EES for European Vacations this summer

[Drake3287]

Just back from Europe and like many I've seen hundreds of warning videos and comments about the new EES system when entering or exiting the Europe. We arrived in Vienna in early May and had literally no wait when we went through Passport control. Our point of exit was from the Frankfort airport yesterday and we had a wait of 45 minutes. Nothing overly bad or worth worrying about. I always tend to make longer layovers anyway. Long story short, I think much of the EES problems have been worked out.

 

[OldConch]

I'll add a data point. Nobody ahead of us on arrival in Bologna from London LHR 10 days ago. We'll exit through Milan MXP in a couple of weeks and as usual will arrive 3 hours early for international departures.

On an unrelated and interesting IMO travel note, we joined a small group tour in Palermo a few days ago. We flew from Rome to Palermo. A member of our tour group took the train from Rome to Sicily and her entire train was loaded onto the ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. Never heard of anything like that before.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

On an unrelated and interesting IMO travel note, we joined a small group tour in Palermo a few days ago. We flew from Rome to Palermo. A member of our tour group took the train from Rome to Sicily and her entire train was loaded onto the ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. Never heard of anything like that before.

Yep. It’s a thing…

 

[Drake3287]

Be a fun way to cross!

 

[bonvoyage]

I'll add a data point. Nobody ahead of us on arrival in Bologna from London LHR 10 days ago. We'll exit through Milan MXP in a couple of weeks and as usual will arrive 3 hours early for international departures.

On an unrelated and interesting IMO travel note, we joined a small group tour in Palermo a few days ago. We flew from Rome to Palermo. A member of our tour group took the train from Rome to Sicily and her entire train was loaded onto the ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. Never heard of anything like that before.

Outbound immigration at MXP was not a problem when we departed in April. Our flight to the US left in the morning and there were no lines. The fingerprint reader and automatic photo machine both seemed to be working pretty well so we did not have to go through manual processing.
While we were waiting for our flight, I chatted with a traveler from an Asian country that the EU entry and exit process was a lot slower if you needed a Schengen visa. Those travelers could not use the automated gates.

 

[oiseux]

If you have a compliant passport it has been quite easy these last several weeks, IME. I went through London, Paris, Nice, Vancouver thus far and it has been easy, with only short waits. I was enrolled on a prior trip but the experience for everyone seemed pretty easy, except for those not from the EU/EEA/US/Can/UK (except ireland). It was slightly longer in one place where due to the late arrival they did not have the auto gates open, and there were a lot of other passengers.

 

[JoeWras]

Our point of exit was from the Frankfort airport yesterday and we had a wait of 45 minutes. Nothing overly bad or worth worrying about. I always tend to make longer layovers anyway. Long story short, I think much of the EES problems have been worked out.

Frankfort is notorious for long and multiple passport control points. This was true before EES. 45 minutes is normal.

 

[rodi]

On an unrelated and interesting IMO travel note, we joined a small group tour in Palermo a few days ago. We flew from Rome to Palermo. A member of our tour group took the train from Rome to Sicily and her entire train was loaded onto the ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. Never heard of anything like that before.

I didn't believe my husband when he told me about it 19 years ago. I've done that train 5 times since then. (Hubby has family in Sicily so it's a frequent stop in our European travels). It's nice because you can go up on deck when crossing the strait. If you take a night train you can sleep your way to Rome or Milan.

We've also done a ferry from Palermo to Genoa and a ferry from Naples to Catania. Both overnight.

 

[bluelight]

We flew into AMS late April, about a week after EES went into effect. Passport control lines were very long, easily over an hour. My arthritic knee started acting after the trip was booked and I can't stand in one place without pain. My daughter convinced me to use wheelchair assistance at the airports and after seeing the lines, I was grateful to have it. We didn't have fingerprints or photos taken, but I was asked to show proof of the hotel reservations. Leaving AMS in mid May was pretty much the same, I was questioned about our stay and the locations. I have never had that degree of questioning in prior trips to Europe.

 

[audreyh1]

Passport control at AMS was a miserable wait, the longest ever, I think they were training newbies. We had first done the electronic kiosks with photo and fingerprints and that was super fast and no lines. But they still had people checking passports. 1 hr 10 mins.

Entry in and out of the UK was very slick.

 

[shortstop14]

Passport control at AMS was a miserable wait, the longest ever, I think they were training newbies.

Our last two times entering through AMS have been very slow, sweating connections even with a more than two hour layover. In February, EES was supposed to be in effect, but they weren't gathering biometrics that day.

Returning in May, leaving the Schengen Area from Marseille to London, they did take fingerprints and picture, and seemed to expect I'd already be in the system. But it was quick and easy enough, even though MRS always seems to be a time squeeze.

 

[OldConch]

I'll add a data point. Nobody ahead of us on arrival in Bologna from London LHR 10 days ago. We'll exit through Milan MXP in a couple of weeks and as usual will arrive 3 hours early for international departures.

On an unrelated and interesting IMO travel note, we joined a small group tour in Palermo a few days ago. We flew from Rome to Palermo. A member of our tour group took the train from Rome to Sicily and her entire train was loaded onto the ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. Never heard of anything like that before.

