{"id":13918,"date":"2025-12-09T11:52:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T11:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/?p=13918"},"modified":"2025-12-09T11:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T11:52:17","slug":"understand-the-new-eu-border-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/understand-the-new-eu-border-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the new EU border rules and why travel insurance matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Heading to Europe for a fitness retreat or holiday?\u00a0We give you the lowdown on the new EU border rules \u2013 and why travel insurance matters more than ever.<\/h2>\n<p>As a fitness professional, you\u2019re always on the move \u2013 perhaps jetting off to host retreats in Ibiza, attending conventions in the US or simply grabbing a well-earned rest in the south of France. However, it\u2019s important to know that your next trip to Europe might come with a few extra checks at the border.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>What\u2019s changing?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The EU is phasing in a new<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abta.com\/tips-and-advice\/planning-and-booking-a-holiday\/upcoming-changes-travel-europe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Entry\/Exit System (EES)<\/a> for travellers from outside the EU\/Schengen zone \u2013 including most UK passport holders. Think of it as a new digital system that logs who\u2019s coming and going across European borders.<\/p>\n<p>You will need to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>register biometric data (fingerprints and a photo) when entering the EU<\/li>\n<li>possibly answer a few questions, like where you&#8217;re staying or whether you have a return ticket<\/li>\n<li>potentially inform them whether you have travel insurance (while it\u2019s not legally required, it\u2019s strongly recommended)<\/li>\n<li>expect extra time at border control, especially during the first six months of the rollout.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There\u2019s no fee for the registration and nothing you need to do before you travel, but it makes sense to factor in a bit of extra time (and patience!) at border control.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Why does this matter to fit pros?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>You\u2019re self-employed. You juggle client schedules, classes, online programmes \u2013 and, sometimes, a missed flight or travel hiccup might mean more than just an inconvenience. It could mean lost income.<\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s the rub: most travel insurance policies don\u2019t cover delays caused by queues at immigration or border control. If you&#8217;re late to your retreat or holiday destination because of biometric checks, that&#8217;s on you.<\/p>\n<p>Not having the right travel permission or documentation (like a passport, visa or, soon, EES registration) could void your travel insurance entirely.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Before you fly checklist<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Leave extra time for airport queues and border controls.<\/li>\n<li>Double-check documentation for each country \u2013 don\u2019t get caught out.<\/li>\n<li>Get proper travel insurance \u2013 especially one that covers business-related travel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Need cover now?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Our travel insurance options have your back \u2013 whether you&#8217;re teaching sunrise yoga in Espana or sipping cocktails in Cologne.<\/p>\n<p>Your clients trust you with their health. Trust us to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/insurance\/fitness-travel-insurance\/\">protect your business while you travel.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heading to Europe for a fitness retreat or holiday?\u00a0We give you the lowdown on the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[860],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13918"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13923,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13918\/revisions\/13923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}