MAD arrival at 5:00 am was a madhouse. We were first off the plane, but the gate was at the very end of the terminal, so we ended up behind two other arriving flights. The machines were mostly working, but only some of them, and not for everyone. After a 45 min line to reach the machines, Jonathan got through fine. Me, not at all. I got shunted to a line with enormous families that were being processed manually, and taking forever. When I finally got to the agent, he glanced briefly at my passport and waved me through without even a scan. By that time, Jonathan had collected our baggage and was waiting at the exit. About 90 min for me in immigration, which could have been worse.
1 Like
Bummer.
Would be nice if airports and airlines would work together to space out arrivals a little better.
And that walk from the jet bridge? There’s your exercise for the day lol.
Hope the rest of your trip goes much better!
With so much air traffic and delays, I’m just to happy to get the plane into the jetway in a safe and somewhat timely basis. I’ll deal with the ground issues as they present themselves.
True. I guess one way to handle it would be to sit in the penalty box for a half hour until it’s your turn at passport control lol.
Rome FCO was fine last Friday. I had trouble at the scanner like others and was told needed manual inspection but the line for 2nd and final clearance via the prior automatic stations was the same with a few lanes dedicated for folks who had trouble with the scanner. My family was right behind me as they had no issues and we all made it through about the same time. Less than 40 minutes in total and got to baggge area just before our bags arrived. All in really well handled at FCO.
Flew into Paris - Orly yesterday and used the new machines. Pretty smooth, got through immigration in about 15 min total.
Coming back from Lisbon tomorrow and already hearing horror stories. I had a smooth entry but also flying with a kid (pushed to priority).
No delays leaving Stockholm last week other than the machine at CDG did not read my passport correctly and the border guard thought that I had arrived in December and I was over my ninety day limit . . . fun . . . she was adding up all of my days on her computer.
What does leaving a destination have to do with EES? Have they changed departure protocols too? I thought it was just for arrival.
AFAIK only the passport data gets taken upon entry, and not the boarding pass, which means you’ll have to ‘stamp-out’ when you leave.
Patricks reply pretty much states why.
1 Like
Arrived in Frankfurt 2 days ago - EES took us less than 10 min. The system is really quick (scan passport, scan fingers, take photo at a booth) then proceed to real person at passport control. It really depends on how busy the airport is. Good luck if you are stuck behind a large international flight.
Nope. Border control in most countries is at entrance and exit.
1 Like
Thank you
Didn’t realize that. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Europe but will be heading to Italy this year.
Sure. One of the points of the system is to know who is overstaying their welcome, so to speak. So they have to know when you enter and leave.
Even though the US doesn’t have a formal “exit border control”, the airlines do send a list to CBP/TSA (using a system called eAPIS) that lists all passengers that board an international departure to/from the US. UK has a similar system in place, that’s why there’s no passport control when leaving LHR.
So the CBP/TSA guys do know who’s leaving and who is arriving. Interestingly, if flying private there are times when you don’t have entry passport control flying to the US either.
Exiting Madrid today could not have been easier. Zero wait, not one person, at car rental retrun, bag check, Fast Track security, EES registration, border control (manned gates, E gates not in use) Two extra hours in the lounge, lol. I will take it.
2 Likes
So not looking forward to the CDG experience again. I’ve waited in line for 3 hours before, so I can’t believe this is going to help. I almost cried when I finally hit gold status on Delta one year, just because it meant skipping the lines.
@TGigante - CDG is also notorious for their exit queues. The best part? You finally get through, only to realize that you’re 100% getting on a train to another part of the terminal and then queueing again for security 
Oh wait, it’s mandatory break time just as you get to the agent, which means three people get up and leave for a smoke despite 3,000,000 people being in line. On the bright side, international flights are generally immune to the regular strike cancellations. God I miss Paris!
3 Likes
There are greeter services that avoid all that. We haven’t had any issues flying in and out of CDG. Once, however, we were gassed after our daughter’s wedding and had a hotel provided greeter. Cost a couple of hundred Euros and worth it if you are exhausted or don’t want to be subject to the vagaries of CDG border control. The greeter took us around and through areas of the airport not open to the public and we were out in minutes. If entry and exit become a problem at CDG, we’ll use a service again in the fall.
I’m a baller on a budget!
2 Likes
While Orly is an international airport, the majority of flights coming in are from Schengen countries, so it’s much, much less of an issue than CDG.