avflyer

So Saturday night I am checking in for my flight to AMS. Booked M and had the Z upgrade at booking. Plenty of time at checkin in JFK - no one on line. I approach the counter and hand over my passport. After doing a few computer button presses and lookups, the agent turns to me and say "I am sorry Mr. AVFlyer, but you cannot board this flight. You will not be flying to AMS."

Stunned, I ask why and was told it was a passport issue. Now I know my passport is good into April and I was planning to renew upon my return from this trip. Apparently AMS has a requirement for US citizens (perhaps others too) flying into her that states the passport must be valid for 3 months from the date I was planning on leaving AMS. Apparently other countries have as much as a six months limit. Suffice it to say that from now on, I will simply assume that my 10 year passport will last only 9.5 years.

So I asked the agent what my options were. She suggested that on Monday I could get a new passport issued - which was not an option as I am here for a tradeshow (which was setting up on Monday). They also offered up booking me on the Brussels flight which was leaving 1.5 hours after the AMS flight. Apparently Belgium has no such 3 month regulation. Also the Dutch don't mind that you train, drive, bike or walk into Holland with a US passport that has less than 3 months on it. You just can't fly into Holland. FWIW, I can fly home and the agent mentioned that you could even fly out on an expired passport - they have to take you.

My thanks (and a letter will be following) to the excellent agent and supervisor in JFK. They reissued my ticket and waived the fees. Most important, the supervisor also got me a BE seat. As we all know, DL does not offer day of departure upgrades and this change was most definitely on the day of departure (5:00ish for the 7:10 flight). I also impressed myself by staying cool, not ranting, and simply looking for the best possible solution. The agents mentioned they were grateful that I didn't implode.

Just yesterday, I ran into a colleague flying on another airline BOS-AMS and her expiration date is the same as mine. She was not denied boarding so this is obviously only enforced if they bother looking at the local rules during checkin (which the DL agent did do). She agent did point out that not only might the airline get fined (heavily) if authorities in AMS catch this, but that at DL now, the attending agent will be singled out for the infraction so you can't really blame them for looking.

All in all, I had a nice flight (great crew, food, drink). I opted to rent a car in BRU and drive to AMS as I had too much stuff (show related) to drag onto and off connecting trains that were running only on a Sunday schedule. The first best 11 Euro spent was on the GPS system. The second best 11 Euro spent were on the three coffees I needed along the way.

Greetings to all from AMS.