 Poster: A snowHead
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Yesterday’s experience in Geneva is one I don’t want to repeat. 9 o’clock flight from Heathrow to Geneva was delayed by about 90 mins due to fog in London. Joined queue at passports at 13:45…. Eventually through at 15:30… EES machines not working… checks being done at the booths —- ( and some were being registered on system… I just had my passport stamped). No differentiation as to whether you had been through system before. All the same queue.
Chap we were waiting with had come for the day …. Business meeting at 1 ( which he missed as we hadn’t landed at that point)…. Basically he got through the queue to immediately go back for his return flight… at least I have 9 days in France…
( though slight extra hiccough.. when we got to Prodains cable car in Morzine, it was broke… thankfully others in the transfer were going up to Avoriaz so we managed to grab a lift)
Friend came through Geneva 3 hours later and had no queue… Luck of the drawer and number of flights landing at the same times…. Though I do think they need to develop a pre registered line.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
Joined queue at passports at 13:45…. Eventually through at 15:30
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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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I think that we will be putting up with these delays for most of 2026 but once we get past 09/04/26 the procedure will be very similar to the UK egates and will involve going to gate, presenting passport, machine deciding if you are already registered, if so then taking photo and fingerprints, deciding if it will let you through, if not sending you to a manned gate to get you checked and registered. Once settled in then providing the airport has enough egates then the whole process should be pretty quick.
When I arrived in Geneva for the PSB the queues were caused by insufficient egates, once passed the egates there was minimal queueing for the manual passport check and stamp.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Live update:
Geneva obviously learnt its lesson from those big delays reported yesterday.
I landed today at 10.00, joined the queue at 10.20 and was through by 10.25.
Lots of kiosks open, not registering any, just the old style stamp.
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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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Rumours from YSE in Tignes that GVA won’t be using the terminals this Sunday.
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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 don’t think it is just about selfish convenience, I was and still am incredibly saddened by Brexit, since I considered myself a European (as well as English, British and Devonian), traveling to France or Austria to ski, or to France or Italy to enjoy their local cultures or for work was seamless and I felt that I belonged to the European tribe. I am sure that those who voted to part ways with Europe had many reasons, but from where I am looking the negative outcomes were entirely predictable. And the positives exuded by Johnson and Farage have failed to materialise proving that they were charlatans.
As an aside, I have no problem with the idea of EES, but I do wonder if the anti identity card liberals will stop traveling rather than offer this import aspect of their identity?
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We arrived into Geneva last Saturday, queued about 45 minutes to get through passport control. EES not in operation. Hats off travelling back through last night to return. No queue at EJ baggage check or security. Around 15 minutes at C gate passport control.
On the other hand, got caught in the French farmers closure (in two places) of the A41. Absolute chaos around Aix le Bains and Annecy. Added 90 minutes to our journey going back country along with everyone else. Very very pleased we (unusually) left resort with more time than we needed.....
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@DavidYacht, exactly.
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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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| zedzed_uk wrote: |
Has anyone been through Grenoble airport yet? EES terminals active?
We are flying there on 3rd Jan, and I've heard that it was "slow" prior to EES, so just wondering if we should be allowing 2-3 hours between arrival and taxi pick-up? |
Wondering the same for Grenoble as we're due to arrive on Boxing Day with only 40mins to get on Ben's Bus. I fear we might be screwed.
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| jablessnow wrote: |
| zedzed_uk wrote: |
Has anyone been through Grenoble airport yet? EES terminals active?
We are flying there on 3rd Jan, and I've heard that it was "slow" prior to EES, so just wondering if we should be allowing 2-3 hours between arrival and taxi pick-up? |
Wondering the same for Grenoble as we're due to arrive on Boxing Day with only 40mins to get on Ben's Bus. I fear we might be screwed. |
From my experience of Grenoble at busy times (but its been a while), I'd say you'd be very lucky to make that even without EES.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Verona this morning, 10 minute queue for the EES machine followed by 15 minutes at the e-gate and another 5 minutes at the stamping desk. So half an hour total which isn't bad.
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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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Turin
13 December 2025
Escorted 19 students and 3 teachers through the system on an early morning arrival
Took longer to hand out and collect the passports from the children than it did to go through the system
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Daughter just flew into Turin. She said they'd turned off the fingerprint checks, but the queue was still massive, in her words.
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You know it makes sense.
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| jablessnow wrote: |
| zedzed_uk wrote: |
Has anyone been through Grenoble airport yet? EES terminals active?
We are flying there on 3rd Jan, and I've heard that it was "slow" prior to EES, so just wondering if we should be allowing 2-3 hours between arrival and taxi pick-up? |
Wondering the same for Grenoble as we're due to arrive on Boxing Day with only 40mins to get on Ben's Bus. I fear we might be screwed. |
I've never been via Grenoble, but from what I've read here it's a very small airport and there can be lots of flights arriving close together, so it can take a while to get through immigration (and collect your bags). Although that was in context of Saturday arrivals, and boxing day is a Friday, so perhaps there are less flights arriving that day? 40 minutes is still pretty tight to get through immigration and bags collected (and find the bus!) from any airport though, especially from the UK.
