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How long do I need from landing to reaching the train station in Zürich Airport? I am flying from Berlin to Zürich and continuing my travel by train. I am considering booking a fixed-connection train ticket, which is available for a train departing 1 hour 3 min after landing. I have never been to Zürich Airport and don't know how large it is or how easy it is to reach the train station. So I have trouble calculating if there is a reasonable chance that I catch the train. What would be a rough estimate of the expected time needed to reach the train station, under following factors: assume that the flight arrives roughly on time I am an EU citizen, so shouldn't need to pass too many control points I don't have checked luggage on that flight I am flying with Swiss (do they get preferred slots close to the terminal, so the passengers don't need to wait for the bus?) I have a cheap ticket, so won't be able to leave the plane early I can sustain a brisk walking speed assume that nothing out of the ordinary happens (e.g. security pulling me out for questioning) If some other factor creates multiple expected times, I'll also be happy with an answer like "it's about 30 minutes if you land at Terminal 1, but takes over an hour if you land at Terminal 2", or whatever other (frequently encountered) condition can cause a significant difference. <Q> When you arrive with SWISS form Berlin, your Airplane will probably be parked at the Gates A, B or D or very rarely at an outside position. <S> For gates A, B & D <S> you will have a roughly 5 - 10 minutes walk to the exit and another 1 - 2 minutes to the train tracks. <S> If you are parked at an outside position you will have a busride of 5 - 10 minutes and another 1 - 2 minutes to the exit. <S> In either case you will be fine and should have plenty of time to make your connection. <S> There are 2 things that could get you to miss your connection: <S> Your flight is delayed for more than 30 minutes Customs is highly interrested in you <A> The trip is now over, and it went really well. <S> We landed with almost 40 min delay (it was even more delayed when we started, the captain was able to make up some time in the air), but I only needed 15 minutes to go from the airplane to the train track. <S> So I was able to comfortably catch the train. <A> I was at Zurich Airport only last week (for my first visit there). <S> It is not a huge airport. <S> The airport's website is quite helpful: https://www.zurich-airport.com/passengers-and-visitors/airport-services-en/site-plans <A> Unfortunately, these days, any rules of thumb which used to be valid in former times (i.e. a countries flag carrier will always dock at the finger of the terminal) don't seem to be valid anymore. <S> Also in Zurich, your commute time heavily depends on if you arrive at the terminal where you need to go on a people mover to get to the other terminal. <S> So I would plan anything in between 30 minutes and 60 minutes between the scheduled arrival time and the time you will reach the airport's train station. <S> On any tighter schedule it will be just luck to make it or not.	In my opinion, with the rules and assumptions you specify, I think you will make it from plane to train with plenty of time to spare.
Late night arrival in Narita on a Sunday I arrive into Narita Terminal 1 at 9:10pm next Sunday, 1st July. I need to check in to my hotel (Hotel Gracery Shinjuku) before midnight . I have a JR Pass but don't have to activate it on the 1st, I could activate it only the next day. I have no idea how long it would take to exchange the voucher for the pass at Narita, to be honest... I'd rather do it that night if time allows. Arriving at 9:10pm, I doubt I'll be able to make it to the last NEX train at 9:44pm (after getting my checked in luggage and passing customs). What is the next best option, in your opinion? Personally, I believe I might also miss the Keisei Skyliner 58 at 21:50pm, but will probably make the Keisei Skyliner 60 at 10:30pm. This has me arriving at Shinjuku JR station (after a transfer) at around 23:41pm. It leaves me 19 minutes to make it to my hotel, which is apparently a 10 minute walk away, in the middle of the night, with luggage. I understand Shinjuku is a very big station and can be confusing on your first time. Should I brave the walk from the station? Take a taxi from the station? Or is there a better option? Thank you. <Q> If you take the Keisei Skyliner 60, and change at Nippori (23:09/23:14) for the Yamanote line, you'll be in Shinjuku at 23:36. <S> Finding a way out of Shinjuku station and then finding your way to that hotel, even in 24 minutes, isn't hard for someone who knows Tokyo. <S> For a newcomer, slightly more stressful. <S> You might want to look into the option of getting off at Nippori, which is a much smaller (but by no means small) station, and take a taxi to your hotel. <S> At that time of night, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes. <S> You don't have time. <S> EDIT <S> On a Sunday (I put exactly your date of arrival), it is even worse, as the connecting train arrives 5 minutes later. <S> You'd arrive at 23:41. <S> The taxi from Nippori looks even better now. <S> Note that barring an accident, trains in Japan run exactly on time. <S> Buying a ticket or a Suica/Pasmo will take just as much time. <S> Go to a machine, select the English menu, buy a card and put 5,000 or 10,000 in it. <S> You can even use that to pay taxi fares. <S> The taxi stand is near the East exit. <S> This time of day (night) you'll have taxis waiting for you. <A> Here is the tricky part: Shinjuku is the largest transportation hub in the world (train or otherwise) and the station itself has more than 200 exits. <S> It's fairly well organized, but it's still easy to get lost because of its sheer size, being there for the first time <S> and/or no reading/speaking Japanese <S> The good news is that according to Google Maps your hotel is only an 11 minute walk from the center of the station, which makes it entirely walkable. <S> It looks you need to get off at exit B10 or B13 (see for example https://www.tokyometro.jp/lang_en/station/shinjuku/map/index.html ). <S> Most of the walking in the station is underground, i.e. it's reasonably fast since there are no traffic lights and roads to cross. <S> Since it's a Sunday night, it shouldn't be super crowded. <S> Taxi isn't easy either since you need to deal with getting a taxi, explaining the driver where you need to go, and figuring out how to pay. <S> Ride sharing has only limited availability in Japan, so this may not help much. <S> Taxis are also subject to traffic and even once you are in one, you may not move much faster than walking speed. <S> My personal preference would be to just walk it, provided you don't have big luggage and you can familiarize yourself with the station and the route upfront. <S> More links to the exact exits: <S> https://www.tokyometro.jp/lang_en/station/shinjuku/map/exit_b10.html https://www.tokyometro.jp/lang_en/station/shinjuku/map/exit_b13.html <A> Your hotel is near Seibu-Shinjuku station (used by the Seibu rail company), which is separate from Shinjuku station of other railway companies. <S> Leaving Narita airport with the Skyliner no. 60 and transferring at Nippori and Takadanobaba, you arrive at Seibu-Shinjuku at 23:45, which should let you reach your hotel safely before midnight, as it is both a smaller station and a shorter walk than if you arrive at Shinjuku.	Don't bother about the pass that night.
