Originally Posted by
richarddd
According to aa.com:
"Passports must be:
"Valid for at least 6 months after the date you enter a foreign country."
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...ravel/main.jsp
Is this really the rule? We're traveling to European countries which have a much shorter requirement and it would be a hassle to renew sooner.
I suppose it's best to comply with AA's policy as written, even if they don't always enforce it, but wonder if there's some other policy that allows you to board AA flights so long as you comply with the destination country's rules, even if less than six months.
Some countries require six months beyond the last possible day you can be there on a visa.p; some are much more liberal. That's not about AA policy - it's about the policy of the country where you are going. But AA policy reflects a risk management position, not the visa requirements of every country. E.g.
AA and Europe? Schengen? Six months. Why? The free Uniform Schengen Visa American travelers get is generally valid for ninety days within the six months duration from date of admission and issuance.
Uniform Schengen Visas (USV)
The Uniform Schengen Visa stands for a permit of one of the Schengen Area Member Countries to transit or reside in the desired territory for a certain period of time up to the maximum of 90 days every six month period starting from the date of entry. According to the purpose of traveling the Uniform Schengen Visa applies to all of the three categories, “A”, “B” and “C”.
If AA or an AA employee wrongly allows you to board, TTBOMK AA has to make a seat available for you on the next departure (even booting a paying passenger to do so) and takes a big fine. So AA is conservative, and yes, AA employees rely on TIMATIC.
link (United) and
link (SkyTeam).
So if TIMATIC shows you can be admitted with less time on your passport than AA requires they
might let you travel, but IMO you're likely to get significant pushback. See
Cofyknsult for more. And IMO, get your passport renewed (I used a service, TDS - cost me more, but über reliable.)
Originally Posted by
petewinca
Not sure of the situation for US citizens passports but for Brits: "Time left on an existing passport is added to your new one, up to a maximum of 9 months." So really no reason not to renew early.
That applies for U.K. passports, not U.S.A. passports, which are for ten years, sensu stricto.