Originally Posted by
Fostex
I had the same experience recently routing VFR through Italy / France.
Filed VFR plans for all legs. Italy wasn't great, first couple of handovers they knew who we were, after that despite being told our next station had our details they didn't. Approaching the French FIR it was the equivalent of a freecall despite being told otherwise. Then on entering the French FIR the ATCOs we spoke to had our details and all handovers were smooth and babble free. French ATC an absolute pleasure to deal with.
My comment on Enroute ATC not preparing strips was specifically directed at the UK.
My experience of VFR flight with French ATC is they seem to have a nicely joined up system that electronically passes your details down the line, even if they only have the details you give on a free call.
I am in no way arguing the UK system is good, only that I don't believe filing VFR flight plans helps (or hurts) with getting handovers vs. free calls (and certainly I wouldn't count on an enroute station starting overdue action if you hadn't contacted them - although as alpha alpha says, I would be very surprised if a manned airfield didn't start overdue action on an aircraft with a departure message that is late vs ETA)