How does one make friends alone in Paris? I am going to be living alone in Paris for 6 months for an internship. As far as I know, I don't know anybody who lives there or is gonna be there at the same time. I am a relatively introverted person, so I am a bit nervous about making friends. I am a 19 year old american, and my job will mostly be with people considerably older than me, though maybe a couple interns will be in my age range. I am a jazz musician (pianist), I love art, politics and philosophy, and though I am introverted, I am down for most stuff. If any of you have suggestions for me to make friends, that would be incredibly helpful. It would be even more helpful if you had advice specific to my interests and provided specific sites that could help me. My French is fluent and should show no hinderance. I can also speak Spanish fluently (if that has any effect on answers). <Q> Given that you're a jazz pianist, one fun (and Paris-specific) way to make friends could be to play one of the many pianos available in public places. <S> Those would be, e.g., all major train stations and some malls (Les Halles has one). <S> There's always people listening and appreciating your music, often chatting you up after you stop playing. <S> There's people playing regularly, too, so maybe you can get in touch with them and improvise together etc. <A> I, too, am an introvert, and when I was younger, I moved to the US whilst knowing nearly no-one there. <S> I play trombone, so I took my instrument, and pretty much the first thing I did <S> was find ensembles to play in. <S> 25 years later, most of the friends from that time that I'm still in touch with are the ones I made in those ensembles (plus you heroic NEDoDders, if you're reading this). <S> Everything you need, you already have: you can speak the language, and you play an instrument. <S> Go to Paris, and make music; it is almost impossible that you will fail to make friends while so doing. <S> In terms of finding someone to play with, my little sister (until fairly recently a musician in Paris) recommended searching Facebook. <S> While I won't use Facebook for any reason at all, she said that a very small amount of searching turned up the "Paris Jazz Jam Sessions" group, which looked promising to her. <A> but there will also be others related to art, politics and philosophy.	You could try meeting people through Meetup, for example there are lots of music-related Meetup groups in Paris
How to call 911 for my home area when overseas? I have my house wired up with security cameras. When traveling others countries, I still can get phone alerts that there is movement in the house, and can access the security feeds on-line to see if there are burglars. But if I want to ring the police to go to my house, how can I call them? I can use a long distance phone card, but I think 9-1-1 won't work as usual in this situation. <Q> Google will certainly get you the regular, non-emergency number for your police department. <S> You might as well call that, because unless you live in a small, crime-free area, burglary of an empty house won't be a high-priority call. <S> Certain alarm companies will call police for you, but it sounds as if your system is home brew. <A> Sign up with a VoIP provider that offers 911 service. <S> As part of the signup process, you provide a "service address" which is used to route emergency calls. <S> This address is used to route calls regardless of where you are actually located when placing the call. <S> (And, if E911 is supported, the address is automatically supplied to the operator.) <S> Depending on the provider, you may need to purchase a DID (phone number) in your home area. <S> (~$1/mo). <S> Usage is usually billed by the minute (~1¢/min) with optional monthly plans including minutes available. <S> You can access your VoIP account over a data connection (cell or wifi) using a SIP app on your phone, or many VoIP providers provide local "access numbers" that work more or less like a calling card -- you use traditional PSTN service to dial the number, then dial an account number/PIN, then dial a destination number. <S> As an added bonus, this means you no longer need a separate phone card -- just use your VoIP service for regular calls too. <S> Note that the kind of VoIP service that provides this level of flexibility is typically oriented to business customers. <S> While very inexpensive, it can also be very difficult to configure. <S> You may be able to find consumer-oriented VoIP plans that are easier to use, but will be far more expensive. <A> Calling the non-emeregency number will usually be answered with " police / emergency / sherrif / whatever call center, do you have an emergency?". <S> Even my community college campus police department answers internal local calls this way to the non-emergency line. <S> Before you travel <S> how they want to be contacted if you get an alert in general <S> (you are out to dinner, but in town, or in-state, etc) how they want to be contacted if you get an alert while traveling out of state or internationally <S> When you do this, find out not just what number to call, but if a specific key phrases should be used or if specific information should be given. <S> If you have remote video monitoring, figure out how you can easily and quickly send an link to a 3rd party (ie "My alarm system is going off <S> but I am away from home <S> , my remote live video shows two people moving in my house, I can email a link to the feed") <S> Or since you've cobbled together your own monitoring system (I'm considering one as well for my mother's house) figure out a way you can make the land line dial and then leave the line open. <S> Maybe set up a Pi with an USB modem, etc. <S> 911 will roll everything if they get a call and no response or a hang up (as any parent with kids under the age of 10 will eventually learn) and they cannot get back in touch with you. <S> Even if you answer when they call back, an officer will be on his or her way to visually check...	while you are local you should get in touch with your local LE agency (police if in city limits, sheriffs in county) and find out which agency would be responding (highway patrol does traffic at my house - I have issues with drunks and my fence - but sheriffs dept for criminal reporting, and sheriffs plus local PD from 2 closest small towns when you report holding someone at gunpoint)
Is there racism in Estonia? I am an Indian man planning to travel around Estonia for a couple of weeks as a tourist. I would be covering Tallinn, Narva, Tartu, Parnu and perhaps one of the islands. I will be travelling alone, backpacking and staying in hostels. Is there danger of racist violence or any form of passive racism (i.e. preferential treatment of white people over black) that I am likely to experience? Are there areas I should be avoiding? I speak English very well, but no Estonian, although I am planning to learn basic words for daily use. Although I am Indian, I am from the south of India and have often been mistaken for being black or of African/American origin whenever travelling abroad. (And not in a bad way, if you know what I mean :-)) I also have prominently visible tattoos over my arm, non-religious and I don't know if they associate this with something specific there?Any inputs or advice? <Q> I'm Indian, have lived in Russia and travelled to Estonia (and a lot of towns in the interior of in the former USSR where few foreigners visit). <S> In my years of travel in the region, if there were a few instances of unfriendly behavior, it invariably involved young men who had a lot to drink. <S> You should be able to manage with English. <A> There exists racism everywhere on the planet, including in Estonia. <S> Hans Glaubitz was ambassador from The Netherlands to Estonia between 2005 and 2006. <S> He is married (or at least was at the time) to a male black Cuban artist (at the time, there were only four countries and one US state where same-sex marriage was legal). <S> Within a year, he left due to, what he said, homophobic and racist bullying against him and his husband. <S> However, gossip claims that he was himself behaving snobbishly and that the hostility was rather a consequence of snobbish behaviour than of him being black or gay, or that his husband was simply bored with living in Tallinn and more than happy for Mr. Glaubitz to be placed in Canada instead. <S> This was in 2006 (12 years ago when I first wrote this answer), and it's quite possible that the incidents were exaggerated at the time and/or that racism (and homophobia) have reduced since then. <S> An article in De Volkskrant (in Dutch) and in World Press (in English) has more details. <A> Disclaimer: I'm estonian and live in Estonia, thereby my view may be quite subjective. <S> In general, you should be safe. <S> Most people here do not share racist views, although in light of recent years migration crisis in Europe some people have started hate every other human being, having different color of skin or different (esp muslim) religious views - likely same in other European countries. <S> Probably you should avoid night streets of bigger cities, where drunken young men just look for opportunities to harass someone. <S> Well, I would not walk there myself either. <S> Otherwise learn few words of estonian (like Hello! <S> - Tere! <S> , Thanks! - Aitäh!), be positive, helpful and likely you win hearts of most local people. <S> Due to the our history (forcefully migrated eastern workers didn't learn single word of estonian for 20 years) <S> few estonian phrases should make wonders :) <A> Having recently returned from Estonia and having traveled around the country solo, without knowing the language, I am happy to report that with the exception of the immigration officers, my experience has been completely positive. <S> It is true that people in this part of the world just do not smile and are not gregarious and outspoken, like you might expect in India or the Americas, but they were all very polite, well behaved and helpful whenever needed. <S> No trouble or racism at all.	I have not experienced racism of any kind.
