Any one been there recently.
Timings and delays.
Don't really trust the ferry companies saying that there are no or minimum delays.
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I assume you're asking about the French juxtaposed control collecting fingerprints etc for the EU entry/exit scheme.
Suspect the ferry companies are focused on their own operation.
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I meant to do a thread on EES where UK passport holders needs to be fingerprinted etc on the way into the EU. Apparently causing delays at most airports etc so expect delays if travelling that way this year! Luckily I was done on my way out of Portugal in Dec, no queues whatsoever.
The joys of BREXIT eh? - it just keeps on giving...
etias.com/articles/eu%E2%80%99s-new-ees-could-spark-major-airport-delays-this-summer
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 18 Feb 26 at 09:09
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When we arrived at Fuerteventura in November they were splitting arrivals. Some were required to do the fingerprint stuff but limited capacity meant large numbers were sent directly to the old fashioned passport stamp booths.
We were in the latter cohort.
EDIT: now seen that 35% of arrivals are required to be screened with pics etc. and numbers at Fuerteventura were consistent with that.
Off to Tenerife on Monday and will see what transpires.
TBH I'd rather get it done there than faff about in/out the car at Dover.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 18 Feb 26 at 10:08
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i’ve not been overseas since Nov 25. Most of the EES machines were either playing up or covered up so eventually I was directed to have my passport stamped.
I believe until you’ve been ‘registered’ with the new machines then border control haven’t a clue ( electronically) how many of the 90/180 days you have stayed in the EU, unless they trawl through all your passport stamps.
Of which i currently have 56. And I’m within the 90 days.
Surprising how many acquaintances have lost their passports recently…
I have Dutch, French and Norwegian friends with second homes in Spain who spend far more than 6 months in Spain, and should in theory be paying Spanish tax. The schemes they get up to avoiding this are really quite simple and most have been doing it for decades.
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This, from the latest FCO travel advice for Portugal, might be a bit annoying, in that I might still get caught in long queues despite having already been registered for EES.
"Until EES is fully rolled out your passport will continue to be stamped, even if you’ve already been registered for EES. Once EES is fully rolled out, it will replace the current system of manually stamping passports when visitors arrive in the Schengen area for short stays and you will input biometric details every time you enter or exit."
Probably not just Portugal...
www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal/entry-requirements
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We went out on Eurotunnel on 7th Feb, and returned on 15th Feb. No EES passport controls, no queues, no drama.
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Went to Lanzarote in January. On arrival in the passport hall we had to queue for the new system.
There were about 40 terminals but the staff brought forward 40 people to use them but would then wait till the very last person had finished before then bringing forward the next 40. Which was a pain in the back seeing 39 empty terminals whilst staff tried to explain to an old geezer what to do. Neither myself or my wife was asked for fingerprints but the couple behind us were.
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Malaga in December had to scan passport but no fingerprints and then stamped at border control.
Dover with car on the Shuttle in January - passport stamped by French border control on the UK side. Will find out in a couple of weeks what happens on the return trip.
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I read a while back that it's important to make sure you DO get stamped in and out as there is no other way of them knowing, so a missing stamp can cause problems later (I suppose for the more frequent travellers).
Passport scanning has been in use in Portugal for some time (a few years I'd say) but you'll need to have had the biometrics stuff done to qualify for entry once EES is fully up and running.
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Every time we've been to the EU post Brexit they've been very careful to make sure they stamp both in and out.
My current passport has way more stamps then any I've had before.
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Passport stamps mean nothing when they don't even check the passport details. Last year we went out to France with one of our two sons via Eurotunnel. It was only on the way back, in no-mans land between French and UK customs that we realised our son had his brother's passport! Which could have been interesting if the passport officers had actually checked the photo.
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>> Passport stamps mean nothing when they don't even check the passport details.
It varies. The French tend not to look that hard but re-entering the UK at Calais we're often addressed by name and asked to look at the agent and remove cap.
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My wife would always say how friendly the UK passport guys were when we went through - asking if she had had a nice time and the weather - it wasn't until later I told her that they were subtlely 'checking out her story'.
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>> My wife would always say how friendly the UK passport guys were when we went
>> through - asking if she had had a nice time and the weather - it
>> wasn't until later I told her that they were subtlely 'checking out her story'.
At least I twigged that.
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>> "Until EES is fully rolled out your passport will continue to be stamped, even if
>> you’ve already been registered for EES. Once EES is fully rolled out, it will replace
>> the current system of manually stamping passports when visitors arrive in the Schengen area for
>> short stays and you will input biometric details every time you enter or exit."
