I came to the island by

[Croesus]

I always use the tunnel. It's the faffing about arriving early for the ferry that I can't be bothered with. However, I'm usually heading to Brighton or Ely. I got used to the tailbacks driving half way round the M25 and back for 2 years in the early 2000.

At least when you miss your train because of insane tailbacks, or whatever, they let you board a later one. I think I must have bought a non standard ticket for that, can't remember now but wasn't much more expensive so definitely worth it.

[milanbenes]

At least when you miss your train because of insane tailbacks, or whatever, they let you board a later one. I think I must have bought a non standard tisket for that, can't remember now but wasn't much more expensive so definitely worth it.

well

what to say

I prefer the ferry because I am old fashioned and like the romance of crossing the channel on a ship and seeing the white cliffs of Dover

on the way, the Calais side it was very good actually I was through both sets of customs in about 15 minutes


but.....

jeeeeeeee zuz

coming back, I arrived at Dover sunday morning 1 hour 45 minutes before departure and feck me, nearly missed the ferry, it took an hour to get through the passport control, jeeee zuz there were hundreds of cars

on the tannoy they kept saying please be polite to the staff and if you miss your ferry you'll be guaranteed a space on the next one

but feck me

I remember the old days, 10 years ago when you could turn up ad Dover 25 minutes before the ferry and still get on

but now,.and this is only the end of May, the queues at Dover are a disaster

Milan.

[sadkingbilly]

you get what you vote for.
just sayin'

[ladymuck]

I guess that'll be the old EES malarkey? I heard that got suspended because of queues at Dover.

Innerestingly, I've noticed when passing through Charles de Gaulle airport, that I'm getting to use the eGates more often, and border officers are not asking for biometric or other data collection, and are not stamping for entry or exit.

Having heard of other places also skipping EES for various reasons, I wonder if this scheme will quietly fall away?

[Croesus]

I guess that'll be the old EES malarkey? I heard that got suspended because of queues at Dover.

Innerestingly, I've noticed when passing through Charles de Gaulle airport, that I'm getting to use the eGates more often, and border officers are not asking for biometric or other data collection, and are not stamping for entry or exit.

Having heard of other places also skipping EES for various reasons, I wonder if this scheme will quietly fall away?

I went through CDG recently to get a connecting flight - I had a 2 hour layover & I nearly missed my connection as I had to go through the whole security palaver again and the queues were MASSIVE.

I'm pretty sure I've never done this before - you do it once at your deperture airport and once airside that's it.

Don't think I've done this since 2020 so could be a Brexit related thing, I dunno.

[milanbenes]

you lot without EU passports are so fecked

Milan.

[sadkingbilly]

you lot without EU passports are so fecked

Milan.

yeh, and your constant crowing gets old very quickly.

[milanbenes]

this will help,

had fantastic fish n chips

you can't get that on the mainland

Milan.

[ladymuck]

I went through CDG recently to get a connecting flight - I had a 2 hour layover & I nearly missed my connection as I had to go through the whole security palaver again and the queues were MASSIVE.

I'm pretty sure I've never done this before - you do it once at your deperture airport and once airside that's it.

Don't think I've done this since 2020 so could be a Brexit related thing, I dunno.

Reclearing security when arriving from a third country is common. I can't remember if UK arrivals had a waiver pre-Brexit but it's certainly the norm now. CDG has really basic transfer security too so what Heathrow (for example) allows you to take airside risks being binned when you get to transfer security.

You probably never did transfers at Heathrow but they always require reclearing security, irrespective of where you arrived from. The only exclusion being domestic arrivals. Not many other UK aiports have proper airside transfers and you tend to need to exit landside and reenter, thus needing to reclear security.

[Croesus]

Reclearing security when arriving from a third country is common. I can't remember if UK arrivals had a waiver pre-Brexit but it's certainly the norm now. CDG has really basic transfer security too so what Heathrow (for example) allows you to take airside risks being binned when you get to transfer security.

You probably never did transfers at Heathrow but they always require reclearing security, irrespective of where you arrived from. The only exclusion being domestic arrivals. Not many other UK aiports have proper airside transfers and you tend to need to exit landside and reenter, thus needing to reclear security.

Well, according to Gemini:

Although the UK (including Heathrow) historically aligned with EU aviation security standards, the UK is not part of the EU's "One Stop Security" area, which typically allows travelers connecting between two EU airports (or an EU airport and certain trusted non-EU airports) to skip a re-screen.

The experience also seems to depend on the airport too. I was talking to a guy earlier and he was saying that at CDG the security is closer to the gate rather than right after bag drop. So regardless of how you get to the airport, you'll go through the same security as anyone else. Hence the long queues.

I guess at the end of the day, it's a minor inconvenience - just don't do as I do and waste your money on a lounge if you only have a layover of a couple of hours