 Poster: A snowHead
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Went out of Malaga Friday.
Fingerprints still not being taken but no queues probably because very few non Schengen flights at 6-7pm.
They have clearly defined sectors so non EU flights go from Sectors B and C and the passports stampers and EU gates are there for those sectors. I say that, because whilst they do not post the gates til much later, they post the sectors approx two hours before the flight departs so people can take early action to get passport stamping etc.
A word of warning for sun lovers - they clearly do not expect summer efficiency. The immigration hall is approached by a long winding ramp and then the usual tapes on poles BUT, even prior to getting to the immigration hall there is a long corridor and.....they have installed fold up seats all the way down that long corridor.....
Oh, and there is tons of snow up at Sierra Nevada and I managed one day skiing up there. Season runs to 5/5 extended by one week.
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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 guess we were lucky at Geneva last weekend, straight through on way in on one of first flights out of Luton, just passport stamp, and then on Saturday just needed to wait a few mins to get to the kiosks for easyJet for a 11.25 flight.
Had fast track security so straight through there too.
Only problem was the lounges were full for dragon pass members, and before we left la plagne my hire car failed with dead battery (never hiring a hybrid or electric car again) so we had to have an Uber to Geneva paid for by the hire company, thankfully we decided to leave on Friday afternoon and stay near the airport rather than Saturday morning.
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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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| skitrack wrote: |
@stevew nested quotes  . Corrected |
Thanks!
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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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Having registered for EES in October last year, seems to be a bit random whether I get finger print scanned going in and going out.
Feels like a solution looking for a problem ... unless they do genuinely mean that non EU can use electronic gates once bedded in.
Although I used to travel to Munich regularly pre covid and was able to use electronic passport checks back then
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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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| Little Martin wrote: |
| before we left la plagne my hire car failed with dead battery (never hiring a hybrid or electric car again) so we had to have an Uber to Geneva paid for by the hire company, thankfully we decided to leave on Friday afternoon and stay near the airport rather than Saturday morning. |
Ouch - stressful! Had the same in Jan, but in our case discovered 4hrs before takeoff when about to leave resort. Luckily a friend nearby had jump leads. I don't suppose your vehicle was an Alfa Romeo hybrid?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Having had the fun of a long passport queue at Prague airport on Friday, flying into Geneva last night was a breeze! (No passports as within Schengen area) just a shame we had a wait for some others on the shared transfers… hey ho, back in the mountains, about to enjoy some of this new snow!
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Salzburg on Sunday 22nd inbound at 10am was quick and simple, mainly due to it being a quieter time of year. Back on the terminal to be photographed, fingerprinted and answer the questions as before, then to the desk to have my passport scanned again and then stamped.
Outbound on Sunday 29th was similarly simple - passport scanned and stamped, and a photo taken.
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Into Geneva on Friday 27th about 11am ish. Queue about 45 mins to an hour. No finger prints or EES machines used.
Out of Milan Linate on Monday. Was a 2 hour delay on a 9pm flight time anyway. Didn't let you through into their zone B until they were ready for you, only non-Schengen flight at that time so was first in the queue when they did open it! Used EES machine, then E-gate then man manually stamped a page on my passport. If EES means they get rid of the man & we can use machines (all be it two) then it will eventually get quicker at pro-tourist airports.
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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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EES kiosks were in use at Gare du Nord yesterday with passport scan and photographs but no fingerprints.
Manned desks at the French control were enrolling people yesterday and today as well.
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North of an hour at Lyon today. No machines in use and minimal staffing
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Very painful at Turin coming back to the UK yesterday...1hr 30m queuing...basically it was only people on the LGW flight in 2 queues...so flight ended up with a delay. Nearly 5 mins to process each passenger...So draining especially with kids!
When we arrived in Turin 7 days ago, it took about 45 mins to get through.
Oh well...small price to pay for an excellent ski trip!
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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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Milan Malpensa on the 4th April returning from Montgenevre , daughter, partner and grandson straight through. Two sets of grandparents, passport scan, fingerprint and photo at auto machine, then E gates passport and photo, then passport stamp at booth. About 30/40mins. Massive queue at luggage check in before though with a period of all Easy auto luggage machines not working. But 7yr old Grandson, Zero to Hero,last day top to bottom......not snow ploughed so much for years 
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School group on coach for Dunkirk - Dover ferry at 10:00 on Saturday 04 April 2026
42 students and 6 staff off the bus, through passport control, and back on the bus in 15 mins
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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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Through Geneva at 13:00 yesterday, everyone doing EES registration and the even wanted a photo of my nearly 8 year old son.
Landed and in the transfer car within 1hr.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Layne, So when the summer holidays start either the airlines are going to have to alter their modus operandi or carnage is going to ensue.
A mate was on one of the last flights out of Geneva on Saturday night - the flight was delayed by nearly 2 hours because of the length of the passport queues.