Why does Google Flights show train stations? When I enter a city name, Google Flights often suggests train stations. For example, I mostly see central stations ( hauptbahnhof s) for German cities. None of the combinations I have tried so far return results, even if I choose train stations for both departure and arrival. Why does Google Flights show train stations then? <Q> The train stations included are some of those train stations that are integrated with air travel as part of an air-rail alliance for single ticketing. <S> For example, I can search for travel from 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, resulting in this rail/air/rail itinerary on Amtrak, Lufthansa (with a United-issued ticket), and Deutsche Bahn: <S> If I just search for flights from PHL to DUS, I can find air-only routes that are faster and cheaper, but the option is there. <S> Wikipedia has a List of IATA-indexed railway stations , train stations with IATA codes, though not all are recognized or bookable through Google Flights. <A> Whilst Zach's answer is mostly factual regarding train stations with airport codes, this does NOT appear to be the situation here (eg, Frankfurt HBH does not have such a code). <S> Instead it appears that, despite the name, Google Flights now supports things other than flights - such as train tickets. <S> For example, if you search for trips from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to Munich Hauptbahnhof then it will return a number of options via train, and no options via plane : <S> It you instead search for trips from "Frankfurt" to "Munich <S> " it will include options with both flights (from Frankfurt Airport to Munich Airport) and train (from Frankfurt HBH to Munich HBH) : <S> In all cases selecting the flights or train trips will take you to the relevant website to book, be that an airline like Lufthansa, or a train company like Deutsche Bahn. <A> It's because Google has decided to incorporate train trips into Google Flights for easier time & cost comparison between flying & riding a train in Europe . <S> Google Travel's blog announced this feature on October 2015: <S> Google adds trains to Google Flights in Europe Every year, billions of people travel across Europe for personal and professional reasons — often choosing high-speed rail as a convenient option. <S> Now Google Flights makes it easy to compare the time and cost to ride vs. fly when trains are a logical and good alternative to many flight routes in Europe. <S> We started by adding train options for routes in Italy and Spain. <S> Today we're excited to announce a partnership with Deutsche Bahn in Germany to bring their expansive, fast rail service to Google Flights. <S> This launch lets you use Google Flights to find train options for 56 destinations and nearly 400 routes across Germany and Northern Europe. <S> Popular routes include domestic routes like Frankfurt-Munich and Hamburg-Stuttgart, as well as international routes like Zurich-Frankfurt and Frankfurt-Amsterdam. <A> From 1983 to 1992, Lufthansa operated "zero level flights" from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf, Cologne, and later Stuttgart. <S> These were express trains that were significantly cheaper to operate and at the same time faster than airplanes (faster because on the short distance the planes never reached full travel height and speed, so they were not that fast, and the time getting on and off the airplane took more time than the flight anyway). <S> They were Lufthansa branded, you had the same service as on a flight, and so on. <S> Just like a flight at zero height. <S> They don't have "official" airline trains anymore, but the principle is obviously the same. <S> With average distances a lot shorter than in the USA, it makes perfect sense to have international flights going to the biggest airports, and then have a connecting train instead of a connecting flight.	Plus the train stations are often in better positions; if you go to Köln-Wahn airport there is probably a long taxi ride to the city center, while Köln-Hauptbahnhof is right smack in the center of the town, and you can probably walk to your Hotel.
How to deal with other tourists taking pictures of my children? Recently, my family and I (two parents, two daughters below 3) were in Spain. We had a great time in Barcelona and then in Andalusia. However, I found myself several times annoyed by other tourists taking pictures of my children, in different ways: Very closely, like less than 1 metre and sometimes even bending over to take a close-up of her face while she is in her stroller. 2-3 metres away, for what I suppose was a global picture of stroller and child, or when the older one is walking. 10+ metres away, with camera and zoom-lens, when they are playing. Someone even took his lens from its bag to mount it after I asked him to not take pictures of my children when he was closer and passing by. Each time, I kindly but firmly asked them to stop doing so. Several times I had to hide her face from the most insisting people, and I even had a verbal fight with the lens guy cited previously. I may be overprotecting my daughters' privacy but I do not know who those people are, what they will do with these photos, and above all they did not ask (I am not sure I would say yes if one day someone asked, but this is not the point). I am sure 99% of these people are harmless, but still. These situations spoil the moments we enjoy in family, and I am not sure to handle them the best I could. Can I get here any advice on how to manage these situations? Even better, how to prevent them? Is it too aggressive to ask people to delete photos already taken? <Q> Since this question is not tagged for Spain, and it is tagged for cultural-awareness and local-customs, then be aware that in some countries (including England and Wales) photography in a public place is generally unrestricted, and your principal recourse in such situations is not to go into those places, or to leave if you're getting annoyed at the photographic activities of others. <S> From <S> http://www.photographers-resource.co.uk/photography/Legal/Access_Rights.htm : <S> Generally you have the right to photograph anywhere that is public property, including public roads, footpaths, rights of way and between high and low tide at least if not the entire beach areas throughout the UK ... <S> No one, other than a police officer who takes it for evidence, can take your camera away, and they are supposed to just take the card rather than the camera if you have taken it out of the camera , and no one can insist you delete photographs taken <A> I've been that stranger. <S> I once surreptitiously took a photo of (native) people in a rural Swedish village who I throught were dressed funnily. <S> A young man noticed, and responded with a gesture of moving his finger across his neck. <S> The villagers belonged to a religious sect that prohibits photography. <S> Another time, I took a photo of a stairs in Stockholm. <S> There was a person on the stairs who I did not take note of. <S> The person very much did take note of me, and reprimanded me, telling me not to take photos of people without their permission. <S> After these two incidents, I have improved. <S> When I can avoid it, there are no people in the foreground of my photos. <S> The people taking photos of you or your dependents without your or their permission should stop doing so. <S> There is little you can do beyond what the Swedish woman on the stairs did: firmly tell them not to take photos of people without their permission. <S> If they're like me, they might learn, and you'll have helped the next person. <A> Coming from Portugal, where there are very similar laws to Spain, unless you are a well known person in a public place (actors, politicians), you have your right to privacy supported by law against being filmed or photographed in public places. <S> Furthermore there are additional regulations protecting the privacy of minors and creating additional complications even for their family members posting images of them in social media. <S> While other tourists might have not, locals also have some pretty good awareness of those laws and might even assist you. <S> People are usually friendly and overly protective of minors well-being and safety as a rule. <S> People are also relatively conscious of their right (and others) to privacy. <S> So I would say on those cases were photos your children are actually the goal of an insistent and rude photographer, if in Spain [or Portugal], be very vocal for attracting the attention and possibly enlist the help of local people. <S> You might actually threaten to call the authorities in addition. <S> Coming back to Spain Ley Organica 1/1982, 5th Of May contemplates your right to privacy, and Ley Organica 1/1996 from 15th of January, lawful protection of minors reinforces the right to privacy of minors. <S> "Article 4 Right to honor, privacy and self-image <S> Minors have the right to honor, personal and family privacy and their own image. <S> This right also includes the inviolability of the family home and correspondence, as well as the secrecy of communications." <A> This is not the answer you were looking for, but the fact that lots of people have been taking pictures of your children suggests that your family stands out too much in comparison to other tourists. <S> This leaves you with only three obvious options: <S> Avoid tourist spots when traveling with children. <S> Because reasonably speaking, I highly doubt your daughters are the ones who have any "say" over where your family goes and would much rather enjoy something more fun rather than visiting some ancient monument under a scorching sun, or a top-ranking beach filled with people to the brim. <S> Using modest clothes and a stroller may help, to a certain extent. <S> Accept that you have no privacy. <S> While it may feel unpleasant and invasive, there seems to be very little real threat in what other people do. <S> Very few real criminals would act so conspicuously if they were to present any actual threat to your children.	You may get angry and yell at some clueless foreigner who doesn't even speak English or Spanish and scare them away, you may hire a lawyer and make a living hell for a random childless lady/guy from the the other side of the globe who just thought your kids were cute and who has no money to defend themselves in a legal battle against you, but neither of those options will prevent your privacy from being invaded again and again by other people. Regardless of the legal situation, it is not right to take portrait-like photos without permission. Don't make your kids stand out that much.
