RICforme

Just learned they hard way that if your passport expires within 3 months of travel to Netherlands (6 months for most of continental europe), Delta will not let you travel!!!

Booked last week on a Sat night flight to Amsterdam from Atlanta, and since passport expired in January, the check in person said I could not travel! Thanks to the quick work of Delta Diamond line, they were able to rebook my wife and I on a flight to Boston, then to London the next day (UK does not have those passport restrictions), and then took the EuroStar train to Brussels, then the Thalys to Amsterdam...I never heard of that rule before last week, but lesson learned...always read the fine print!

avidflyer

Pretty common actually. Don't forget to look for room as well. You need a full page open or you need an insert. Mine looks like a phone book with 2..

terrier

The actual requirements vary by country and itinerary - see:

http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...tion/index.jsp

(It's pretty scummy how Delta tries to refer people needing US passports to some commercial third-party expeditor rather than http://travel.state.gov/passport/)

LizzyDragon84

Sorry you found out the hard way, RICforme, but many countries have a passport rule similar to the Netherlands. It's a good reminder for everyone to double-check entry rules and to know when the passport expires and how much space is left in it.

blagger

You should not have been allowed into Belgium, for the same reason you were denied access to your flight. You got lucky

fti

Many countries require your passport to be valid for a full 6 months from your scheduled departure date from their country. Basically, if your passport is expiring within about a year, you need to start thinking about renewing it.

3Cforme

That scummy 3rd party provides a useful service - a quick and consolidated overview of passport and visa requirements because, as the OP demonstrates, some travelers fail to check country requirements on their own in an appropriate time frame.

GUWonder

Delta uising Timatic is pretty much the industry standard. There are even situations where Timatic is more updated than US government websites, even State's, and sometimes even more current than what a foreign government's embassy/consulate may have on their websites.

While DL fails its SkyMiles customers in a variety of ways, this seems like anything but a good example of such failing. People need to take reasonable steps on their own that go beyond relying upon an airline or even US government website when it comes to international travel requirements, and that includes checking into requirements with the foreign government responsible for the country that a passenger is expecting to host them.

Indeed. While there are exceptions and a variety of ways to get around an X months/days validition from Y date for entry without a visa acquired in advance of travel, best to consider a 10 year passport as having a validity of less than that by several months for a variety of travel purposes.

mtkeller

Actually, that's not true. TIMATIC reports that Belgium only requires a passport be valid upon arrival, whereas the Netherlands requires that it be valid three months beyond your intended date of departure. (The Belgian Embassy in Washington says must be valid to the end of your stay, which would make sense, since it might be hard to leave on an invalid passport.) I didn't realize Schengen member states had that much latitude, but it appears they do. And in any case, the border police at the Eurostar are not terribly likely to scrutinize a US passport very closely.

marvnmar27

I found out the hard way myself 2 years ago flying from MKE-DTW-AMS. My passport was expiring in 2 1/2 months and I was denied boarding. DL was pretty good about it and waived the change fees since I'm GE. The funny thing was when I finally arrived in AMS, no one even looked at my passport...

terrier

TIMATIC is operted by IATA. I was talking about "AmericanPassport.com" - there's absolutely no reason for an American who can read and write at a 5th grade level to use a private third-party service to acquire or renew a US Passport. It's not that complicated.

Expedited service - even one-day turnaround in emergency cases - is available directly from (public) US Passport Agencies. The US State Department operates a phone help service - the National Passport Information Center (877-487-2778). Private expeditors prey on the uninformed and it's a shame to see Delta referring people to them for routine US passport issuance and renewals.

lakers6902

Besides Deltas website, you can also go to the State Department website to see entry/exit requirements: http://travel.state.gov

avidflyer

If you exited the airport that would be impossible. You are forced to pass through PP control.

medellinfein

Thanks for the heads-up, OP

GUWonder

It's not impossible, for there are situations where entry into the Schengen zone at AMS has not involved passport control there looking at my passport and/or anything more than my passport cover.