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Can Americans Transit / Connect Through Europe Right Now?

Can Americans Transit / Connect Through Europe Right Now?

Old Jul 25, 2020, 8:31 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by MarkP24
If I'm transiting through FRA with a stopover of 19 hours (i.e. IST- FRA- US) is this allowed, and will my luggage be transferred properly?
Single ticket? Airlines?
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Old Jul 25, 2020, 8:40 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Single ticket? Airlines?
Single ticket. LH and UA
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Old Jul 26, 2020, 3:37 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by MarkP24
If I'm transiting through FRA with a stopover of 19 hours (i.e. IST- FRA- US) is this allowed, and will my luggage be transferred properly?
Originally Posted by MarkP24
Single ticket. LH and UA
Yes, a stopover of 19 hours is allowed as long as you remain in transit area. From your post in another forum you appear to be considering a stay in the transit hotel in FRA.

Your baggage can be checked through if you are connecting from LH to LH but there was a report that baggage could no longer be checked through on an overnight (more than 10 hours) transfer from LX (and possibly LH) to UA. Check bags overnight on connection to UA?

Can you change you FRA - USA flight from UA to LH? You may want to ask about baggage rules in the UA or LH forum.

P.S. This post seems to confirm UA’s policy. It seems to apply both for single and separate tickets.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31062241-post786.html

Last edited by NewbieRunner; Jul 26, 2020 at 6:39 am
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Old Jul 26, 2020, 9:52 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
Yes, a stopover of 19 hours is allowed as long as you remain in transit area. From your post in another forum you appear to be considering a stay in the transit hotel in FRA.

Your baggage can be checked through if you are connecting from LH to LH but there was a report that baggage could no longer be checked through on an overnight (more than 10 hours) transfer from LX (and possibly LH) to UA. Check bags overnight on connection to UA?

Can you change you FRA - USA flight from UA to LH? You may want to ask about baggage rules in the UA or LH forum.

P.S. This post seems to confirm UAs policy. It seems to apply both for single and separate tickets.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31062241-post786.html
Thank you so much!

That is incredibly helpful!
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Old Jul 27, 2020, 10:12 am
  #20  
 
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I'm on two separate tickets (SFO => FRA; ticketed by LH but operated by UA) and (FRA => IST; ticketed and operated by LH), both round-trip. Does anybody know whether FRA allows transfer on separate tickets for US citizens today? I also asked in the giant "Which countries are open for US tourists" thread, and it seemed like the consensus was that it's risky.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by nerdbirdsjc
​​​​​More to the point, a separate tickets trip relies on agent "discretion" from a number of people, and if anyone along the way decides not to use that discretion in your favor, you're screwed.
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Old Jul 27, 2020, 11:54 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by natekap
Does anyone else have any clever ideas how to get into Europe as an American this summer?

For example, the possibilities look like: Denmark, Croatia, Serbia or the UK.

Denmark - They're allowing in people who are there to "reunite with their lovers" or for "important" business meetings. How easy is it to get let in under those pretexts? Could you then get out to other countries by air or land?

Croatia - Allowing Americans. Could you then get out to Slovenia without and into the rest of the EU?

Serbia - Allowing Americans for now even though they have their own covid problems. Possible to then get to Hungary?

UK - If you did the 2 week quarantine could you then fly out to one of the countries they're allowing air travel between? I assume not since you usually have to go through border patrol when coming from the UK, if I remember correctly.

Wondering if anyone else is as determine to get into the EU this summer as I am, for one reason or another....
Clever is not at all the name of the game for this summer. Realistically you can go to Serbia or Croatia in Europe, and that's it. Keep the trip on a single ticket, ensure you can access the USA testing sites that can get COVID-19 PCR test results back to you in the required pre-departure timeframe, and opt for non-prepayment travel options (e.g., hotel billed during the stay, etc.) as much as possible.
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Old Jul 28, 2020, 9:54 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by sfosin
I'm on two separate tickets (SFO => FRA; ticketed by LH but operated by UA) and (FRA => IST; ticketed and operated by LH), both round-trip. Does anybody know whether FRA allows transfer on separate tickets for US citizens today? I also asked in the giant "Which countries are open for US tourists" thread, and it seemed like the consensus was that it's risky.

