To find travel in Europe too stressful now with all the extra passport palaver

[Pavementworrier]

Why do all these new systems work so poorly? Who is getting rich on the stupid shit eye scanner things?

Please tell me soothing tales of recent visits to Europe where it was fine.

DH took an hour to get through immigration in Gran Canaria last week. In the end they abandoned the non-functioning registration process and let everyone through the manned desks. I was in the separate EU passport queue which was combined, for no apparent reason, with the family queue and the assistance queue, so it took ages because they were taking fingerprints and photos for registration of the British adults. Once I made it to the desk I took less than 30 seconds to get through immigration. When we left I took 30 seconds on the EU queue and he took 30 minutes, because everyone who hadn’t been able to register in the new system on entry had to do it then and the machines still weren’t working properly. Now that he has registered it should be quick for future visits.

I went to Europe in December. Registering biometric data took about 3 minutes (no queues). Passport control had the usual queues but the actual checks took only about 3 minutes - not much difference to previous trips.

My threshold for stress in the context of things that cost money and are supposed to be fun is quite low, controversially.

I am in the same boat as your DH - find it a bit odd, the lack of provision for families in mixed situations (last time my DH tried to just stay with me in the unclean Brits line he got shooed angrily into EU).

I have heard that, although the theory is that it will be quicker next time, there's no separation of pre registered and new registrations so it will always be the same wonky machines situation.

It’s luck of the draw there. Been queues of over 2 hours at busy times.

I know it is basic but I just think wtf would I do if I needed to pee. How do people off a 4.5 hour flight just hold it for 2 hours?? Are people just wetting themselves quietly?

Most people manage to navigate airports to go on holiday you sound anxious about "perceived" hold ups due to immigration/border control. What did you expect to happen when the Uk left the EU ?

There is toilets before the arrival gates in the airports i use

In every airport I've been to there are toilets before you get to immigration. Often they are right by the entrance door from the apron or the jetbridge corridor. We always use the first toilets we come to after disembarking.

You can check where they are beforehand on the map on the airport's website.

Would definitely be paying a visit but only once in two hours while feeling hot and stressed would be good going for me tbh.

Do you think your last point is cutting satire or something?

When the UK system comes online in February and is a shit show inevitably you sit around going WHAT DID YOU EXPECT or will you sympathise with affected travellers and reflect that perhaps systems that are fundamental to our successful shared occupation of this planet should be implemented competently?

I'm so sick of all the absolute eu bores who seem to want to sit in a pile of faeces rubbing it on themselves rather than trying to make the future better.

I fly regularly to and from Malaga. It’s been hit and miss. You need to register your passport on arrival and the scanners haven’t been working consistently. When they do work it’s very quick. I’m running out of space in my passport for stamps so I’ll be glad when I can just use the E gates.

For anyone who didn’t manage to register their passport on the way in, I’d recommend finding a scanner and doing it on the way out. Once it’s done, it’s done.

meh. It took me 4.5 hours to get through passport / immigration in Vietnam with all the correct visas etc.

It is what it is.

I am in the exact situation. British/Spanish passports. Only used my Spanish one up until now and the new rules mean they want me to use my British one to enter Britain. My daughter only has Spanish passport and is 7. So she queues on her own? Wonder if someone has the answer to this.

Fingerprint readers can be a problem for older people (not saying that’s you!).

And with that commment it’s not hard to get the crux or motivation of your post - maybe all us EU bores are sick of people who voted for this complete load of codswallop moaning about the cost of living, lack of investment etc and the rest of us having lost the opportunity to pick where to live whether retired or not restricted and fan dances if travelling or relocating businesses - in order to gain it would seem precisely zilch apart from a 400 billion drain on the economy . If it bothers you that much then just stick to Dorset or Scotland etc -

Have you considered counselling?

You seem determined to be miserable. Not good for you, or anybody around you.

see upthread. I got an ETA on my German passport (but then i missunderstood "nationality" for "passport" so in the end i did get a british one)

Families queue together if there are underage children.

I have no idea what you are rambiling on about!

I share your feelings about Brexit and it has seriously affected my travel and retirement but this isn’t the place to let rip.

Yep you are right - I just find it bloody annoying being called an EU bore - it’s affected our business negatively , our life choices etc - and hence my letting rip

We just did a short trip to Estonia. The passport checks there were a nightmare. There weren't even that many people in line, but each person took minutes, not seconds as their system didn't seem to be working properly. My family have EU passports and were through about half an hour faster than me, even though the lines were actually quite short. I was told later than I could have gone through with them, but we've tried that in other EU destinations and got ticked off! It wasn't stressful exactly, and it won't really put be off travelling, but it was certainly extremely annoying! Hopefully they can get it working more smoothly. I suppose it depends on how much they care. It may not be a priority.

That’s a thread right there! I might let rip myself…

3 minutes extra queue time for you or 3 minutes per person to take the fingerprints? 3 minutes per person is potentially an awful lot of time added on to the queue time. That's an extra hour if you are standing behind 20 people who have just got off your flight.

See this is what I mean. I voted to remain in the EU. I quite literally don't know anyone who admits to doing otherwise. If there were a vote to return to the EU today I would be in favour.

But the answer to every fucking problem isn't stamp stamp tantrum wet self laugh about how we all deserve this fate. Try being constructive.