scan area.

The bottle neck at passport control where you got stuck is another matter altogether and if anyone has found a solution to this I’m sure it wouldn’t be gratefully received.
Never fails to amaze us how badly designed this area is for the volume of traffic that flows through there.

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@Hurtle, every time I've been it takes them ages to post up the gate, and there's always loads of people milling about just past the security. And every food place chokka too.
Fortunately I don't need to go through passport control Wink

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@loatie, there are more than one passport controls, serving the various non-Schengen sets of gates. The ones to “B” are usually not too bad.

@andy, so are you saying one can't even attempt to get through passport control without knowing the gate? Shocked

You know it makes sense.

@under a new name, aha. So can once, say, try and get through B even before knowing the gate?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Had a similar experience last Saturday when popping back to the UK.
We got thru main security to holding area quickly enough, but when our flight gate was posted D83 or something like that, when we got to D the queue for passports was huge. We were on the 14:10 and were at the queue at 13:40, but there were people in the queue in front of us who were on the 15:00 flight and another flight that was later too.
Some of these people kindly ket us go in front of them, others did not.
We made the bus to the flight about 3 mins before it left to go out on the apron.
There were about 15 spare seats in blocks of 3 or 4 when the flight took off suggesting that others were not that lucky.

A snowHead

Contacted my travel agent to book me Priority Security as going Easyjet and am unable to access their website for this as a ClubMed Charter. He told me to try the Geneva Airport site and I purchased priority security for 8CHF

Hope it works having put it on the forum.

http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-478

Does not work for Terminal 2 which I have used for FLY(may)BE charters

A snowHead

@hawkesbaynz, that will work for security. People seem to be having problems when they get to passport control.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Hurtle, no, as nonShengen also go from iirc D gates. And there’s no connection between.

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Every airport I travel through seems to be doing construction work to increase capacity. Except GVA. Hemmed in by the road system and the French border and, as I understand it, at the limit of runway capacity it's like they have given up trying.

The car parks are frequently full, access to the short stay car park gets jammed up, the car hire pick up & return location location is too busy, security, passport control.....

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

From recent experience - no passport control required for 'A' gates. B and D there definitely is - 'B' is generally a short queue, and moves quickly, though just after new year I was queuing for quite a while, and a lot of people ahead of me were getting very stressed - it was an IT issue if I recall. I don't recall having ever used 'C'.

'D' I've frequently experienced large queues, and only once gone through there easily. Once I was there 50mins before my flight, and eventually had to be called to the front, rushed through, and only just made my flight...

On the plus side, Geneva (IME) announce gates quite early - often an hour beforehand, so you do generally have plenty of time to get through passport control if you go straight away.

Re. security queues - even when they are long, they do tend to move reasonably briskly. And the French shortcut is very helpful Toofy Grin

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@gad, EasyJet (non-charter) departs from the main GVA terminal 1 and B gates when I flew in January.

There is a cafe in the B gate satellite gate hub so no need to hang around the main food court and better to get passport control our of the way.

After all it is free

@gad, As confirmed above, Easyjet is Terminal 1. In early Dec I queued for over an hour at Geneva Airport security. So when I was due there again on Jan 20th, I booked priority security for 8CHF. But of course that time, there was no queue at all!

So I had a long chat with one of the woman manning the security, and she said that it was only crazy busy at certain times: December, Christmas and New Year, Feb school holidays and Easter. And that sometimes the queues were so big, they even stopped people coming upstairs! The queue could be nearly 1.5 hours. And that even if you had a priority pass, there could be a queue of 30 people or so — but there were FOUR security scanners reserved just for priority folk, so that helps big time.

So I will always book the priority pass, which is around £6 GBP. Worth it in my view.

I'm feeling nervous already. Am travelling BA with luggage in the hold, as well as hand luggage. As I understand it, that precludes me from taking advantage of going through French passport control. I need to read this thread again to see if I can buy a quick pass. Ugh, I hate Geneva.

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And, having read the thread, I have deduced that the quick pass will help me through security only and not passport control. So I aim to check in two hours in advance (not bothering with quick pass) go through security and hope for the best with passport control. Is that the right thing to do, ye experts? Oh, I should have said that I'll be flying to London.

Help!!

Geneva airport - reminder if huge security queues

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