What is the official way of applying for a China visa? I am a U.S. citizen and want to travel to China. This website claims to be official http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ but it is not .cn and it is not .gov so I don't know if it is official and if I should trust it. Is this website legit? Should I rely on it to apply? What is the right way to apply? <Q> Yes, that's the official site, and the advice it gives you has a high probability of being correct. <S> As evidence, here it is on a a list of embassy websites served from www.state.gov. <S> Note that the Chinese embassy wouldn't have <S> a .gov <S> top level domain since it isn't a US government institution. <S> It also appears that Chinese embassies generally use an address which corresponds to the host nation, rather than a .cn <S> one, eg. <S> the UK webpage is at http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/ and the French one at http://www.amb-chine.fr/fra/ . <A> http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/hrsq/ <S> The above link tells you the full details of your last question and the method of applying for a Chinese visa. <A> While the website is legitimate they are bad at keeping it up to date and free from errors. <S> In practice most people get Chinese visas through visa service agencies. <S> China doesn't offer mail service to Americans for visas <S> so you either have to go to the consulate in person or have someone do it for you--and for most people that means a visa agency. <S> Unlike the website, the visa agencies do keep up with what the current rules are <S> and they know what the consulate will actually expect.	Yeah, http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ is the official website of China Embassy and you can fully rely on it.
USA visa run on a tourist visa I have a 5-year US visa that gives me 6 months each visit. I am thinking of doing my dental treatment (braces) here in The US. But the problem is, it takes 18 months. Can I do visa runs like to Europe or to Cuba and go back to the USA? Like 3 weeks to The Netherlands and go back to the US? I heard I can’t visit adjacent countries like Canada or Mexico. Please help. Thank you. <Q> I have no idea what "doing [your] dental" means, but regardless - <S> Each time you enter the US your entry is at the discretion of the immigration staff. <S> Even with a visa, they can choose to allow you in for the normal time period for your visa (generally 180 days for a B1/B2 visa), refuse your entry, or allow you in but for a limit time period. <S> Thus if you spend a full 180 days in the country, you would be expected to spend ~180 days out of it before returning. <S> If you were to return a few weeks later as you've suggested, you would almost certainly be either refused entry, or allowed to enter for a limit time period (eg, maybe 30 days). <S> A further attempt to return after that time period was up would almost without doubt be rejected. <A> To add to Doc's answer, you cannot work on the visitor visa at all. <S> And to perform dental work in the USA you need to be licensed in the state <S> you plan to work. <S> As far as I know, this requires you to graduate from an approved dentistry school (which generally means US-based school), and pass the background check and the exam. <S> And you need social security number for the background check, which you will not have on a visitor visa. <A> Every time you enter the US, it's at the discretion of the officer to decide if your visit is legitimately tourism, based on what you say and on your travel history recorded in their system. <S> However, it's probably not seen as a normal tourist activity to stay for 18 months to get braces done. <S> It also depends on how long you're staying in the US on each visit---but again it's at the officer's discretion <S> ; there's not a specific cutoff. <S> If you only visit the US for a couple days every month for 18 months, that's almost surely fine. <S> If you stay five months then leave for a couple weeks and want to return for another five months, it could be a problem. <S> Although there is a rule about treating short trips to Canada/Mexico/adjacent countries differently, that's less relevant than the officer's perception of your intentions.	No, you can not do this. US CBP has a general rule of thumb that visitors should spend as much time out of the US as they spend within it.
Is London's Greenwich park free? I'm planing a trip to see the Greenwich time line (Prime meridian). I did some research and found that Greenwich park in London is the place most visitors go to see this. Is this park free and is there any other place that I can see the Prime meridian? <Q> The park is free. <S> You can stand outside the gate and see the meridian, or pay 10 pounds to enter the observatory. <S> It's 9 quid if you book online. <S> More information: https://www.rmg.co.uk/plan-your-visit/tickets-prices <A> For another place to see the meridian, you could go to Peacehaven, near Brighton. <S> This is where the meridian meets the south coast of England. <S> The meridian is marked by a monument, at the top of the cliffs. <S> Photo by Paul Farmer on Geograph, CC-BY-SA. <S> https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3810663 <S> There is also a number of places in Peacehaven named after the meridian, including a park and a shopping centre <A> To add my two cents. <S> It is also free. <A> Just to add another place where you can see the Meridian line, the O2 Arena (formerly the Millenium Dome) is on the Greenwich Pennisula and has the line marked on the ground and a giant sundial that sits across in. <A> You can go to East India DLR station. <S> When you go down to ground level (don't go over the footbridge), the meridian is marked and you can follow it to the Thames.	The Greenwich meridian line can also be seen in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire represented by a stainless steel line cutting through a coastal footpath along with a granite globe and sign post.
Why no cider in Bavaria? I just came back from a week in Bavaria, Germany and I was rather surprised to find there was no cider anywhere. I stayed in Rothenburg and Nurenberg and everywhere I went — supermarkets, restaurants, bars, etc — there was no cider. Plenty of beer, spirits and soft drinks, but not a single cider. Luckily, I'm not a huge cider-drinker but I was travelling with a coeliac so we were often looking for cider. Is cider just not that common in Germany or were we simply looking in the wrong places? <Q> It can be had but the new trend of heavily-marketed international ciders hasn't arrived to Germany. <S> High-quality craft ciders from Britain, France or elsewhere would also be hard to find. <S> Consequently, cider is a rather low-key old-fashioned drink and not very prominent. <S> Instead of a well-known brand or the word “cider”, you should look for drinks called “Apfelwein“ or ”Most”. <A> There is Apfelwein which is commonly translated as cider. <A> In most of Bavaria, beer is the prevalent local (alcoholic) drink (with the exception of some regions in Franconia, which are wine-centric). <S> So if you are looking for Cider in Bavaria, the best bet would be to go to an Irish/British/... pub, which will generally have Cider. <S> On the other hand, apple wine is popular in some regions in Germany. <S> Most well known is probably Frankfurt, but it is also popular e.g. around Lake Constance. <S> It is usually called Apfelwein or Apfelmost. <S> (The term "Cider" would, again, only be used in Irish pubs and the like.) <S> The German variety is typically sour. <A> I am living in the area of Nürnberg <S> and I did buy french Cidre there. <S> Äppelwoi is popular in Hessen but not in Bavaria or Frankonia. <S> You will not find Cidre in every supermarket but in shops specialized to wine (but not specialized to wine made from grapes only) <A> Why no cider in Bavaria? <S> The answer is always same: because local fashion and taste don't include it. <S> One could as well ask "Why no corndogs?". <S> Such question doesn't make any sense, just as yours. <S> You're not supposed to travel somewhere and ask why locals are not observing your customs. <S> The whole point of travel is to experience customs different than yours. <S> " <S> No cider" is just a part of it (for now).	Cider is generally not a typical drink in Bavaria (there might be exceptions closeby to Frankfurt and/or Lake Constance). I guess you have been looking in the wrong places, and possibly for the wrong words on the label.