Thanks!
So... you asked in the relevant thread, got the consensus response that it's risky, and now are... trying to solicit other responses until you get some that are what you want to hear?

It's risky. I wouldn't do it. Not so much about FRA, but you very likely will not be allowed to board your SFO-FRA leg. And that assumes that you don't have check-in baggage or they check your bags through all the way, which, considering the circumstances, they may or may not do.

Worst case, you can go to the airport at your departure date, take your chances, and be prepared to not fly.
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Old Jul 28, 2020, 1:09 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by hdogan
So... you asked in the relevant thread, got the consensus response that it's risky, and now are... trying to solicit other responses until you get some that are what you want to hear?

It's risky. I wouldn't do it. Not so much about FRA, but you very likely will not be allowed to board your SFO-FRA leg. And that assumes that you don't have check-in baggage or they check your bags through all the way, which, considering the circumstances, they may or may not do.

Worst case, you can go to the airport at your departure date, take your chances, and be prepared to not fly.
I'd agree if there were issues with this itinerary, it would be on the SFO-FRA leg. The transfer in FRA wouldn't be an issue as there's no passport control (or even a security check) transferring to the IST-bound flight.

Data points seem to suggest that transit is allowed through EU airports as long as you're traveling to a country that allows Americans and are on a same-day ticket and don't leave the transit area.

I have a booking made a long time ago for September travel from LAX-ZRH. If I were to travel to Croatia from ZRH it would be on a separate ticket. Reviewing all the rules there's really no mention of needing to be on a single ticket, but if you get unlucky and get the wrong agent or they're having a bad day, could make for a lousy day of travel (or non-travel).
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Old Jul 29, 2020, 7:19 pm
  #24  
 
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Just a note I thought would be useful for this thread...don't try to transit through Portugal. Friend got turned down from his flight from Miami to Lisbon tonight, even though he's just transiting on his way to Ukraine, because he doesn't have a PCR corona test with results from the last 72 hours. Even though it's just a transit they're still giving him a hard time and refused him entry to board.
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Old Jul 30, 2020, 2:44 am
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Originally Posted by natekap
Just a note I thought would be useful for this thread...don't try to transit through Portugal. Friend got turned down from his flight from Miami to Lisbon tonight, even though he's just transiting on his way to Ukraine, because he doesn't have a PCR corona test with results from the last 72 hours. Even though it's just a transit they're still giving him a hard time and refused him entry to board.
What you are describing cannot be correct - can you provide the itinerary (route and airlines or flight numbers)? To the best of my knowledge, there are no direct flights from LIS to UA and therefore this was no (out-of-Schengen) transit, so in my view your friend was correctly denied boarding.
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Old Jul 30, 2020, 10:22 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by MichaelA380
What you are describing cannot be correct - can you provide the itinerary (route and airlines or flight numbers)? To the best of my knowledge, there are no direct flights from LIS to UA and therefore this was no (out-of-Schengen) transit, so in my view your friend was correctly denied boarding.
You're correct. Today he told me his second flight was on Wizz Air. He said it was a "single ticket" because he booked it all in one step through Kiwi.com...

However he maintains that's not why he was denied and that they were aware of this. They just wouldn't let him board because he didn't have the 72-hour corona test results...I told him he should really just rebook the whole thing on 1 proper ticket through Istanbul because trying the same thing again, even with a negative corona test in the last 72 hours, still seems like he could be denied transit since he would have to go through customs (good luck with his American passport) and then re-check in...
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Old Jul 30, 2020, 1:25 pm
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My personal opinion (reading the info provided by IATA) is that doing MIA LIS on TP followed by LIS IEV on W6 cannot possibly work for him - having the test will not save him (this is required because he is arriving from USA), he will not be allowed to pass through immigration and will have to pay out of his own pocket to fly back. I still think that he would (should) be denied boarding by TP in MIA, even with the test - however, if the local staff does let him board and then he has to do an immediate turnaround once in LIS, I would not rely on the mercy of TP to make the arrangements for him free of cost (as customary, per CoC standard language, it is entirely and only his responsibility to ensure that he has the required documentation to enable him to legally move throughout his trip).

As you suggested, the only viable out-of-Schengen transfer possibility I see is via IST on TK.
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