Passport Expirtation Date; traveling US to Spain, France

[junglejane]

This is a question about a land only trip, no cruise, but I know there are lots of experts here on air travel. DD & fiance will be honeymooning in Madrid & Paris. Flying PHL-MAD on 9/26 and returning 10/6 CDG-PHL. Flying AA. Fiance's passport expires 1/22/2024, which is a little more than 3 months after the return date. But I worry about whether AA may give him trouble. He would've renewed it already but we had to attend a family wedding in Canada that we just returned from yesterday, so he hung onto the passport. Now the dilemma is whether to apply for an expedited renewal (having heard the horror stories about delays, even for expedited), or fly with existing passport. The state department website says that both France & Spain only require 3 months. What are your suggestions for how to proceed?

[hallasm]

Travel to France and Schengen Area: Passports must be valid for at least three months beyond your planned date of departure from the Schengen area .

[junglejane]

3 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Travel to France and Schengen Area: Passports must be valid for at least three months beyond your planned date of departure from the Schengen area .

Thank you. We know that, and his passport is valid a little more than 3 months beyond their 10/6 departure date. We're mostly nervous about American Airlines personnel not letting him board the PHL-MAD flight.

[Globaliser]

11 minutes ago, junglejane said:

We're mostly nervous about American Airlines personnel not letting him board the PHL-MAD flight.

 

I think that the database which AA agents will consult (if they need to) says this for Spain:

 

<<

Document Validity

Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for a minimum of 3 months beyond the period of intended stay.

Warning

Passports and/or passport replacing documents issued more than 10 years prior to date of entry are not accepted.

>>

 

That wording is clear, and as you have a confirmed inbound flight reservation back to the US, the dates clearly permit you to travel. So I would be very surprised if you have any trouble at all. Your reassurance should come from seeing exactly what the AA agents would see. But they may well know the rule inside out, backwards and upside down from memory anyway.

[junglejane]

Thanks @Globaliserthat's reassuring. So do you think he's better off sticking with the existing passport, or immediately trying to do an expedited renewal? I keep reading stories in the news about backlogs in renewal times, even for expedited applications.

[FlyerTalker]

Here are your two scenarios:

 

A)  Use the current passport that will work fine given the rules and dates of travel for this trip.

 

B) Send the passport in for renewal and hope that the new one arrives in time for the trip.

 

I think that pretty much answers your question.

 

 

[Globaliser]

13 minutes ago, junglejane said:

So do you think he's better off sticking with the existing passport, or immediately trying to do an expedited renewal?

 

You've seen the rule set out in different places, and you've now seen what AA agents would probably see if they look up the rule. What concerns do you have about using the existing passport?

[FlyerTalker]

2 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

You've seen the rule set out in different places, and you've now seen what AA agents would probably see if they look up the rule. What concerns do you have about using the existing passport?

 

Or is it:

 

A) Take the facts presented and make a decision on your own

or

B) Take the advice of someone else rather than my own judgment

 

 

[junglejane]

Thanks for your reassurance @Globaliser and @FlyerTalker. Sounds like the best plan is to stick with the existing passport. My main concern was them being blocked by some AA gate agent relying on some AA policy I wasn't aware of.

[6rugrats]

8 minutes ago, junglejane said:

 My main concern was them being blocked by some AA gate agent relying on some AA policy I wasn't aware of.

Airlines don't set immigration policies.

[Globaliser]

 

5 minutes ago, 6rugrats said:

14 minutes ago, junglejane said:

My main concern was them being blocked by some AA gate agent relying on some AA policy I wasn't aware of.

Airlines don't set immigration policies.

And an airline could bring a lot of trouble down on its own head if it unjustifiably denies boarding to a passenger who holds correct documentation for the trip that they're starting.

 

Or to look at it another way, what if the fiance has a further trip planned to the UK in November 2023 for a couple of weeks, and then another one to Australia in mid-January 2024? The rules allow him to make both of those trips on the current US passport: the UK requires that "Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for the period of intended stay"; and Australia requires only that "Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid on arrival".

 

There are plenty of people whose travel plans depend on airlines accepting valid and correct documentation rather than arbitrarily imposing their own policies. One of the reasons for that database is precisely so that airlines can immediately see what the requirements are for any combination of passport and destination.

 

If you look at their published policies, some cruise lines appear to act differently from this, stating a policy that requires much longer extra validity than destination countries' actual rules do. But I have personal experience of at least one cruise line that actually consulted a database at check-in (possibly the same database as airlines used), and applied the rules found there.

[6rugrats]

Airline employees consult Timatic.  No idea what cruise lines use.

[Zach1213]

I'll just echo yet again that you will have no issue. If one random AA agent causes a stink, get another one over. They'll see your return flight and it's pretty clear you are within the rules. This definitely isn't an uncommon situation.