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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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So getting off the ferry in Ijmuden this morning there was an an announcement that vehicles would disembark in small groups to take account of EES. This proved a very sensible approach and better than the chaos that has been a feature of the past. Except, there was no EES and no sign of booths or machines. Just a very polite NL immigration chap and we got clear quicker than we have done in the past.
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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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Arrived at Geneva this morning on a jet2 from Stansted, we were bussed to the old cattle shed (T2). 4 manned booths open, but still only one queue for both EU and non Eu passport holders, took about 30mins to get through, I was near the back of the queue.
I would say it took about 90 seconds for me
My ski bag was just being unloaded as I went through.
Obviously fortunate enough that we were the only plane in T2 at the time
Biometrics were taken, even though they had been previously at St Pancras in December
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Went through Milan Linate today. The shiny kiosks weren't being used, instead fingerprints and photos were done at the desk. They didn't bother with my 11 year old or 16 year old. Probably took around 40 minutes from plane to belt.
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Just checked in at Calais for the ferry. Still no sign of any terminals although there are some cabins before French border control where they’d likely go. Didn’t even get passports stamped!
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| altis wrote: |
| Just checked in at Calais for the ferry. Still no sign of any terminals although there are some cabins before French border control where they’d likely go. Didn’t even get passports stamped! |
Not getting passports stamped on exit is supposedly risky for British citizens until EES is fully operational everywhere in the EU. There is a possibility that at some point a border official thinks someone has exceeded the 90 day limit.
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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 know, thats why I raised the issue. Too late to go back now.
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Advice seems to be to keep some proof of return travel (tickets, same day payments in uk or on ferry, uk entry stamp etc) long term, in case it is needed the next time you travel
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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No queues and no passport stamping at Le Shuttle this morning. Through in 5 minutes - biggest delay is they're swabbing all cars.
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They were talking about this on BBC breakfast this morning - apparently the airport authorities prioritised 2 flights to London (?) leaving earlier, but this resulted in most people on the Manchester flight missing the flight. Sounds terribly organised. They also said the Italian authorities were insisting on doing photo and fingerprints for every passenger on exit, which should not be necessary (they should be able to just do photo which would be much quicker).
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You know it makes sense.
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Not skiing but I arrived back in Lisbon last night. A bit messy and disorganised but not a horror story, maybe an extra 15-20 min to get through.
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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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Sorry for skipping sideways on this thread but bearing in mind the recent scandals are there any plans for the uk to introduce passport checks for when you leave the uk?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@johnE, we always have to hand over our passports to Uk border force when we're leaving the UK via Eurotunnel already?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Hells Bells, not in airports and I don’t think I did leaving by euro tunnel a few weeks ago. In fact I was a little shocked when I arrived at the tunnel to find myself straight at French immigration without being sent to the terminal first or uk immigration.
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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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@johnE, How? 
Can't think how it's possible (leaving UK) to get to French immigration without passing through UK passport control.
I though passport checks leaving were done via the Advance Passanger info you have to provide?
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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 Milan Malpensa on Wednesday so hope they’ve sorted themselves out. Then I’m (hopefully  ) flying out of Zurich late on Sunday - fingers crossed!
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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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| Quote: |
I though passport checks leaving were done via the Advance Passanger info you have to provide?
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That's one of the sources of the scandal, people who had filled the API in but then never boarded the plane and hence the country were recoded as having left the country. Errors occured with mistyped information, dual nationals etc. It was the government's fault in relying on data collected for a different purpose. And that is before considering people travelling via ireland where the API information may not be shared with the UK government.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Red Leon, the news story was from Linate so you might be ok.
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@Hells Bells, There are no "official" passport checks when leaving the UK, haven't been for many years. However Theresa May introduced a regulation that airlines and other operators have to record details of all passengers who are leaving the UK (basically subcontracting out passport checks). The person who checks the passports at the tunnel is a Le Shuttle employee and their function is to check the passenger details match the API same as airline staff checking boarding passes against passports before boarding at an airport.
From the perspective of those of us whose taxes actually pay for EES it all seems to be beneficial as e gates are now pretty much at every airport (I went through Geneva not so long ago and there were gates there) which makes things easier. The fact that visitors are having to queue up is not ideal but doesnt affect folk who live in the EU
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| Quote: |
I though passport checks leaving were done via the Advance Passanger info you have to provide?
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That's one of the sources of the scandal, people who had filled the API in but then never boarded the plane and hence the country were recoded as having left the country. Errors occured with mistyped information, dual nationals etc. It was the government's fault in relying on data collected for a different purpose. And that is before considering people travelling via ireland where the API information may not be shared with the UK government.
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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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Yes, technology can accidentally duplicate things.
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| Orange200 wrote: |
| Yes, technology can accidentally duplicate things. |
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FAQ
