 Poster: A snowHead
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Does anybody know an alternative route in and out of Geneva airport French side, so that I wont get stung by the Swiss for road tax???
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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wazza, if you PM me your email address I can send you our directions as a PDF that take you in and out of GVA without needing the vignette. Tried and tested! 
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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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| MrDan wrote: |
| wazza, if you PM me your email address I can send you our directions as a PDF that take you in and out of GVA without needing the vignette. Tried and tested! |
how about putting it on your website? Please?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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wazza, I can vouch for MrDan's directions, worked for us both ways last weekend 
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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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doctor_eeyore, I'll have a look at doing this. A couple of issues with the website at the moment as you can probably see so once this is up I'll see if I can get the directions on there. At the moment though anyone interested just let me know and I'll email the PDF over.
Roger C, cheers
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've found it pretty easy driving out from the airport from the French side and through Geneva centre. We were heading for Chamonix which seemed fairly straightforward. We were given a map and directions from Europcar. It was a bit more tricky coming back into Geneva as we came back a different way and did end up on the motorway at one point after trying our hardest to avoid it. Even then we were able to turn back off the motorway and not pay the tax once we had explained things to the officials. So I would say don't panic, especially as you will have a map in advance.
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| Quote: |
I've found it pretty easy driving out from the airport from the French side and through Geneva centre
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Yes it is, the complicated bit is if you need to avoid Switzerland altogether, for example if you have visitors who don't have a visa for Swiss entry. That also makes things complicated at the airport itself as they are not allowed through to the baggage pick up area and need to get their baggage picked up by an agent.... gets horribly complicated. However, unless you are exceptionally strapped for cash (in which case, why are you going skiing?) the vignette only costs as much as a modest round of drinks and will get you to Chamonix a lot quicker. How much is it worth to be relaxing with a glass of vin that much earlier? I never understand quite why people on an expensive holiday are willing to waste very expensive holiday time to save the price of a vignette. I suspect that getting back into the French sector without using the motorway has caused several divorces before now (when I stopped once at a garage, to fill up hired cars with petrol and ask the way, I had two locals arguing about which way to direct me; I followed the advice of the one I could understand best, because he had a strong Italian accent!). I have since learnt the way for myself, but the motorway remains far easier, and far quicker, especially if you hit Geneva at a busy time.
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I presume that wazza is talking about driving from France to Geneva airport and back, as otherwise the question is puzzling?
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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, and kebab shop owners are good at getting you back onto the right route if the motorway is closed too.
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Yoda, no, I think he wants to get in and out of the French sector of Geneva airport, without going on the Swiss motorways. The answer is to go through Geneva (provided all concerned have the right visas to enter Switzerland, which is not the case for some of my visitors). The answer is, indeed, fairly straightforward, just look at a map, or just follow the signposting to Chamonix through Geneva. It's only the bit into and out of the French sector which is difficult, as the Swiss seem determined never to signpost it, or even acknowledge its existence. But I still think that all that faff just to avoid paying for a vignette is a bit of a waste of time. A ski holiday probably costs you at least £600. £100 per ski day, which is quite a high price per pleasurable hour. Pleasurable hours don't include driving round Geneva in an effort to avoid the motorway. Even if there are only 2 of you in the car, the cost of a vignette is about £9, which saves at least an hour's hassle in both directions. £4.50 an hour. If somebody offered to pay you £4.50 an hour to drive round Geneva rather than sit in a bar in Chamonix with a nice drink, would you do it? No, of course you wouldn't. In fact, you'd gain less than £4.50 an hour because you'd use more petrol driving round the city. Some people put a low opportunity cost on their time.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pam w, it's less than the minimum wage!!!
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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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Helen Beaumont, it's amazing what people will do to save a few bob. In fact, in the time it takes to do the extra driving through Geneva you could wax two pairs of skis (each). So the total cost saving in buying the vignette is significant....
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, the last vignette I bought was about £50?? in 2005. And if he's hiring in Geneva why not get a car on the Swiss side which presumably has a vignette already. Is it really that much cheaper on the French side? But as I say, I don't understand the question 
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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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nhayes, Thanks for posting that link I've wondered how much of the Airport is in two countries.
