SinkOrSwim

We were booked (via KLM) on a KLM/Air France flight yesterday, BHX-CDG-AUH.

We were turned away at check in, despite my polite and assertive protestations, because my kids only have 5 months remaining on their passports. We live permanently in Abu Dhabi and we were trying to get home after the summer so the kids could go back to school.

As AUH residents, we only need 3 months remaining on our passports. I have double and triple checked this requirement, and it has also been confirmed by running our details through Timatic - green tick. We have lived in the Middle East for 11 years and I have never had this issue before.

There was nobody available to help me at the airport (no managers or desks open) and the check in girls claimed to have no supervisor on duty.

It became clear that I wasn't going to win the argument and I walked away and phone KLM, but the lady from the Philippines who I spoke to on the phone couldn't help me at all. I ended up paying $400 over the phone to change our flights to Tuesday, because I didn't want to lose the flights altogether and I didn't know what else to do.

It's now the day after this all happened, and I've been home and had a good sleep to recover, and I need to seriously think about how to get to Abu Dhabi. I am thinking of visiting BHX later today to try and speak to an actual human to see if they can be persuaded to accept the kids' passports on another flight.

Does anyone have any other ideas of what I can do? We really need to get back to Abu Dhabi ASAP but we can't find/afford any alternative flights as every other carrier is fully booked.

brunos

It seems to me that the most urgent procedure is to get an official confirmation from UAE that your children are fine with their passport. Contact the UAE consulate and ask them to write a confirmation. There might also be an official website where that is stated in English.

brunos

In addition. EY is the airline flying from CDG/AMS to AUH. I would contact them and ask that they confirm that it is OK and send a not on your booking to AF/KL.

SinkOrSwim

Thanks. I did show the check in staff the UAE government website which shows this to clearly be the case, but they just basically told me "computer says no" and refused to even go any further.

I am very wary of trying to check in again - it was a 2.30am start with 3 kids and I don't want to go through it all again to be turned away at check in. I cannot get hold of anyone from KLM on the phone and I have no idea where to turn.

SinkOrSwim

I guess I could try this, but my experience with asking anything out of the ordinary with Etihad is not great.

mfkne

And don't forget to claim a refund of the change fee plus EU261 compensation from AF (not KLM) (since I assume it was AF check-in staff at BHX that turned you away).

irishguy28

Have you considered trying to renew the kids' passports? There's an online premium service, assuming your kids have (or are entitled to) British passports. But you would need to apply today to have any chance of getting the passport for Tuesday. EDIT: The online premium service appears to only be possible for adults.

If the kids have, or are entitled to, a passport other than a UK one, then check with that embassy or consulate if they can issue an emergency travel document before Tuesday.

For future reference, you should always renew passports before they get into their last 6 months (if you are expecting to travel and use them within that period of the final 6 months' validity), because that's when airlines start getting iffy and anxious about accepting them. Even if there *technically* is no need, you have seen first-hand that it actually saves you time, money and worry. And in most cases, the additional time is added to the new passport, so it's not that you needlessly pay for an "overlapping" period across subsequent passports.

natcho

Same experience here, it seems to be hit or miss with asking for anything special with Etihad. I flew to AUH once using a temporary travel passport, which is (or was back then) allowed as per UAE regulation for German citizens. The boarding gate personnel from Etihad in AMS told me "temp travel passport is not acceptable, we will have to talk to Abu Dhabi" and made me sit there until boarding was completed for over 30min, until some guy came up and said he spoke to Abu Dhabi on the phone and they will make an exception for me this time. I was also in business, maybe that helped. But it seems that anything outside the ordinary is an issue there.

GUWonder

EY station managers at UK and other European airports may be more familiar with what to do with say UK and Irish passport users with Emirati residency permits than the average AF/KL station manager, or an AF/KL employee or an AF/KL contractor unwilling to properly load in the residency field in addition to the nationality info when running the TIMATIC type checks.

corporate-wage-slave

It's 6 month mininmum passport validity for UAE, but 3 months for those holding resident's permit, which presumably is lost on the airline. It's also 3 months for those in transit, so clutching at straws here, buy a ticket AUH to Oman or Qatar or whereever is inexpensive?

seawolf

Definitely some conflicting info. Some TIMATIC sites listing passport valid on arrival while others are stating 6 months even when residency was keyed in.

The only waiver involve passports is when the expiration date is extended and only if it was extended by an embassy located in UAE.

I take that to mean a UAE resident UK citizen with expiring passport. If UK extends expiration of their passports (don’t know if they will even offer this), UAE will only accept this modified passport if the extension was performed by UK embassy located in UAE.

southlondonphil

I don't believe that happens with UK Passports anymore, not since October 2018. You get a flat 10 years from the renewal date. As people have been finding out the hard way, a passport older than 9 years and 6 months at the point of departure is nigh-on useless for getting into Schengen states.

I believe AF/KL use traveldoc.aero for document validation so there may also be some discrepancy there with TIMATIC?

GUWonder

The UAE has it down so 3 months foreign passport validity is sufficient for at least its resident US, Canadian, UK and Irish resident foreign nationals with an Emirati residency permit. Whether some TIMATIC sites or other travel doc rule sites are correct or not, 6 months is not the general requirement for UAE residents with passports of the sort covered by this paragraph of mine.

nancypants

I don’t think it happens with Australian passports either- maybe just an EU thing?

johan rebel

Not in my experience.

Johan