 Poster: A snowHead
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| grumpygargoyle wrote: |
| The policeman on the desk told me I wouldn't need to use the kiosks again for three months. |
If that's expected to be the norm, most Brits will have to use them on every visit.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@grumpygargoyle, 3 months?? Scanned bio details should be good for 3 years.
@ian999 what time of day was that?? I'll arrive 1140 4 Jan.
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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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Perhaps I misunderstood him but I thought he said months, I'll check when I pass through the airport again.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Le shuttle today
No delays
Offered earlier transit by 1.5 hrs at no extra
No holdups for passport stamping or customs /security
No ees in operation all the new area with undercover booths coned off gathering dust
No fuss at all
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| stevew wrote: |
| ManiaMuse wrote: |
| Any experiences arriving at Geneva terminal 2 (the shed). Only some Jet2 and TUI flights in the winter I think. Do they even have the booths there? |
Also keen to know as flying with Jet2 on 03/01/26. Will report back if no prior feedback. |
No EES at Geneva T2 and no sign of one being put in..landed 30 minutes early at 08:45, ages to get on bus to terminal but through passports and out with skis at 09:25
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@stevew, do you happen to know if this is where Jet2 gets into?
Coming in a couple of weeks and trying to work out logistics for the drive up. Thanks!
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| stevew wrote: |
| stevew wrote: |
| ManiaMuse wrote: |
| Any experiences arriving at Geneva terminal 2 (the shed). Only some Jet2 and TUI flights in the winter I think. Do they even have the booths there? |
Also keen to know as flying with Jet2 on 03/01/26. Will report back if no prior feedback. |
No EES at Geneva T2 and no sign of one being put in..landed 30 minutes early at 08:45, ages to get on bus to terminal but through passports and out with skis at 09:25 |
Thanks for the update. Seems like a pretty decent Geneva transfer day arrivals experience.
@Biscuits9 I think most but not all Jet2 weekend flights arrive at Geneva T2 in the winter.
All the car hire desks are at T1 though. T2 barely has any facilities.
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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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Dover this morning. 10 minutes from the roundabout to the boarding lane. No EES.
Had to play hide and seek to find where the grumpy French bloke stamped my passport. And, to be even handed, the Brit passport guy asked me so many questions I thought he was chatting me up!
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It's not far from T2 to the hire part of T1, it's on the correct side
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks @stevew, and @ManiaMuse,
Hoping they are still super basic in T2 in a fortnight and we can skip through and get to the car and up the road 
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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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You know it makes sense.
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| snowornever wrote: |
@chocksaway,
The security chap just wanted to know if car manual or auto
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Should have said it was pre select with epicyclic gears and fluid drive.
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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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No change at Dover yesterday. Usual slow inspect and stamp at French control no sign of anyone at English.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@chocksaway, I now put a sticker on my passport page where I want the stamp, so no more random stamps all over the passport. I'm tempted to rule boxes on the pages to get better orientation and 8 stamps/page instead of 6.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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EES not operational at GVA today. Took longer to walk there. Just stamped.
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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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For those asking about Innsbruck, I travelled INN–MAN on Christmas Eve. There were 4 flights on the board when I arrived that had passengers on site – 2x London, Birmingham and Manchester, of which mine was the last, and then a 2 hour gap (so those passengers wouldn't have been in yet). Security queue was longer than normal, but still only about 15-20 min. However, the passport check queue was the full length of the terminal and moving very slowly, so it was clear nobody was leaving on schedule.
They know who is in the terminal after security, so they are holding the planes. Some people on one of the earlier flights tried to use the EU line so they didn't miss their flight, but were sent to the back of the queue with assurances.
My advice – turn up 2 hrs before your flight and don't fret too much. Expect to be delayed, though in the end we were only 30 min behind.
Sorry, I have no details of the procedure as my paperwork gets me through the short queue  They have started stamping non-EU-but-residency passports though, which is a bit annoying. Anyone know what that's about?
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Back from Spain, waste of time entering Spain using EES... the machine would not scan my passport, and it didn't log the wife's details either, I had to go to the chap, who stamped my passport, plus the wives, so coming back we had to do it all again..I think mine scanned , but they still stamp your passport ...it didn't take long either way, but if you have to scan everytime and it's not logging your details then what's the chuffin point..
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Came through Ijmuden (port of Amsterdam) this morning there was no difference in terms of efficiency (not much) in getting through passport control to what had happened in the past. No evidence of EEEs machinery and no split between EU and other passport holders from anyone else (despite signage suggesting there was). We had enquired of DFDS staff and they said they were just taking a sample of people through it, although there was no evidence of it.
Oh and there was snow on the Dutch motorways this morning and the locals were no more efficient at clearing that than our own road crews are.
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This system, years in the planning, seems to be collapsing into farce.
Compare and contrast with New Zealand, scan passport on App, pay the tourist tax and on V arrival walk to e gates and pass through!
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| chocksaway wrote: |
This system, years in the planning, seems to be collapsing into farce.
