The new EU passport control system for non-EU is totally idiotic and crap and will permanently make holidaying in Europe worse

[Czerwonitz]

Sure, still probably better than the US (and no need to say anything about the UAE etc for now) but still shit.

1. Why are there stupid kiosks dotted randomly about, just put them in the line everyone waits in so the queue can be orderly and everyone literally knows where they stand.

2.Clearly mark the line so people don't wait in the wrong one for an hour before being told they have to go to the back of another.

3.The fingerprints machine cannot properly take fingerprints (anyone who has worked in a fingerprinty job knows this, it's all for show) so maybe just park that or if not then at least get some alcohol wipes for between users.

None of this will happen ofc it's random shitty kiosks til we die. Or rejoin the EU. So the first one.

We did it recently going to Lanzarote and it was easy peasy. Truly the fastest I’ve ever gone from plane to taxi in my life. Similar on departure. We cruised right on through. Instead of queuing twice, once for passport control and then again to board, it was one queue. 15 minutes and the entire plane was on board. It was really easy.

That said, the cognitive dissonance of everyone who voted for Brexit now tantruming about the challenges of travel to the EU! 😂

Who do you believe is doing that?

Yes the UK let's all eu citizens through egates. Maybe we should " punish" them in return

Well I would have said we are better than that and not a country that behaves in such a pathetic way but who knows these days.

God you were lucky. I nearly missed my flight back from Malaga a few weeks ago as it took about half an hour to get through the passport machines. A lot weren't working and there were no staff to help. The only reason I didn't miss my flight was because my flight was delayed! It was really stressful.

I hadn't been to Europe since before Covid and what completely blindsided me was going through the passport machines on my return flight AFTER going through security. I just had no idea this was a thing, and that it would take so long. Last year I've been to both America and Thailand and coming back, you just casually walk towards the gate. In Malaga you had to factor in another 30 mins to go through the passport machines AGAIN! Just factor in the extra time and don't dilly dally around at the airport, looking at shops or eating.

Many? You mean Spain? There's like 190 odd countries in the world!

How can anyone know you are from the UK before you actually get to a kiosk or counter! They know anyway that most of the UK didn't vote for Brexit! 17m out of 70m is hardly unanimous.

But the difference is you get a lot of Brits descending on the same few places at the same time. That's why it causes chaos, my friend just had a long lads weekend in Tenerife, passport queue took him two hours on arrival. When you've got places that have flight after flight after flight landing from the UK, it's not advisable to make it much harder for Brits to get in!

How can it be punishment when it affects every non EU country! It's worse for Brits because come school holidays, you'll have several flights of brits landing every hour in certain destinations! There is no punishment but when you are the majority traveller to a place you don't vote to make it ten times harder for yourself!

I'm Seville bound at Easter and don't know what to expect as haven't come up against the new system yet. My friend just had a lads weekend in Tenerife and passport queue on landing was 2 hours

Think about an institution that chooses to make things super easy for a select few number of people, but decides to make things hard and difficult for the rest of the world? Why not have a smooth border system for everyone?

It's not actually that smooth for EU travellers either

Hmm

I now live in Italy, and whether entering through Rome, Milan or Naples the e-gates for UK passport holders are always virtually empty and much quicker than those for EU passport holders. But, I expect come the main holiday season that will not be tht case.

Conversely I have flown into Geneva 3 times since the rules changed, where it's peak ski season, and despite a semblance of a queue for the kiosks it's been chaos every time. A taste of what's to come in peak summer season elsewhere I suspect. As I don't particularly need to travel at peak times my plan is to avoid them :)

They will know where a flight comes from. And they do have the signs above the queues.

Plenty of countries don't want loads of tourists. Venice is another example.

I said that too but the pp says not. Maybe officious border guards but in two different places.

I guess the fact that UK citizens are no longer in the EU queue, makes it a bit to a lot shorter that it would have been if we were still in the EU. I bet the likes of the Americans etc get fed up when the "other passports" queue is way longer than it used to be because of us!

But EU citizens don't have to do the EES malarkey and that's what this thread is about.

It would be a lot easier if they'd sort out the app and you could register at home before you leave. But as they seem to have changed the process so you have to do it every time (and leaving too) that might not help that much

That was the case before the machines though as you never knew how long the passport queue was going to be. And often when you get through there's nothing there either, maybe a loo if you are lucky but no cafe or shops.

My experience is that the U.S. has been super quick the last couple of times that we have visited due to their mobile passport control app and the separate queue for those using that app. UAE was amazing as ever when we visited in Feb. Sad that we can’t visit there again for the time being as their efficiency is amazing and makes many EU counties look bloody stupid. Spain and Greece have been my worst EU experiences recently, although to be fair my most recent visit to Barcelona in Feb wasn’t as bad as three years ago when it took over an hour to get through passport control and that was before they introduced this new system. Romania was efficient in December but they weren’t using the new system so have no idea how that will impact matters.

Well blane your politicians for leaving the EU

Again is there any actual evidence they did all this to "punish us"? Even so, of they did..isn't that on the EU for being vindictive when we still let them come here via e-gates and have decent borders.

Don't confuse the situation in Venice, it's the cruise ships that piss them off and rightfully so rather than tourism in general.

Signs saying what? Stand here so we can swerve you last because you are British? I travel 4 or 5 times a year and I've not seen any signs telling Brits to get in a different queue!