How to move children in a Las Vegas casino? I visited Las Vegas a few times, as an adult. I will be staying a day or two in the city with my underage children and would like to show them casinos (which they know from movies). I know that gambling in the US is for people aged 21+ and that children are not allowed at gambling sites. On the other hand, it is apparently OK for them to cross a casino, they just have to move. I do not know whether the intent is to protect their innocent souls (in which case we would be moving very slowly between the tables and they could let us do that, as we are not technically "staying"), or to not disturb the players (in which case we will probably not be allowed to go between tables, but rather though the main path). My practical questions are: is it possible to slowly walk between the tables with the children? or is it just a fast paced walk though the main hall? <Q> Nevada criminal law is that minors may not: Loiter, or be permitted to loiter, in or about any room or premises wherein any licensed game, race book, sports pool or pari-mutuel wagering is operated or conducted. <S> We do not offer childcare. <S> Anyone under 21 must be accompanied by an adult 21 or older while moving through the casino. <S> They must keep moving and are not allowed to loiter next to table games, slot machines or lounges. <S> However, they ARE allowed in non-gaming areas such as in restaurants, hotel rooms, swimming pools and retails shops with adult accompaniment and supervision. <S> Walking very slowly amid the tables to watch would quickly become loitering, and a member of the casino staff will likely ask you to move along. <S> Casinos and individual members of staff vary in exactly how rigorously they enforce this <S> (there's no requirement you racewalk, but they keep a close eye on you), but sticking to the main paths rather than sauntering between tables is probably a better bet; many casinos have tables that sit right up against the main paths anyway. <A> In most casinos there is a subtle yet clear distinction between the main walking paths which cross the casino floors and the games areas themselves (usually with signs forbidding people under 21 to enter the gaming areas). <S> So you can walk along those paths, which may be on the edges of the casino floors, between the gaming areas and the bars, shops and restaurants that surround them, or go between gaming areas. <S> No need to race or anything, though if you stay too long with your children looking at a specific table they might nudge you along. <S> Note that in many cases you can sit in a bar or restaurant just feet away from the gaming area anyway... <A> Long childhood memories come along, as I was still young when I was in Vegas for the first time. <S> My advice would be to look for kid-friendly casinos, Some handle it better than others. <S> I remember the Circus Circus being considerate of the case, with clear maps of the gambling floors where kids can be taken, obviously being the main paths. <S> There, I was 10 at the time, I could view slot machines working for real for the very first time. <S> In addition, this specific casino has an indoor amusement park that can complete the content of a family fun-packed day and the typical carnival games. <S> New things come to the scene, other icons disappear like the Sahara casino a few years ago. <S> Thus, this advice may be actual or outdated, check before you go! <A> It has been several years since I was in Las Vegas, but what I remember most is the miasma of cigarette smoke in the casinos. <S> Assuming you want to expose your children to that, you might look for a casino that allows you to look down on the gaming floor from above. <S> I remember being able to see at least some of the gaming floor from the 2nd floor of the Luxor.	As the Caesar's chain puts it : Minors are not allowed to stand next to slot machines or table games, but they may walk through the casino.
How to get a UK visa refund I applied online for a visa application to the UK. I'm from Sri Lanka. Yesterday I cancelled the appointment, I changed my mind. I will not go to the visa appointment. Now my question is how I get my refund? <Q> If you canceled before carrying out your biometrics then you will get a refund. <S> You have to complete the visa refund form. <S> Otherwise, In any other case , Visa fee is non-refundable. <A> The gov.uk site has a whole page about this, the summary at the top states: <S> If you applied outside the UK <S> contact UKIV to find out how to cancel your application <S> You can only get your fee refunded if your application hasn’t been processed yet. <S> If you applied within the UK <S> You won’t get your fee refunded if you cancel an application that you made in the UK. <A> Your fee (less any applicable admin fees) will be refunded to the card used to make the original payment.	You can cancel via an online form , but you will not be refunded.
From O'hare, headed east on I-80 into Indiana, how to avoid traffic? We will be driving from O'hare airport (Chicago ORD) down into Indiana and headed east on I-80 later this week (weekday morning). I'm familiar with the roads, but not familiar with traffic loads. Based on current construction and traffic experiences, would it be better to take I-90 close to downtown, or take I-294 and avoid downtown (but hit several busy interstate interchanges with I-80 before the Indiana border)? Toll price differences don't concern me, I just don't want to be stuck in any more gridlock than I have to. <Q> Routes thru Chicago will be better or worse, that being relative. <S> However since your criterion is stress-free, without any particular emphasis on speed or cost: Do what the railroads did to avoid Chicago congestion: cross on a carferry. <S> Go northeast to Milwaukee and cross the lake on the Lake Express catamaran carferry to Muskegon, Michigan then south. <S> Or for the classic experience, go farther north and take the genuine, original SS Badger from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI, which actually did haul railroad cars. <S> Take a commuter flight from ORD to South Bend regional airport and overfly the whole mess at 300 knots. <S> Or Elkhart. <S> fly into DTW instead of ORD. <S> DTW is the largest international airport in the Great Lakes region (besides ORD) and DTW to the turnpike doesn't involve any significant traffic. <S> In fact you can parallel the turnpike on free I-94 and drop down where convenient. <A> If you are driving in the morning, then 294 would be your best bet since you are not joining commuters heading into the city for the first part of your drive. <A> To provide a followup, we ended up taking I-90. <S> According to Google Maps drive time was about the same either way. <S> Had typical congestion leading into the Jane Byrne interchange, but never stopped moving, and once we got past that point, it was smooth sailing across the Skyway. <S> Quite stress-free compared to some of my times trying to traverse Chicago interstate traffic.	Rail through and past the city: Chicago "El" from ORD to downtown, then at Millennium (Randolph) station the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad east to a place with a car rental, either Michigan City, or South Bend Regional airport again lol.
Traveling from the US to the UK without a passport I'm a permanent resident if the U.S. (green card holder) in the middle of my application for citizenship. I haven't traveled since I was a young child where I was on my mother's Ethiopian passport. I need to travel to the UK for work but do not have a passport and won't get one in time before the trip. Can I travel to the UK with just a green card? <Q> There will be no way you could get a visa to enter the UK with only a green card. <S> Unfortunately, you may have to postpone this work trip until you obtain your US passport. <A> Yes, you need a passport. <S> If you are unable to get an Ethiopian passport and are a refugee or asylee, you may be able to get a travel document from the United States to serve in its place. <S> But the UK will not admit you with just a green card, so <S> the airline won't let you get on the plane. <A> A Green card, on its own, is only valid for entering Canada by land, or re-entering the US. <S> So no, you will have to cancel the trip <S> (don't forget to get the airport taxes refunded) unless you can get an emergency travel document. <S> And get a passport before your next trip. <S> You need it.	If you are an Ethiopian citizen, then you will not be able to enter the UK without an Ethiopian passport, and you would have to apply for a UK visa.
What is a "French bed room" in German hotel terminology? I have booked a hotel room in Germany. On the reservation confirmation, it says: Room category: 1 × French bed room non-smoking What is a French bed room ? <Q> German double beds are usually equipped with two mattresses. <S> They are usually narrower than regular double beds, the most common width is 140cm, but not necessarily. <S> If you look into bed shops with a wider selection of products, you can get 120, 140, 160 and 180cm-wide French beds : <S> Die Breiten variieren von 1,20 bis <S> 1,80 m. <S> The name allegedly comes from the 'cosier' way French people tend to spend their night. <S> German partners obviously rather stick to 'mine and thine' sides of the bed, with a clear separation line for extra protection. <A> Some German hotels use this term to refer to a room with a double bed of standard size - 140cm wide. <S> Essentially, the bed sleeps 2 and many people have this size in their homes, but people used to queen- or king-sized beds may find the bed small. <S> It doesn't imply a particular style of decor or arrangement of bedding. <A> I think this issue arises from sloppy punctuation. <S> Hotel and motel rooms are commonly described by the size and number of beds contained. <S> Thus, one sees "queen bed room" and "king bed room" and so on. <S> The OP's room contains one French bed, and thus is a "French bed room." <A> In hotels, "french bed" usually denotes pretty narrow double bed (meant for TWO persons). <S> It can be as narrow as 140 centimeters and will almost always come with shared duvet. <S> My personal opinion is, that these beds are definitely not meant for sleeping, but for other activities :). <S> The experience of different people may vary, but I would suggest avoiding this if you need decent space to sleep well. <S> And, of course, such bed is very much not suited for sharing with anyone else except people you are really intimate with. <S> On the other hand, for a single use, these beds are quite ok.	A 'French bed' (französisches Bett), on the other hand, is a bed wide enough for two persons, but equipped only with one mattress.
