Condor / Thomas Cook - Schengen Denied Entry in FRA
 

OK here goes...Don't have all the details, but will try to summarize best I can. Summary question, does Condor/Thomas Cook bare any of the responsibility since they ask for the info?

Daughter's college roommate & her mom bought a trip top Santorini through TC. Provided all passport info, including exp date to the agency. They were subsequently denied passage in FRA as they had a day layover. When they were going to leave the airport for the day, they were detained, asked to pay a fee and put back on a flight back to the US the next day (condor charged them a change fee!). The daughter's passport expired in 3 months, and even though she was in Holland a few weeks prior, as per Schengen it has to be a 6-month expiry. To make it worse, not only did they lose their $10k on the trip but had to sleep in the terminal. The German customs officer told them they see up to 20 a day (seems high) and its very routine for them to send people back. I realize the airline gets a hefty fine, but does the agency not carry any responsibility?
Thanks for any insight I can relay.

No it is always the traveler's responsibility to make sure that their travel documents are correct.

100% their fault, nothing to do with TC/Condor, other than that they should not have been permitted to board ex US

which agency? the travel agency? Then no they don't.

Passenger is responsible for making sure they have the right documentation / passport / visas / unexpired length etc etc

What also matters is what passport the daughter has. Is this this your daughter or her friend as it's not clear from your post. Makes no difference that a Dutch immigration official let her in a few weeks before.

Agree except why did they let them board? or the fact that the airline is heavily fined and have to re accomodate should suffice in the term of their burden. I hear you...

My daughter's friend, a minor but with a US passport

Where do you see 6 month expiry? TIMATIC says US passport holders require 3 months. Are they US passport holders?

Santorini is in Greece. Greece is part of Schengen.

This makes little sense.
I assume they were connecting in Frankfurt to Santorini (possibly with Condor via Mykonos), they had to enter the Schengen area here in Frankfurt.
Whether they had a day layover or not - it does not matter. German immigration officers (Bundespolizei) wont let her in.

This is also weird. German customs officer (Zoll) has virtually no jurisdiction to send people back. Customs officers are there to check baggage, contraband etc.

​​​​​​Probably fair to assume you don't have the correct information. US citizens require 90 days from the day of entry.

I'm guessing when she was in Holland her passport had 90 days left on it and when she went to Frankfurt, the validity was less than 90 days.

As most of the folks here have told, it's the responsibility of the passenger who must check that he/she has the required travel documents.
Condor is also responsible for checking them at the first point of departure ( in this specific case: the departure airport at USA )

AFAIK, Condor asks you to type in your passport details during OLCI ( and visa if applicable ) to complete the process. I really wonder if the traveler did check-in online or not? Did he/she succeed checking online if attempted?

Also, when being deported from a country. It's not obliged to pay a return ticket. It's the airline who brought the passenger to that country who is responsible to pay for the expenses, in case of a fault of them not checking travel documents at the first point of departure so the traveler shouldn't have paid Condor for the return ticket. They should have figured it out.

And, the travel agency does not carry any responsibility.

If they flew direct from US to FRA and were denied entry or transit in FRA, then they should not have had to pay anything to be flown directly back to the US.

IIRC, that cost (and any fine) is paid by the airline that delivered them to the country with invalid travel documentation.
Doing so makes it more obvious to the carrier that an erorr was made in allowing them to board the plane. It still does not mean the passenger would be due a refund (unless their ticket class allowed for changes or refunds for free or a fee, right up until X hours before departure of the initial flight).


Otherwise, should she not have had the means or desire to pay, she would not be stuck in limbo.

According to the website of the German Missions in the US the requirement is

US citizens in possession of a valid US passport (on the planned date of departure from Germany, your passport should have at least another three months validity) do not need a visa for airport transit, tourist or business trips (for stays up to 90 days).

So having exactly 3 months from date of entry is not enough -- needs to be date of departure --