richarddd

Exactly. That's why I asked if there was another relevant policy.

Cofyknsult

My own experience with AA is that they will find it admissible as long as

1) You hold a ticket with AA to return from your destination within the destination country's passport validity regulations

AND

2) YOU carry the country's regulations on passport validity with you and can demand at check-in to speak with a supervisor or executive, as a mere check-in agent will not take that responsibility... Nor will the supervisor know the regulation or believe you if you cannot show it in writing. Also nobody will research the regulation if you do not have it on you. Agents and even supervisors are not programmed for it and many are far too lazy anyway.

At any rate, allow some extra time as you are almost certain to face some opposition.

I find the same problem when checking-in for Argentina and Chile which require a special prepaid entry tax of American, Canadian and Australian passport holders. I do not pay it as I enter those countries with a European passport which I have in addition to my US one, and this sometimes causes some confusion which takes 10-15 minutes to clear.

Finally it is probably safer to renew your passport ahead of time.

richarddd

That sounds too risky.

I was hoping AA had some written policy that overrode the six month requirement.

Don't they subscribe to TIMATIC to check visa and entry requirements?

Delta's written policy is "generally six months". United's seems to be the actual policy of the destination.

richarddd

FWIW, this is annoying because I'd researched the destination country's requirement, but hadn't realized AA would have a more stringent policy, and because it's now exactly 6 weeks to departure and the state dept says it takes about 4-6 weeks to process, so the safer course is to pay an expedite fee, although it's always taken less than 4 weeks for them to process.

Often1

Of course AA has access to TIMATIC. It's an IATA database and it exists for IATA members. But, AA is free to impose stricter requirements than those imposed by the countries you are visiting. Same thing as many of the European LCC's which require passports for travel where the law does not require a passport.

Showing up at JFK with the printouts from TIMATIC won't necessarily help you.

You are risking your ticket and whatever it is that you want to get done abroad by not renewing your .passport. As you are going to have to get it done anyway, might as well get it done now. As a NYC resident with a Passport Office in the City, you could obtain a passport for travel on Monday night by showing up on Monday AM. A hassle for sure, but doable.

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.

Fanjet

A passport that is damaged or altered has nothing to do with this incident. The agent's machine simply could not read it. Have you ever tried to board a flight in which the ticket scanner at the gate could not read the bar code on your boarding pass? Because I have. However, each time that occured I was not denied boarding, but the gate agent instead manually entered my seat number in the computer.... and then wished me a pleasant flight.

JDiver

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.

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.)

That applies for U.K. passports, not U.S.A. passports, which are for ten years, sensu stricto.

Thumper

Jon, there are some country issues that have been handed off to the airlines as well. What I believe is the background for this overcautious approach, thus bouncing back into the lap of the airline:

If you are flown to a country that you are not eligible to enter (China is where I can refer to) the airline receives a huge fine.

excerpt from China travel guide:

In situations where there might be some doubt you should check with your airline in advance and if they accept your situation try to get that in writing. Each airline decides its own approach to this issue so check more than one before you purchase.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/revoke.htm

QueenOfCoach

Not true for US passports. Adult passports expire 10 years after the date of issue.

To the OP: Do you feel lucky?

JDiver

That's the crux of the matter.

Cofyknsult

If you have a firm ticket or proof of reservation (web accepted as long as your name is fully in it) the Passport Agency in Stamford, CT, issues same day passports /renewals at an extra cost of about $ 80. If you drive there and arrive at the opening, ( 9 AM, I think), you can go pick up your passport around 12 Noon. There is an enormous Fairways and their adjoining wine store just across the road to pass the time during the somewhat 3 hours it takes (They do not let you stay and wait inside the agency).

akcae

This reminds me of a trip abroad my family took a few years ago. When we arrived to our originating airport in SC to check in, we discovered (shame on us for not checking well ahead of time) that my wife's passport was expired. After some considerable panic, and working with great DL staff at our airport, we learned of the Stamford, CT passport office and made an appointment for my wife for the next day. I purchased a ticket on the spot for her fly up to CT the next morning, and changed her ticket to fly out of DC (or NYC, can't remember now) to catch up with us. My son and I went on as previously ticketed.

Not a fun way to begin a family vacation. Lesson learned: always check and double-check passport validity and airline/destination country requirements, and do so well in advance of travel.

inpd

Do I feel lucky? In what respect?

That the AA's passport scanners (which wouldn't scan my passport) are as good as the Border agent's scanners that did scan my passport?

That the AA agent knows how to operate the machinery properly or that its been serviced?

If AA is going to deny people boarding because they can't scan their passports they need to explain why upon re-entering the country my passport scanned fine.

Also, just to clarify, my passport looks fine, it just doesn't scan.

inpd

So I asked how come the border agent (upon reentering the country) said my passport was fine but the AA agent said it couldn't be used for check in.

I guess I won't be flying AA international anymore until I get my new passport ...

Response is below.

"Since we are subject to substantial government fines for transporting customers without proper documentation, our agents utilize a sophisticated documentation data base to verify requirements. In addition to ensuring the correct documentation, they also must make decisions about whether or not to accept customers for travel based on the condition of the documentation in their possession at the time of departure. The issue of damaged or mutilated documents has recently become increasingly problematic for us because passengers are being deported on this basis. As such, an alert was sent to our airport managers about this issue. I'd also like to point out that it's discretionary both for our employees and Immigration officials. What is considered acceptable by officials here in the United States has no bearing on the response at the passenger's destination. Therefore, we expect our agents to err on the side of caution. We do understand that you were advised otherwise by other officials but, given the possibility of heavy fines, we simply cannot make exceptions.

While we are sympathetic to what happened, we must rely on our airport personnel to evaluate these situations and act accordingly. It is not our policy to second guess such decisions, as we have not physically examined the documents. No doubt my response is disappointing but I hope you can understand our reluctance to take any risk that may result in our being fined. Further, such matters are completely outside of our control once a passenger is onboard and if deported due to an unacceptable document, the cost of returning the passenger is the responsibility of the airline. With that in mind, our position remains that documentation must be in very good condition for us to allow travel. Still, we've shared your perspective with our Station Manager at San Francisco.
"