Can I not show up for my second one-way ticket out of three and still use my final ticket? I have three one-way tickets for a multi-destination trip over a 3-week period. I am flying the first and the last flights with the same airline. I want to skip my second flight. Will my last flight be canceled? <Q> The answer depends on what you mean by "ticket." <S> If you have three separate and independent tickets - you purchased each ticket from a separate and different airline at a different time, or even from the same airline but with each flight having a unique record locator number - then the air passages will be independent. <S> You can skip any flight(s) without affecting your ability to take any other flight(s). <S> If, on the other hand, you bought all three flights from one airline and all three flights carry the same record locator number, then all three flights are "connected" in that airline's records. <S> As Giacomo Catenazzi points out, airlines' terms of carriage often or usually provide that if you don't show up to take one flight segment, then any future segment(s) will be cancelled. <S> Without knowing more about the form of your tickets (as dda mentions), and the terms of the airline(s) terms of carriage, it's impossible to answer the question. <A> If you booked them as three separate tickets, your last booking will not be affected by missing the middle booking. <A> If you no-show for a flight then all remaining flights on that ticket will normally be cancelled without refund. <S> So the question becomes <S> do you really have three independent one-way tickets or do you have three flights on the same ticket. <S> If in doubt your best bet is probablly to contact the airline or agent you booked the ticket(s) through. <S> They should be able to figure out if the flights are on the same ticket and if-so they should be able to change the ticket to remove the second flight. <S> Depending on the details of the ticket this may cost you money, it may be free or it may even result in a refund.	If you booked them on a single ticket, chances are (dependent on the conditions of carriage, which vary by airline) that your final leg will be cancelled when you miss the middle leg.
Is there a place to store luggage at Kings Cross St Pancras? We will be leaving London around 9.30am to visit Paris for an overnight trip and will have two medium sized suitcases, plus our backpacks. Is there a place in the Kings Cross area where we can store our suitcases, rather than take them all the way to Paris? We're travelling via Eurostar. <Q> St Pancras station offers luggage storage. <S> Taken from Network Rail : <S> Left luggage <S> You can leave luggage at Excess Baggage Co in The Circle. Monday to Saturday 6:00 – 22:00 Sunday 7:00 – 22:00 <S> For more information call <S> 020 8090 9923 or visit Excess Baggage . <S> You could also walk across the street to Kings Cross station and use their luggage facilities . <A> The excess baggage company is 'very' expensive. <S> And you can expect to pay £20 and up per item for overnight storage. <S> Another option is a company like stasher.com or bagbnb who broker storage at local hotels and business. <S> They both have a couple of location just outside the station. <S> I have used stasher once, and paid £4 for 18 hours. <S> I was a bit nervous tbh. <S> But all was ok and I used a small hotel <S> just opposite kings cross. <S> I did not leave anything valuable. <S> Just clothing. <S> Not endorsing either service as I haven't used them enough to form a valid opinion. <A> Prices start at around £7.50 for one item for a few hours. <S> You can get a quote online and book space ahead. <S> Disclaimer: this is just one company found on a Google search. <S> There may be others. <S> I'm making no recommendations.	The Excess Baggage Company offer left luggage services at all the major London termini and at the airports.
Can I visit the USA with ESTA as a Swede born in Iraq? I’ve lived in Sweden since I was 2 years old, I'm 28 today. I only have Swedish citizenship but I was born in Iraq. I never had an Iraqi passport or documents and have never been there since I was a small child. When I asked my parents, they told me that, although I was born there, I'm not a national of Iraq, that I'm just registered here in Sweden. My parents have dual citizenship, though. Can I still travel with an ESTA or do I need a visa? <Q> I assume that when you say that your parents are dual citizens, they have Iraqi citizenship (as well as Swedish). <S> Iraq is jus sanguinis country which means nationality is carried by blood. <S> Your parents have to be Iraqi in order for their children to be Iraqi. <S> Being born in Iraq itself confers nothing. <S> It sounds as though you were indeed an Iraqi citizen from at least age zero to age two by your explanation. <S> That said though, until the Iraqi nationality law reforms of 2006 changed the rules, gaining another citizenship meant you lost your Iraqi citizenship. <S> You could claim that this meant you lost your Iraqi citizenship when you became a Swede at age two (which would in the early 1990s according to your timeline) and that you never made any attempt to recover it. <S> I think an argument that you are not an Iraqi citizen would be at least arguable for the purposes of VWP. <S> I would apply and answer all questions truthfully. <S> Note <S> that the requirement is phrased in the present tense: that you are a citizen or national; not that you were or have ever been. <S> So if you are no longer a citizen I think you can answer that truthfully. <S> But I’m just a random person on the internet. <S> You mileage may vary. <S> The worst case appears to be that your ESTA will be declined and you’ll need to apply for a visa. <S> At that point, if successful you can request a waiver be put in your file allowing you to file for ESTA in the future. <A> This type of question is one of the main reasons that the US Government came up with the 'ESTA' program. <S> When you apply for an ESTA, it will prompt you for details of things like where you were born, your current and past citizenship status, as well as whether you've ever held a travel document for another country. <S> Once you enter all of the details, one of three things will happen : <S> Your ESTA will be approved (almost) immediately. <S> Your ESTA will be approved, but will take a few days for this to occur (which is generally a sign that it is being manually reviewed), or Your ESTA will be rejected. <S> If your ESTA is approved, you are good to travel to the US. <S> Technically having an ESTA does not provide a guarantee of entry, but presuming you answer all questions truthfully when applying for the ESTA, then the odds of being denied entry under the Visa Waiver Program is so close to zero to basically be ignored. <S> If your ESTA is rejected, then you will need to apply for a visa. <S> The fact your ESTA was rejected will NOT count in any way against your visa application, so there is no reason not to try the ESTA route first - <S> it is faster, cheaper, and significantly less effort than applying for a visa. <S> I can't help you determine if you are or ever were an Iraqi citizen. <S> In practice, you best option there is likely to contact the local Iraqi consulate and ask them, as they will be the best source of truth for that question. <S> There's just too many variables that could be in play to base it on the information you've provided. <A> The ESTA information page says that ESTA is available to those who: are a citizen or eligible national of a Visa Waiver country are not in possession of a visitor's visa will travel for 90 days or less plan to travel to the US for business or pleasure want to apply for a new authorization for one person, or a group of applications for two or more persons. <S> However, the ESTA FAQ page says: Under the Act, travelers in the following categories are no longer eligible to travel or be admitted to the United States, without a waiver, under the VWP:... <S> Nationals of VWP countries who are also nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, or Sudan. <S> Thus, to obtain ESTA status, you'll have to demonstrate that you're not an Iraqi national. <S> Proving a negative is going to be difficult or impossible.	If your parents were Iraqi at your birth then you would have been Iraqi at birth if so registered. I conclude you can seek a waiver of the ESTA eligibility restriction from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (and if successful, apply for ESTA), or you must apply for a visa.
Connecting in Amsterdam with different airlines We are flying from Brussels to Amsterdam on one airline and then flying out to Iceland on a different airline. We will have checked bags. We can't check the bags through to the end city, so what is the process? What do we do when we land? Do we pick up our luggage somewhere go through immigration etc as if we were staying in Amsterdam, then come back in again to check the bags for the second airline? <Q> Brussels (Belgium), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Iceland are all within the Schengen region . <S> As a result, you do NOT need to pass through immigration when traveling between them. <S> Once you're checked in and dropped your bags, you will need to pass through security again, then head to your gate. <S> At no point will you need to pass through immigration in any of the 3 airports. <A> If your flights are on two separate tickets, the procedure is literally the procedure for taking a flight from Brussels to Amsterdam, followed by the procedure for taking a flight from Amsterdam to Iceland. <S> In Amsterdam, you'll need to collect your bags, check them in for your second flight and then go through security again. <S> I hope you left plenty of time for your connection in Amsterdam. <S> If you miss your connection, the airline to Iceland will just say, "It's your responsibility to get to the airport on time; it's not our fault you were late." <A> If you are indeed correct that you can't check the bags through, then yes, you will have to pick up your luggage and go through customs. <S> You will not go through immigration because Belgium and Iceland are both, like the Netherlands, part of the Schengen area. <S> Then you will go through customs and find the check in desk in the airport's main departures hall. <S> There you will check your bags, whereafter you will get your boarding passes, go through security, and go to your gate. <S> Again, no passport control. <S> Enjoy your trip.	Presuming you are not able to check your luggage all the way through to Iceland (you may be able to, depending on the airlines involved), then in Amsterdam you will need to go to the baggage claim area, collect your bags, and then head to the check-in counters to check-in/drop bags for the second flight.