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Poster: A snowHead
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nhayes, ditto .. as pam w, says it does seem a waste of time now I understand what's involved.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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pam w, Don't know when you last bought a vignette? Yoda, has a more realistic figure, just back last week. But then again €50 is fine. As mentioned above you are on your holidays. A few euro per passanger isn't a problem really! If it is,you will not enjoy Chamonix or anywhere else in a ski resort.
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for many people us included it isnt trying to avoid the vignette that's an issue - it's that car hire can be 50 quid cheaper for a short trip on the french side of GVA compared to the swiss side!
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
pam w, Don't know when you last bought a vignette?
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Last Saturday. No way is it £50, or even 50 euros. I paid with a 50 euro note and got 20 euros and 5 Swiss francs back! The 5 swiss francs gets you a cup of coffee when you wait at the airport.
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Fench side: Hassle getting through the airport (airlock anyone) to start with and then more hassle having to drive around (plus an extra 18 miles or so to the interchange just outside Saint Julien-en-Genevois)
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from the French side of Geneva airport to the motorway is less than 2 miles extra. Driving through the centre of Geneva is shorter than the motorway, but obviously much slower and quite a bit more difficult to navigate. You only need to do the long detour if, for some reason (visa etc) you are not allowed into Switzerland.
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pam w, is that the vignette which covers all Swiss motorways? Mine cost either 45 or 50 SF in 2005 as far as I'm concerned. Does this thread mean I was paying a fine instead of buying a vignette? (Was crossing border from France at Geneva at the time).
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Yoda, yes, covers all the motorways and lasts a year (or more, the one I bought yesterday will last till end February 2008). 40 SF. I think the fine is 100SF plus the cost of the vignette. In your post above you said the vignette cost you £50 in 2005, which is a lot more than 40 SF. I've bought one every year for the last 5 years and I don't think the cost has changed. It's not an arm and a leg, especially between a few of you sharing a hire car, and getting in an out of the French sector of Geneva airport can be difficult enough (if you don't know the way) without trying to avoid the motorway too. Right now I am having to sort out getting papers from the local mairie to allow a Zimbabwe passport holder to get a French visa. But he won't have papers for Switzerland, and if they did check passports at the Bernex border post (not that they ever have up to now) I will have to drive back around through France without transiting any Swiss roads, motorways or otherwise. But without this complication I reckon it is a saving too far to try to avoid the motorway. With clear directions the French sector of the airport is no hassle at all though, it takes a few minutes only to drive back under the runway and back onto the Swiss motorway. The car hire cost savings can be worthwhile.
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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, yes I admit my £50 guesstimate was on the high side, but it wasn't £9 as you said either 
Useful to know that it's cheaper to hire on the French side - do any of the major renters hiring from "Geneva airport" tell you that on their websites?
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brian
brian
Guest
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Yoda, she said if there were 2 in the car it's £9 each, just about right.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I guess god loves fools, drunks and little children, but every time I've hired at Geneva (1/2 a dozen or so times) I have had a car fom the French side and I have never paid or been asked for a vignette. A couple of times the car had one , mostly it didn't. When it didn't the instructions on 'how to get to the autoroute' seemed to avoid the Swiss bit, the couple of times it did, they didn't. There simply hasn't been a problem. I guess its better to be lucky than clever huh?
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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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Yoda, it's not always cheaper, you need to check, and sometimes the car models are not exactly comparable. And often, though not always, the Swiss ones include chains and winter tyres. If you check on the websites of the major rental companies you can look up prices for Geneva (France) or Geneva (Switzerland). I haven't come across a site which just says "Geneva airport" without specifying. Another plus on the French side; at busy times it can be quicker and less congested to check in. Easyjet have their own desk. And for self-caterers there's a very big supermarket and a Lidl, in Ferney Voltaire close to the airport. Filling up with petrol at the end of a hire is also far easier on the French side (in fact I would use the garage in Ferney even if returning a car to the Swiss side, rather than fiddle around in Geneva).
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You know it makes sense.