Breezed through Milan MXP security and passport control in less than 10 minutes this morning at 06:30. Same connecting through Fast Track in London LHR T5 except that DW's backpack was selected for secondary screening that took an additional 10 minutes. They opened and examined everything.

 

[tulak]

Entry in CDG last week was painless. I’ll figure out if it’s the same leaving next week.

 

[frank05]

Note EES marks the end of passport stamps for those that enjoy collecting them.

 

[Quattro73]

Is there an app for EES?
Traveling to Brussels next month.

 

[shortstop14]

There is no application in advance for EES, it's just biometric collection and electronic Schengen entry/exit checking. (There is an mobile application called 'Travel to Europe' which allows you to register biometric information in advance, but it only works for Sweden and Portugal..) The picture and fingerprints are collected at passport control at your entry point.

Down the road, (currently Q4 2026, but it's been delayed multiple times) the ETIAS system is planned to kick in, which forces you to apply for an electronic visa, good for three years, before entering the region.

 

[RetireBy90]

We flew into Paris 31 May with no problems, then Chunnel to London last week. We procured the UK ETA beforehand but nothing for EU. Paris was a lot of people but well staffed at a machine to scan passport then your face. Didn’t take much time.
London was likewise easy entry. I had forgotten train travel is easier with light luggage and we had 3 bags for the 2 of us. Chunnel was nice ride.

 

[RetireBy90]

Just a quick note about the travel above. We arrived back in US at Dulles last evening. We have global entry and expected to breeze through. We did the kiosk to take our picture then they split those with the global entry app and those without. We didn't so were sent to a line that required an agent to take our pic again and review out passports. Line was much shorter than the rest of the arriving but this is what GE was supposed to avoid. Took maybe 10-15 minutes but after long flight and early arrival at airport I was tired and any delays are unwelcome

 

[audreyh1]

Just a quick note about the travel above. We arrived back in US at Dulles last evening. We have global entry and expected to breeze through. We did the kiosk to take our picture then they split those with the global entry app and those without. We didn't so were sent to a line that required an agent to take our pic again and review out passports. Line was much shorter than the rest of the arriving but this is what GE was supposed to avoid. Took maybe 10-15 minutes but after long flight and early arrival at airport I was tired and any delays are unwelcome

Interesting. Even though we didn’t use the global entry app and almost no one was there at passport control, they just waved each of us through as soon as we used the photo kiosk. No passport checking.

 

[RetireBy90]

Interesting. Even though we didn’t use the global entry app and almost no one was there at passport control, they just waved each of us through as soon as we used the photo kiosk. No passport checking.

Yes, interesting. What airport did you arrive at ? Sometimes I think they use Dulles as a test for new procedures or practices. We don't plan international travel for a year or more so I'll forget anything like using the app by then.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Just a quick note about the travel above. We arrived back in US at Dulles last evening. We have global entry and expected to breeze through. We did the kiosk to take our picture then they split those with the global entry app and those without. We didn't so were sent to a line that required an agent to take our pic again and review out passports. Line was much shorter than the rest of the arriving but this is what GE was supposed to avoid. Took maybe 10-15 minutes but after long flight and early arrival at airport I was tired and any delays are unwelcome

Sounds like the kiosk camera didn't work well or your face wasn't recognized by the AI software they use.

I'd recommend you use the Global Entry app. The minute the wheels touch the ground you can submit your entry to the app. It requires you to take a selfie first, which you can do from your seat while the plane taxis to the gate. The app generates an electronic "receipt". You then can then skip the kiosks entirely and proceed to the line with the agents. Show your electronic receipt to the agent and that should be it. They'll do a quick check on their computer screen and off you go. I suppose the selfie might also fail AI face recognition, but at least you will not have taken the time to do the kiosk.

 

[Montecfo]

Just a quick note about the travel above. We arrived back in US at Dulles last evening. We have global entry and expected to breeze through. We did the kiosk to take our picture then they split those with the global entry app and those without. We didn't so were sent to a line that required an agent to take our pic again and review out passports. Line was much shorter than the rest of the arriving but this is what GE was supposed to avoid. Took maybe 10-15 minutes but after long flight and early arrival at airport I was tired and any delays are unwelcome

They supposedly are testing new tech at Dulles.

 

[Montecfo]

We cleared entry EES in Madrid last month (short wait) and exit EES was a breeze at Paris CDG a couple of weeks ago.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, interesting. What airport did you arrive at ? Sometimes I think they use Dulles as a test for new procedures or practices. We don't plan international travel for a year or more so I'll forget anything like using the app by then.

IAH Houston International

It was after 7pm. Our flight was delayed due to late takeoff plus bad weather delayed other arrivals, so it was like a ghost town in global entry. I noticed only one photo booth in the non global entry app section whereas I remember many upon arrival before.

So they are down to one booth and the folks using the Global Entry app don’t need it because they get to take their picture via the app.

 

[Montecfo]

So they are down to one booth and the folks using the Global Entry app don’t need it because they get to take their picture via the app.

That is the best plan. Use the app.