Travel from the UK to Spain with an Italian ID This question is somewhat related to this one , but not quite the same. I'm an Italian citizen currently living in the UK, and I'll be traveling to Spain in about a week (from Heathrow). My passport (which I always fly with, no matter where I go) is in the process of getting a visa, so I won't have access to it for this trip. My only option is to use my Italian ID card (which looks like this , and I have already used to enter the UK from Italy); will I have any problem going to Spain and / or back to the UK? <Q> Yes you can use your italian ID. <S> If you are a citizen of a EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Lichtenstein, you will need a valid passport or ID card. <S> and regarding going back to UK, as written in UK gov website <S> You’re from an EEA country or Switzerland <S> You can enter the UK with either a valid passport or a national identity card issued by a EEA country. <A> Today I had a bad episode. <S> I am an Italian citizen with an Italian ID <S> and I was travelling from Edinburgh, UK (where I live) to Alicante, Spain, and the police (at the spot where passports are checked) <S> would not let me in! <S> They asked to see another document, so I showed my driving license, the only other thing I had, but it still was not enough. <S> The policeman went on shouting that I needed a passport to get in and finally exclaimed "I am doing you a favour for this time, go get a passport!". <S> I was speechless but glad I could get in. <S> I have travelled all over Europe with my Italian ID card. <S> When asking the airport info point later, the guy first said that I should not have had problems with it, then he checked something and said that since the UK is not part of the Schengen I needed a passport. <S> However, when I checked online later, it said that to enter Spain you need either a passport or a ID card as a EU national. <S> I believe it is the police that does not even know facts, but I will do more research. <A> In the interests of completeness, it's worth mentioning that there are signs when entering the UK which warn that processing Italian ID cards is slower than passports or other EU ID cards. <S> They don't have any modern electronic reader or digital signature technology, so the border official probably has to consult an online database to check that it's not a fake. <S> So you may need to allow more margin for connections when travelling without your passport. <A> I've had friends with the old style <S> carta d'identità get into the UK <S> and I constantly see it when coming back into Schengen, although I only used the new CIE, I have had no problem using mine. <S> I don't think you'll have a problem either.	In Spain you can enter with Italian ID, as written in this Spain travel website
Where can I take Chinese visa photos in the USA? I'm applying for a Chinese visa. Requirements Photo size: 48mmx33mm, width of head: 15mm to 22mm, height of head: 28mm to 33mm. I live in Missouri. It sucks. I tried CVS, Walgreens, Walmart. Nobody can do it. All these shops offer standard US passport 2" by 2" photos. What should I do? <Q> Costco offers Chinese-visa-compliant photos. <S> There are several Costcos throughout the state, particularly in the Kansas City and St. Louis metropolitan areas. <A> If you are going through a visa agency, ask them for advice. <S> Often they specifically WANT US-sized photos so they can edit and cut them to the correct size themselves. <A> I have had success with online visa photo websites. <S> (The one I used was epassportphoto.com <S> but there are others.) <S> You just take a selfie with your smartphone camera and upload it to the website, tell them what country's specs you want, and then they crop it to the right size and make sure the lighting is OK and then send it to a CVS for printing where you can pick it up. <S> (You do have to cut it out yourself using scissors, but they provide the lines to cut along.) <S> It costs on the order of $10-20, similar to what a photo shop would charge. <S> I applied for a Chinese visa with the resulting photographs and the consulate accepted them without complaint or comment. <S> Note <S> : I have no affiliation with any of these websites. <A> The standard US Passport photo works for a Chinese Visa. <S> I did this last year and had the pictures taken at CVS and attached to my Chinese Tourist Visa application <S> and it was accepted with no issues. <A> I’d take a high-res picture myself, scale it down in a graphics editor to get the head size right, then crop it in the same program. <S> Add a frame of a contrasting color to make it 4x6, print that for less than a buck at Walmart, then cut the frame off with scissors. <A> I used an app called Passport Photo on my smartphone. <S> Had somebody take a picture of me against a light-colored background, emailed the pictures to the travel agency handling my visa application. <S> Worked fine last November. <A> I did my chinese visa last September. <S> It was confusing for me because some said a standard 2x2 is fine but <S> the consular office article particularly wanted 33x48 mm photo and a completely white background. <S> So I took one at CVS and used a background removal visa photo service. <S> I submitted both of them just in case. <S> I don't know which one they accepted. <S> The one that I took at CVS was not completely white. <S> Do both if you want to go safe. <A> You can choose single photo or other printing format (e.g., 4x6) after editing. <A> try <S> aipassportphoto.com <S> , they generate china visa photo in seconds and create 4*6 printable version for you.	I used idphoto4you website.
Can you fill the printed customs form to save time in Canadian airports? At least in Vancouver Airport one has to spend a lot of time to get to the electronic customs declaration kiosks. This got me thinking - is it possible to fill out the paper based customs declaration (form E311) instead (saved up from a previous overland trip) instead of using the electronic version? One could then skip the first queue and directly stand in line for the immigration officers. If it matters, I'm a Canadian resident who is not a US/Canadian citizen. <Q> It is possible . <S> Legally to enter Canada you need to give one or the other. <S> I have got into Canada with only the hand-written form within the last year. <S> However, it is also perfectly legal for them to deny you entry for any reason at their discretion. <S> "It is ultimately at the Officer’s discretion, whether or not they allow you to enter." <S> They will not likely deny you entry (though they're allowed to, if they find you suspicious enough, and keep in mind some of them are not very smart). <S> But if you're at an airport like Vancouver, where everyone else entering has the kiosk-generated form (with the picture of your face on it), you are likely to be sent to the back of the line to get one: Not because you legally need one, but because they feel like it (i.e. they feel like having everyone give the same type of form), or because they don't know what they're doing. <S> I would not recommend arguing with them and informing them that the older hand-written form is legally sufficient. <S> It is usually better to do what they say. <S> So in conclusion, you can enter with the hand-written form. <S> But you can also be asked (basically forced) to go to the back of the line and get the kiosk-generated form. <S> Say "I already have this, can I go to the front?" <S> and you can get a positive or negative answer depending on who it is. <S> If they let you go to the front and the immigration officer sends you to the back of the line, you're just back to roughly where you started, since you skipped to the front to get there anyway. <A> The answer is <S> yes , this is possible, at least in Vancouver airport. <S> However it's questionable if it speeds up the process significantly as there's a separate queue for people who use the paper form, which at least today was longer than the normal one. <S> I was stamped into the country without a single question from immigration. <A> If you use a paper form, you're going to get at the very least increased scrutiny, and possibly will be sent back to the machines to use those. <S> That's just how a bureaucracy works. <S> p.s. <S> on my visit to Montreal and Ottawa a few months ago there were plenty of machines, waiting times were almost non-existent, and using them only took 30 seconds or so. <S> Explaining to a bored customs clerk why you insist on not using them <S> and them then forwarding you for manual screening by some very interested colleagues who have all the time in the world to go through every nook and cranny of your luggage is going to take a lot longer than that.	The electronic machines are a lot faster as there's no need for a human to read and check every form. Probably the best thing to do would be to have your pre-filled hand-written form in your hand and show it to the staff standing next to the queues and kiosks. And to refute the other answers - it is perfectly normal to use the paper forms and there are in fact stacks of them at the airport for people who can't use the machines for some reason.