I did look at whether it was possible to do (most of) the journey from Grenoble to Alpe D'Huez via public transport (from the small village next to the airport - Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs - which has a bus station), but it looks like multiple buses and transfers etc. and could be 5 hours+. So yeah, depending on your destination it's possibly quicker to just wait the 2 hours in the airport (if all goes well) and get the next "bens bus". I hear there isn't much at the airport itself though - so maybe take some drinks and food and ensure all devices are fully charged 
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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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Geneva has always been slow pre and post brexit, for an alleged efficient country the Swiss are useless.
Apart from 30 seconds to stamp the passport we've not noticed any difference at eurotunnel since 2020,
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Poster: A snowHead
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| robs1 wrote: |
| Geneva has always been slow pre and post brexit, |
Not in my experience. Pre-Brexit I virtually never queued, in or out. A long queue would be five minutes if a BA and easyJet flight arrived at the same time at the B gates.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You've clearly been to a different Geneva Airport to me. There have always been queues to enter and exit from the UK, given that we have never been in Schengen,
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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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| Hurdy wrote: |
| You've clearly been to a different Geneva Airport to me. There have always been queues to enter and exit from the UK, given that we have never been in Schengen, |
I was flying into GVA up to 10 times per season, usually with BA landing at the B Gates. Almost never had a queue of more than a few people at the passport control desks, and my passport was never given more than a quick glance. The longest queues were normally for the car rental desks, certainly longer than passport control. Exiting the country was the same lack of drama. That was year after year.
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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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| Hurdy wrote: |
| You've clearly been to a different Geneva Airport to me. There have always been queues to enter and exit from the UK, given that we have never been in Schengen, |
I've been to that same different Geneva Airport.
Flew from Bristol to Geneva and back in June. Waltzed through in minutes.
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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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Just back from a week in 3 valleys, Landed 6/12 at Geneva and passport control took almost 2 hours, with many missing transfers. I am dual national so it only took me 10 mins and my wife is soon to be the same. It seemed to be just the volume of people to be fair. On the way back my wife had her fingerprints taken and photoi. Again I just showed my Irish passport.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Landed at Salzburg today at 10:50, whizzed over to EES where it took us 20 minutes to sort it out. Machines were a bit slow and we had a couple of failed attempts but all in all, not a major issue. Lots of machines and lots of very helpful staff.
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In the past I never had much problem with Gva. But the last time I exited (can't remember the date, but a quiet one in May) the passport queues were horrendous. Our flight out was delayed, and people in the passport queue were panicking because we were obviously going to "miss it". An official came to address the people in the queue to assure us all that our flights would NOT go till everyone was there. It was an absurd situation in a big glitzy international airport in one of the richest countries in the world! If you "waltzed through in minutes" @Mike Pow, you hit it on a good day. It's the luck of the draw.
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Still don't understand why people are willingly giving over their biometrics when they don't have to. Why not just walk past these stupid machines use the e gates and get your passport stamped as normal? All they are doing is collecting data on people.
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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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As I’m not planning on doing much housebreaking whilst in Schengen I think the risks arising from giving them my fingerprints are low. Good point though, I shall make sure only to use my left hand if I do.
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Quote Still don't understand why people are willingly giving over their biometrics when they don't have to. Why not just walk past these stupid machines use the e gates and get your passport stamped as normal? All they are doing is collecting data on people.
Do you have a choice? … apart from not going to a Schengen zone … my AI search says that this is compulsory. I really don’t see the problem with regard providing biometrics, I am not a crim, have no plans to be a crim, no doubt my face biometrics are already in the system, and it would seem very self important to consider that any of my activities are of any importance
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Could always take a cruise that starts in the UK and finishes in the UK as EES does not apply for those passengers as they are considered to be "in transit" when doing ports stops. Probably hard to get from a port to a resort for a day's skiing though....
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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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| sgt_tackleberry wrote: |
| Still don't understand why people are willingly giving over their biometrics when they don't have to. Why not just walk past these stupid machines use the e gates and get your passport stamped as normal? All they are doing is collecting data on people. |
But you do have to. If you ‘walk past the gates’ (I assume you mean kiosk, not the fully-gated national/EU units) and are not already registered, then the immigration officer is simply going to ask you to get fingerprinted by their scanner. And their own camera has got a grab of your face. And they’ll ask you the same questions that the kiosk does.
Refuse by all means, but then you won’t be allowed entry.
I understand the objection to the collection of biometric data, and by all means don’t travel to the many countries that require it. But all the EES kiosk is doing is collecting the same data as a human immigration officer will for any Schengen entry by non-EU citizens not already registered. There's no way ‘round it other than trying to cross the border using an unmonitored route, which is going to be difficult for a UK citizen, apart from the illegality.
