Travel 2026: how to avoid getting stuck at the border and make your flight

May is the traditional time for the first holidays of the year: it’s already warm, but not yet sweltering, and prices aren’t sky-high like they are in July. But when planning your trip, don’t forget about the challenges at the borders. How do you make your flight when logistics go haywire, and why is travel insurance now an indispensable financial safeguard?

Imagine this perfect moment: you’re finally on holiday. Your tickets are already on your smartphone, the hotel is booked, and your suitcase is packed to perfection. You can almost smell the aroma of morning coffee somewhere in a cosy square in Prague or feel the freshness of the sea breeze in Greece. And yet here you are, standing in a queue at the border that has ground to a halt and hasn’t moved for the past two hours. Your connecting flight from Kraków or Warsaw Airport is in three hours, and you still have customs to go through.

At moments like this, a shiver runs down your spine, and you start checking your watch every minute. Unfortunately, in 2026, for Ukrainian travellers, this situation is no longer an unfortunate coincidence – it is a reality that needs to be taken into account right from the planning stage of the trip. May and June traditionally mark the start of the travel boom, with over 3 million people passing through border crossings every month.

Why has the border become a ‘bottleneck’?

The main reason queues have grown longer lies in technology. Since November 2025, the new EES (Entry/Exit System) has been fully operational at the border. Whereas previously a border guard would simply stamp a passport, now every traveller entering the Schengen Area for the first time must undergo a biometric registration procedure: facial scanning and fingerprinting.

The system is still being adapted, staff are getting used to the new procedures, and each such digital step adds precious minutes to the waiting time. Add to this the stricter document checks due to martial law. That is precisely why allowing just one hour for border crossing today is a rather risky venture. Experienced travellers know: you should allow at least three to four hours, especially if you’re planning a connecting flight.

However, there is some good news that promises to make life easier for tourists in the very near future. From June 2026, as part of the ‘eCherga’ project, an electronic border crossing system for passenger cars will be launched in Ukraine. This means that booking a place in the queue will be available via ‘Diyu’, a dedicated website or a mobile app. For now, this service is fully operational only for lorries, but the expansion of features for coaches and cars is just around the corner. So, if your trip is planned for early summer, keep your smartphones at the ready – the digital queue will allow you to arrive at the border at a specific time.

The ‘domino effect’ and the cost of being late

A delay at the border often triggers a chain reaction. Imagine you’ve finally cleared customs and rushed into the airport terminal 15 minutes before the gate closes. You’re wiping the sweat from your brow, but the display shows your flight is delayed by 40 minutes. For a direct flight , such a delay is a minor inconvenience, but for a connecting flight in Munich or Frankfurt, it becomes a real problem.

When tickets are purchased from different airlines, they often ‘don’t see’ each other in the system. As soon as you fail to show up for boarding on the second flight due to the delay of the first, the airline automatically cancels your next ticket. This works like a ‘domino effect’ – you lose not only the flight but also the pre-paid transfer at your destination, and late check-in at the hotel may lead to the complete cancellation of your booking.

If you realise you’re already running late – don’t panic and under no circumstances leave the transit area. Head straight for the Transfer Desk. That’s where the fate of your journey is decided: you may be rebooked onto the next available flight. But be prepared: if the delay is not the airline’s fault (such as a queue at customs), you will have to buy a new ticket at your own expense. So forget about ‘short layovers’ of 45–60 minutes. Allow at least 3 hours between flights.

It also happens that you make it, but your luggage doesn’t. The statistics are grim: in 2024 alone, airlines worldwide ‘lost’ or mishandled over 33 million pieces of luggage. This most often happens during complex connections or due to staff shortages at airports.

Although 85% of items are found within the first two days, you’ll spend those days without toiletries or a change of clothes. To minimise stress, make use of modern life hacks: pop an AirTag tracker into your suitcase. This will allow you to tell the airline representative exactly where your luggage is right now. And most importantly – never leave the airport without a PIR (Property Irregularity Report) if your suitcase isn’t on the carousel. Without this document, proving that your luggage has been lost will be almost impossible.

Why insurance is not just about money, but also about human support

We often tend to think of a travel insurance policy as a tedious formality for border control. However, when plans go awry, it becomes a real financial lifeline. Euroins’ modern travel insurance policies are designed precisely for such situations.

Euroins’ policies, with cover from €30,000, not only protect you against medical expenses or lost luggage, but also guarantee assistance for your loved ones – from covering the cost of a relative staying with you in hospital to organising and paying for your children’s return home.

Travelling in 2026 requires a little more patience and careful planning from us. A delay at the border or a missed flight is a nuisance, but it shouldn’t ruin your holiday. With the right approach, new digital services and reliable insurance, your trip will remain the time to recharge your batteries that you’ve been looking forward to.