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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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pam w, we always use the petrol stations in Ferney-Voltaire.The airport is well signposted from there too.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Out of interest just done a check on CARJET for Geneva Airport and the following was found:
7 days for the first week in April, unlimited mileage and all local airport/car hire taxes paid
Swiss side
Peugeot 307 Estate A/C £173.70, £0 per day to avoid paying excess in case of damage, CHF 9 per day for snow tyres, local charge for chains
French side
Ford Focus Estate A/C £178.20, €7.80 EUR per day to avoid paying excess in case of damage, no mention of snow tyres or chains
Car hire price comparable, but doesn't really tell me much unless I know what the "unknown" costs are, tank of fuel, and if the Swiss car includes a vignette?
Rik
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rikochet, I'm about 97% positive that the Swiss hire car will include the vignette
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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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rikochet, usually responsible for your own fuel at swiss side. Always had the vignette too. (If you want to check, it's a small sticker, with a motorway symbol on it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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wazza, it's not a case of "risking the fine". When you drive over the border on the motorway at Bernex, on the route in from Chamonix etc, you simply will not get past the Swiss guards without buying a vignette. It's compulsory there and their vigilance is 110%. So you might as well buy it when you cross into Switzerland at Ferney Voltaire, just outside the exit from the French sector of the airport, where it's not compulsory. Otherwise you WILL run the risk of having to pay both the fine and the vignette.
To get to the supermarket turn left out of the airport entrance (noting the border point, on the right), go to the big roundabout a few hundred yards away (noting the location of the garage, to fill up on your return) and turn right. the commercial centre is just a bit further on, and clearly signposted. I think that supermarket is open at lunch times, which is not always the case in France. It's easy to find, and also has a cafeteria which is cheap and convenient if you need to eat something before driving to your resort.
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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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pam w, Thanks for your response. I'm going this Saturday, so I appreciate everyones comments. Pray for a bit more snow in La Thuile!!!
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AxsMan, said
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I guess its better to be lucky than clever huh?
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If you cross the border, on the motorway, at Bernex from France into Switzerland, which is by a very long way the easiest way to get into either the Swiss or French sectors of the airport you will not get in without a vignette. End of story. You won't get fined, either. Just have to pay the 40 Swiss francs. If you cross the border anywhere other than on the motorway you won't be asked to buy one, you just get the (non-advertised) opportunity to buy one and if you use motorways anywhere else you might quite likely get away without one; luck of the draw. But for people going to most of the French resorts that stretch from the airport to Bernex/St Julien is the only bit of the Swiss motorways you are likely to need. I cross that border often and have never been asked for a passport, never been asked about what I am carrying, never been stopped except when (like last Saturday) my vignette had expired. You can, as explained above, avoid the Swiss motorways altogether but it saves time and temper to get onto the motorway a mile from the airport rather than fiddle around and if you are going to have to buy a vignette on the return journey it's a wholly unnecessary risk of 100 SF not to buy it at Ferney. Anyone hiring on the French side, who is not thoroughly familiar with it, just needs to think it out beforehand (voice of bitter experience; I know it very well now but got lost the first several times I did it).
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Just a quick word of warning for thise hiring on the french side, but actually going to Switzerland. I just did this, great I thought, saved about £30 on car hire. However, I shattered my knee whilst skiing, so needed the car recovering. Holiday autos advised me it would be €1000 as it was an 'International' recovery, so quite a bit more than a standard one. My insurance company wouldn't confirm that it was covered, as it was a 'supplimental' charge. Be warned!
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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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volksy, wow, Sorry to hear that.  how is it now?
So presumeably if you're going skiing in France, you would have to rent from French side to avoid the same... I suppose most of us have never given this a thought... we did hire from French side to ski at Chamonix but only to get cheaper car rental and we quite enjoyed driving out through Geneva past the casino and lake and fountain, but said if we did it again we would pay extra for added convenience of direct motorway ... we did pay extra so we could both drive in case of any accidents but didn't think about car recovery...
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FAQ
but even if you shop around for the cheapest deals you end up paying more for car hire by about £50 for a week than the cheapest deals on offer on the French side. Or maybe that just me not shopping around enough!
Thanks
Very sorry to hear of your accident 
- and the hassle of the car recovery. Like 