Compare and contrast with New Zealand, scan passport on App, pay the tourist tax and on V arrival walk to e gates and pass through! |
Slight difference is that NZ probably gets no more than 5,000 international arrivals a day.
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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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@JDL65, That’s just a matter of scale not complexity and kiss poor implementation.
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| Quote: |
I had to go to the chap, who stamped my passport, plus the wives, so coming back we had to do it all again..I think mine scanned , but they still stamp your passport ...it didn't take long either way, but if you have to scan everytime and it's not logging your details then what's the chuffin point.
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They still need to stamp the passports until 6 months after the last entry point adopts EES.
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That’s just a matter of scale not complexity and kiss poor implementation
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Actually it is a matter of complexity. There are 29 countries involved, millions of visitors with over 1800 entry/exit points to coordinate. It is possible to enter and leave within hours. An example would be driving through Andorra from Spain to France. Another example would be flying into Paris for a meeting in northern France then leaving via Brussels the same day. My wife had done this in the past; two national systems to coordinate on the same day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The EU has obviously rolled out a system that is not market-ready.
Some kind of joke.
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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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| Quote: |
An example would be driving through Andorra from Spain to France.
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Interesting point - are they implementing EES at the Spain/Andorra border? Last time we went Spain - Andorra (for a couple of weeks) - France we got in trouble at the French border because we hadn't got stamped out of Spain, because no-one in either direction was stopping at the Spain/Andorra border. Will Andorrans be expected go through the process doing routine trips into Spain?
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You know it makes sense.
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@altis, Interesting, because in 2021 the border with France was very much not "open ", passports taken, scanned, scrutinised on every page, then we were interrogated as to why our passports indicated we were still in "Europe" when we obviously weren't. Took nearly an hour to convince them that it was just an innocent mistake as we were unfamiliar with post Brexit rules. We were told in no uncertain terms that we must get stamped out leaving Spain for Andorra!
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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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Good to see its not only the UK government that can't organise a pee up in a brewery, we have no reason to gloat though
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Poster: A snowHead
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Zero issues today at least shuttle re passport stuff. Straight though and offered earlier train.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It seems no-one commenting on this understands the concept and theory of launching a major change in a soft way, rather than a 1st January big bang approach which would be guaranteed to go wrong somewhere.
Starting with a small number of key locations and then requiring 1% of passengers to use it, then expanding to 5%, then in stages to 25% then expanding to more entry points, then upping the thresholds and the coverage is exactly the correct approach, and is exactly what they are doing and therefore what is being reported on here.
Calling this approach "shambolic" and suggesting they couldn't organise a wee wee up in a brewery just exposes your biases and lack of understanding.
There will be problems and sequencing issues along the way, but overall it has been pretty much as expected to date including the delays. Tell me in a year whether it has worked or not.
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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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Went thru Grenoble Airport on Saturday 3rd Jan. No EES machines, just a 30 minute immigration queue. Relatively "ok" for Grenoble, or so im told.
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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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I’m flying into Innsbruck on Friday, and I’m fully expecting trouble. They’re increasing registration to 30%, and Austrian authorities have already warned that this “jump” could push processing times up by as much as 70%. Innsbruck is even setting up special overflow lanes just for Friday to stop queues spilling back onto the tarmac.
There are seven flights arriving around the same time as mine, and anyone with ski gear will be left rummaging through hundreds of bags dumped outside the terminal.
At this point, it’s impossible to book onward travel with any confidence—you’ve no idea how long you’ll be stuck in queues just trying to escape the airport.
Even ACI Europe (Airports Council International) has formally warned the European Commission, calling the situation “mayhem.” Across France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain, peak‑hour waits have already hit three hours.
Calling this whole dog’s dinner “shambolic” is generous.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 4-01-26 18:21; edited 1 time in total
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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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Wife and kids just flew back to UK from Geneva, having arrived in France via tunnel (no EES).
Airport was rammed , but no EES being used/registered, apparently. Just old-fashioned passport control.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Through Geneva T1 at 1330. 2 in front at passports.
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@Alan1974, Innsbruck and Salzburg both have major issues at peak times, simply because they're not big enough for the peak traffic - because that peak is really only on 6-8 Saturdays per year, so there's no point in building extra capacity.
At Salzburg, the room which has always had the 4 passport booths can't even accommodate the passengers from a single flight, never mind the 3-4 at a time on peak days, so passengers are left on the plane or held on the bus until the space is available. I'm expecting that to be a challenge for both of the queues grow significantly.
Ultimately, they need a bigger space for this to handle non-EU arrivals even if this is a short term problem.
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Just read that the Commission has said that most of the delays recently have been caused by an acute shortage of border guards… whatever the cause, we’re going through Innsbruck in just over a week, so it could be interesting.
I’ll report back how bad the chaos or not.
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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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I'll be going through Munich on 17th and Salzburg on 27th of this month. Girding my loins for long delays.
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Just been into and out of Madrid with zero delays - such a difference from Geneva - no sign of EES, just an airport working as you would hope it would.
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