Arrived at Tenerife just after noon today on Jet 2 ex BHX. As non EU arrivals we were all sent to have out passports scanned then pics and fingerprints taken. Then went through E gates followed by passport being stamped.
See what happns (a) leaving next week and (b) on next trip - Madeira in May.
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Yep, as mentioned, I was done in Dec and am returning to Portugal on Sunday - it won't make much difference this time as I'll still have to wait for SWMBO to be done (Dec was a solo trip).
Was it a very slow process Bromps?
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>> Was it a very slow process Bromps?
Bit like airport security. Snaking queue but moving well. Very large bank of machines with helpers directing people to ensure max utilisation. One elderly Brit was struggling and getting very shirty with the Spanish guy helping; cultural thing about tone.
A damn sight quicker than the shuffle for the guys in the kiosks last time we were here.
Very short queue for passport scan and then stamping. The stamp is not, I think, any sort of entry authentication as in US; just a means of dealing with the 90 day thing.
Bottom line was that our flights bags were just arriving on the Carousel as we arrived in the baggage hall.
We. were in our hire car in a reasonable timeframe from touchdown.
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That's good.
I mention exactly this "our flights bags were just arriving on the Carousel as we arrived in the baggage hall." time and time again when she is getting agitated with the customs queue - you'd likely have to wait somewhere, if you can't manage on hand luggage alone.
And before the flight there's the scramble to get boarded. Your seat is already reserved (on most, anyway!). The plane won't go any earlier, or without you, just sit and wait for the queue to go down... -)
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>> And before the flight there's the scramble to get boarded. Your seat is already reserved
>> (on most, anyway!). The plane won't go any earlier, or without you, just sit and
>> wait for the queue to go down... -)
I can't understand why folk stand up as soon as the seatbelt light goes off and then queue in the aisle in the rush to get off. I sit until I can just stroll off (the luggage isn't usually on the carousel yet). At the crowd around the carousel, I wait until I see my luggage, barge my way in with an excuse me and endeavour to ensure it gets a shin or two coming out.
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There did used to be (maybe still is) a line a few feet away from the conveyor behind which you were supposed to stand. We still do it but often end up with one person between us and the conveyor. If everyone stood back then we'd all be able to see our case coming down instead of spotting it at the last minute, and have more space to get it off.
As for people letting their kids touch and even sit on the conveyor - haven't they read the horror stories? :-)
I do try to not get too wound up with fellow travellers when awa but sometimes it is quite an effort...
Last edited by: smokie on Tue 24 Feb 26 at 17:59
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In a strange way i enjoy the car rental rigmarole. queuing aside, I try to get the keys, sign the form and walk away within 5 minutes.
Being experienced in this matter, I know how the system works, and I assume the rental company know my rental history via their screen.
I wish them a good day, como esta and exchange pleasantries. Passport open, driving licence and credit card to block off €13+ my own CDW policy and i don’t require your fully comp insurance thank you very much.
Rarely get any hard sell, don’t need a sat nav, breakdown cover, diesel car or an auto box.
And away….
Occasionally get stalled by unfortunates who don’t want the rental
insurance but don’t have funds on their credit card…the tales I could tell of folks on the phone with their card provider, and no your passengers cannot use their credit card. I do feel sorry for them. Less so the punters who raise their voices and slag off the company to anyone within hearing distance.
Then 15/20 minutes checking for unrecorded damage..under bumpers, sills, even door mirrors.
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We did once get caught behind a couple who didn't even have a credit card. They were trying to persuade the company to take their son's card, by phone. No dice. Held us up for probably 20 minutes.
I did get "stung" on the Dec visit. Car hire was something like €13 for 8 days but they wanted €33. Turns out the toll device charge is obligatory, €2.xx a day with max of €20 ish.
Still was ridiculously cheap but I could have gone to one of my known regular companies who had cars at about €18 and don't charge the extra.
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€120 for 22 days rental out of ALC next month. Needed a mid sized vehicle for car sharing on group walks and a Fiat 500 doesn’t hack it.
Lots of rental company competition at ALC so great deals to be had, unlike when I occasionally visit the Canaries and pay an awful lot more.
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Yes the Canaries are more expensive for car hire. I paid EUR 380 for three weeks. You do have to remember though that this is peak season in the Canaries and that the top local firms like Cicar and Autoreisen include full comprehensive cover in the cost and that they are excellent and reliable companies to deal with.