I appreciate that 1984 has in some ways arrived, and that we’re pretty supine in the face of it: ANPR monitors your car journeys; CCTV (especially in cities) monitors and scans every pedestrian; GCHQ, MI5 and Police have access to most of your Internet traffic; car SatNavs quietly record your journeys on corporate servers; mobile phones are constantly tracked. That it’s the corporations that have emerged as probably a greater threat to personal liberties doesn’t moderate the concerns over state access to personal data. It view of these things, it just seems a bit perverse to draw the libertarian line at Schengen.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Fri 26-12-25 20:31; edited 1 time in total
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Sad but true, big brother knows everything, no one is forced to give up data but , living as a hermit would be pretty boring
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You know it makes sense.
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Fwiw, took about 30 minutes in Zurich to clear the schengen desks at Gate E… all manual, and most people having to answer questions along there lines of ‘where did you come in to the EU’, did you get a stamp, where is it, etc… our questions also covered’ why do you have a French visa’, why didn’t you get EES when you left the UK… all politely answered, but i do feel sorry for the border staff who have to deal with the political incompetence of the governments of most of the travelers…
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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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The biometrics isnt optional either. Prints and photo were taken on exit by the border guards at Geneva
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Poster: A snowHead
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@hamilton, was that entering or leaving? I'll be entering via Zurich on Sat and wondering how long to allow between flight arrival and train booking.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@sgt_tackleberry, have you actually tried this? At least in Geneva they will simply take your photo and fingerprints at the customs point.
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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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| sgt_tackleberry wrote: |
| Still don't understand why people are willingly giving over their biometrics when they don't have to. Why not just walk past these stupid machines use the e gates and get your passport stamped as normal? All they are doing is collecting data on people. |
If you want to enter, then you do have to unless you meet one of the (few) exemptions.
You can't "just walk past these stupid machines use the e gates and get your passport stamped as normal". If you are not registered, then the e-gates won't open for you, and if you go straight to the manual desks, they will either send you back to the machines, or require you to give the same fingerprints and photo there, or refuse you entry entirely.
THe law requires that in orer to enter the Schengen area as a non-EU national (or other exempt class), you MUST register on eth EES system.
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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 know many people who have not registered on these machines and been accepted through egates then got their passport manually stamped without being asked for a photo or fingerprint, not at Geneva I must add but at many other airports all around Europe. The whole thing has been designed to cause confusion and upset imo, most people who haven't flown yet don't know anything about all of this crap.
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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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| sgt_tackleberry wrote: |
| I know many people who have not registered on these machines and been accepted through egates then got their passport manually stamped without being asked for a photo or fingerprint, not at Geneva I must add but at many other airports all around Europe. The whole thing has been designed to cause confusion and upset imo, most people who haven't flown yet don't know anything about all of this crap. |
It is being phased in, and not all border crossings yet have it. They all will by 10 April 20265 AIUI.
So I am sure you do know people who have managed to cross without doing it for now. They will have been at entry points where it is not yet fully implemented.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| sgt_tackleberry wrote: |
| The whole thing has been designed to cause confusion and upset imo …. |
You might regard the imposition of biometrics as unacceptable, and/or complain that the process is less than streamlined. But the EES clearly hasn’t been ‘designed to cause confusion and upset’ - it’s been designed to record the ID of everyone entering the Schengen area.
| sgt_tackleberry wrote: |
| I know many people who have not registered on these machines and been accepted .... |
Some airports are not yet set up with biometrics and still use the 'old' system of merely stamping passports, but eventually the biometrics will be comprehensive. In the meantime, most of the major gateways into the Alps like Geneva already have it, and it's unavoidable. It would be very unwise to book any travel into Schengen on the assumption that someone you know gained entry without biometrics: sooner or later, you will have to submit or be refused entry.
@sgt_tackleberry: Please don’t think we’re ganging-up against your point of view. A deep concern about privacy and the liberty of the individual is important in an age where the tech bros are taking over the public domain and governments have a wider range of tools for surveillance and control then ever before. And I think a lot of forum members would echo these concerns. It’s just that as mentioned, Schengen biometrics are a fait accompli and many have decided that there are bigger libertarian - and more particularly moral - fish to fry.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 22-12-25 11:14; edited 10 times in total
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| ...It is being phased in, and not all border crossings yet have it. They all will by 10 April 20265 AIUI... |
In that case most of us should manage to avoid it 
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| ecureuil wrote: |
| alex_heney wrote: |
| ...It is being phased in, and not all border crossings yet have it. They all will by 10 April 20265 AIUI... |
In that case most of us should manage to avoid it |
Except that it is already in place in the majority of airports we tend to use for skiing.
And that would only be for this season anyhow.
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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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Its true though!
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I thought it was only the UK government that couldn't organise a pee up in a brewery.
Surely it can't be that difficult to build a system that takes a photo and fingerprints and aligns them with a passport number
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FAQ
