A joint briefing by Expats.cz and VisaHQ paints a grim picture for travellers leaving Czechia over the festive period. With Austria and Germany extending land-border checks and Prague Airport’s new biometric kiosks suffering repeated crashes, journey times by both road and air have ballooned.
Reports on 26 December showed wait times of up to 45 minutes at minor crossings such as Slavonice and Valtice, while ID inspections on Prague–Vienna and Prague–Dresden trains are adding about 20 minutes. Simultaneously, two EES outages in a single week forced Prague Airport to advise economy passengers to arrive three hours before departure.
![‘Double Whammy’: Border Checks Plus EES Glitches Disrupt Czech Holiday Getaways]()
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ can streamline at least part of the process: its portal lets travelers confirm real-time visa and passport requirements, renew documents, and even arrange express courier pickup, all in a few clicks—start here: https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/.
AON risk consultants calculate that every extra hour of travel costs employers roughly €68 per employee once salary, per-diem and overheads are factored in. Corporate responses vary: some firms have shifted meetings online; others are offering ‘bleisure’ days to offset fatigue.
Travel managers recommend monitoring live border-wait apps, booking flexible tickets, and reminding holders of Czech biometric residence cards that, while exempt from EES recording, they may still be funnelled into slower queues unless they proactively request the EU/EEA lane. With both land and air bottlenecks likely to persist into early January, contingency planning is essential.
Reports on 26 December showed wait times of up to 45 minutes at minor crossings such as Slavonice and Valtice, while ID inspections on Prague–Vienna and Prague–Dresden trains are adding about 20 minutes. Simultaneously, two EES outages in a single week forced Prague Airport to advise economy passengers to arrive three hours before departure.
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ can streamline at least part of the process: its portal lets travelers confirm real-time visa and passport requirements, renew documents, and even arrange express courier pickup, all in a few clicks—start here: https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/.
AON risk consultants calculate that every extra hour of travel costs employers roughly €68 per employee once salary, per-diem and overheads are factored in. Corporate responses vary: some firms have shifted meetings online; others are offering ‘bleisure’ days to offset fatigue.
Travel managers recommend monitoring live border-wait apps, booking flexible tickets, and reminding holders of Czech biometric residence cards that, while exempt from EES recording, they may still be funnelled into slower queues unless they proactively request the EU/EEA lane. With both land and air bottlenecks likely to persist into early January, contingency planning is essential.