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By regularly visiting the site and making/cancelling/making bookings I've eventually got down to €253 for 48 days from Sunday in Portugal which isn't dear but that's 25% up on the same period last year!
I'm struggling to get the similar duration in late Sept at anything below €500 so it could be the first time we don't bother with a car. We really don't use it much, but without it we'd spend about t €40 on Uber each way from the airport for starters, and it's the convenience... Though looking at the history it's been more than that a couple of times previously., but only €267 last year.
Partly because we're so central and near the seafront where parking is something of a mare, streets near the apartment being so congested even out of season, and partly because we've pretty much been everywhere we want to over the years, the car often doesn't move for many days, even whole weeks, so we wouldn't much miss it. Uber is plentiful and not that pricey.
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 25 Feb 26 at 09:11
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>> and that the top local firms like Cicar and Autoreisen include full comprehensive cover in
>> the cost and that they are excellent and reliable companies to deal with.
We used Cicar this trip. Tad over 200E for an Astra, turned out to be a Frontera, with auto transmission. Second driver included and no hassle with add on insurance and deposits.
Competitive with other quotes.
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>> There did used to be (maybe still is) a line a few feet away from
>> the conveyor behind which you were supposed to stand.
We hit Changi yesterday afternoon in the way back from NZ Everyone was reasonably disciplined apart from the one small child attempting to lose his fingers.
What was very noticeable was that luggage was appearing absolutely evenly-spaced on the belt. They either have a bunch of OCD baggage handlers (with tape measures) or the belt loading is microscopically mechanised.
We're reasonably accustomed to Singapore weather, but we've seen more rain in the 24 hours since arriving than we have in the previous 4 weeks in Australia/NZ (and it's mainly been in a couple of monsoon-like hours).
Have to admit, though, that we've been very lucky with weather this holiday, as NZ had reportedly been dismal before we arrived.
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>> I wait until I see my luggage, barge my way in
>> with an excuse me and endeavour to ensure it gets a shin or two coming
>> out.
If people spread themselves out around the whole carousel it's not difficult.
On spacing of bags the set up at TFS had them pop up in the centre and then hold until there was a space in the bags going round and round.
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Arrived in Portugal on Sunday - luckily on a less than half full BA flight with no flights immediately preceding it - so immigration was empty. There are dozens of passport machines dotted around the airport now, not working yet though, as well as the half dozen or so electronic gates there's always been (and which we've previously used).
We were about 4 back in the queue to see man (other sexes are available!!) as SWMBO wanted to get EESd (photo and dabs). It probably only took 10 minutes or so to do the few people in front of us but sometimes when you arrive you are behind another planeload so I can imagine it could take ages.
So she got "done" and me, cos I was already done, he just stamped my passport and waved me through.
Not sure what the form is next time, as the some headed straight for the electronic gates, though maybe they'd already been done. There was no sign to tell you that you had to have been done to use them though, and we've used hem in the past here.
Sunday was a glorious day here and the locals were out in force, in their coats and hats LOL, but yesterday and today are somewhat grey...
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Leaving Tenerife yesterday we used the automatic gates. Passports were then stamped but with not even a cursory check.
Arrival at BHX was onto a stand at what now seems to be Jet 2's enclave at the southern end of the terminal building. Disembarked to buses which took us round the other end to arrivals.
UK Border was all on auto gates and commendably quick. Baggage just arriving in hall by the time we got there.
Could have walked to car park 4 and we usually do but one of the bags was nearly 20kg and we waited for the bus which we must have just missed. Accident on the M6 saw us at a halt for 10-15 mins while the Wombles moved cleared the wreckage to the hard shoulder/J3 slip. Home just over an hour after getting to the car.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 3 Mar 26 at 10:31
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>> Sunday was a glorious day here and the locals were out in force, in their
>> coats and hats LOL, but yesterday and today are somewhat grey...
Glad you left, weather has been really nice here, please dont hurry back.
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Ha - like last March when we had more or less end to end rain here while you lot were basking in sun.
They've had so much rain here since Christmas that they've had to release water from the dams, which in our experience look more like a puddle than a dam. The lady who rents to us has lived here all her life and said she's never known it like that.
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“which in our experience look more like a puddle than a dam”
Not seen the Alqeva then? That’s one hell of a puddle.
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Dover port immigration control. - Bromptonaut