Am I allowed to leave Houston airport during a long layover on an international connection? We are 3 Canadians flying from Toronto to Sydney, Australia with an 8 hour layover in Houston, USA. We want to leave the airport for some sightseeing. <Q> For any landing in the US, you have to go through immigration, no matter what your further plans are - there is no concept like 'Transit Area'. <S> After that, you are inside the United States, and free to go anywhere you like. <S> In your case, immigration is actually in Toronto already (so be early at the airport!), and you are technically 'in the US' before you even board your plane. <S> The rest is a 'domestic' flight, there is no immigration, passport control, or customs when you land. <A> Houston, Texas, has two major airports. <S> If you're flying from YYZ to SYD by way of Houston, you're almost certainly flying through IAH, otherwise known as George Bush Intercontinental Airport. <S> IAH is approximately 35km north of downtown Houston, and is surrounded by industrial, residential, and semi-rural land. <S> There's not much to see out there. <S> What sightseeing there is tends to be farther south, away from the airport. <S> There is no train system that connects to the airport. <S> The only public transportation out that way is the Metro bus system, whose route planner says the trip between IAH and downtown takes between 1 and 1.5 hours each way. <S> Houston has both Uber and Lyft, as well as traditional taxi service, but the drive is still a half hour minimum, up to an hour or more in rush hour traffic. <S> Driving is the primary means of transportation for most of the region's 6 million inhabitants, and many of them are on the roads at the same time. <S> If you absolutely must see downtown Houston, be sure to leave plenty of time for transit to and from the airport. <S> If you're still determined to see something of the area on your layover but aren't sure you can make it to downtown and back, I can suggest the Mercer Arboretum , a large park devoted to cultivation and care of plants and trees native to the area. <S> The arboretum suffered great damage during Hurricane Harvey in fall 2017, but reopened in March 2018. <S> Mercer is only 15 minutes northwest of the airport, and you should be able to get there, visit, and get back to the airport in plenty of time. <S> Source: I've lived and driven in Houston for multiple decades. <A> If you clear customs I suspect you can leave the airport. <S> I live in Houston and not many sites near the airport. <S> You could rent a car and go to Lake Houston <S> but it is not much to see. <S> There is an hourly bus that goes into downtown. <S> From there you can catch the train and see a lot of Houston. <S> It goes through the medical center and down to the football stadium. <S> From the train you can stop at the museums, Herman Park, or zoo. <S> Living in Toronto <S> I don't think you would like Houston heat <S> so I would suggest the museums. <S> I like the HMFA . <S> Between IAH and downtown is Greenspoint. <S> Don't get off the bus. <S> Nothing to see and high crime. <S> As far as dining I don't know of much by IAH but a lot in downtown Houston.	As the other answers mention, once you're past immigration, you're free to go wherever you like; however, as a longtime Houston resident, I will give you a local's perspective on leaving IAH to go sightseeing.
What are the advantages of using the Flying Blue program? I recently booked a ticket via Air France, and when I wanted to create an account on their website, it gave me the option of creating either an Air France account, or a Flying Blue account. I have the following queries related to this: What are the advantages of using Flying Blue? I have booked a flight on Cleartrip.com. Can I redeem miles using Flying Blue? <Q> Advantages are listed on their website, but in short: <S> At low tiers, none at all except you can exchange your miles for tickets. <S> At higher tiers, priority queues at check-in and boarding, and access to airport lounges, as well as all the benefits of the lower tiers (none). <S> And oh, you occasionally get an email with special members-only offers of discounted tickets on specific routes. <A> The most important advantage, which is never advertised <S> On the system to find who to kick out, the frequent flyer status (and miles/point) is taken into account. <S> But because there are many people not enrolled, it could save you some hours. <S> [Note: having a connecting flying and having checked baggage are still more important reasons, so do not trust only being a frequent flyer, but it helps]. <S> In theory, it works also on the other way: you could have more frequent upgrades, but because there will be probably some people who fly more often than you, the probability on getting them varies a lot on how frequently you flight. <S> Personally I'm enrolled on many frequent flyer programs (last being Flying Blue). <S> No disadvantages, but to select the best flight, the frequent flyer program affects just the case of ties. <S> The platform on which you book a flight usually doesnot matter, but some very cheap flights are in a "booking class" that do no give you points. <A> There is one uncommon advantage (or used to be: I hear AF overhauled the system, so YMMV) with FB: <S> the higher your tier, the more miles you accrue for the same flight, in the same class. <S> I traveled every 6 weeks HKG<>BOD for three years. <S> When I started doing this, I was a so-called "Ivory" member, ie the lowest rank. <S> I watched my account jump up and up and up, and became (again) Platinum within a year. <S> This is when I realized that my flights were not credited with the same number of miles, even though they were always the same, booked by the same agency, under the same class. <S> Every time I went up a tier, I got a bigger multiplier for my miles, separate from the multiplier you get when flying Business or First. <S> Flying as a Gold member gave me, if memory serves, 125% of the actual mileage, and Platinum 150%. <S> So I reached a point where flying HKG<>BOD in Business class as a Platinum member got me 22,000+ miles per return flight. <S> I haven't flown yet with another airline that does that. <S> Also, the thresholds were lower for overseas residents (ie not living in France). <S> I remember the number of qualifying miles for Platinum was 70,000 for overseas residents, and 90,000 for residents in France. <S> That was quite uncommon too. <S> Not sure whether this is still trues with the new system.	: you have less chance of being kicked out of a flight, in case of overbooking (which is also now becoming rare).
US Visa Name not matching with the passport name I am a Singaporean(Indian origin). My Singapore passport and IC shows my Name as FirstName S/O LastName . There is no separate first and last name in passport or IC, its printed as: Example Name: Hari S/O KumarMachine Readable Zone from 6th character: HARI<SO<KUMAR I recently received my US non immigration visa. In the US visa page my name is listed as: GivenName: FNU Surname: Hari I did traveled to US as a tourist previously(last year) under US visa waiver program(had ESTA). My I-94 record for it shows my name correctly as follows: GivenName: HariSurname: Kumar Will this naming in US visa stamping page cause problem while I enter US? or will it cause issue when I apply for SSC and Driving License. My flights are in 2 weeks time. What are my best course of action to resolve this, if this is a issue? If the US embassy asks for proof of my first name and last name to perform this change, what should I show because name mentioned in my passport and IC doesn't mention first and last name separately. <Q> Here is the reply from US embassy. <S> Please be informed that for names that appear with ‘s/o’and ‘d/o’, their names before ‘s/o’and ‘d/o’ is written as Surname and their Given name is FNU-First name Unknown. <S> Visas cannot be issued with ‘s/o’and ‘d/o’, according to our naming policy. <S> There is no error in the visa issued and there is no amendments needed. <S> They assign this naming convention on a daily basis to many people from Singapore Indian origin. <S> It will be fine and there wont be any amendment to it. <S> I did get an email from US embassy explaining the same. <A> You mentioned Social Security and Driver's License. <S> Your results will depend not only on your passport and visa, but also on other factors. <S> What kind of visa is it, <S> what other official migration documents do you have (like I-20 for F-1, DS-2019 for J-1, etc.), and what state are you applying for Driver's License in? <S> This can be a problem for passports that don't separate surname from given name. <S> But the problem is less likely if the documents are close to matching. <S> It would actually be ideal to get a passport that separates surname from given name before applying for the visa. <S> But at least you should try to get the visa to show the same names as the passport. <S> (FNU stands for First Name Unknown. <S> It is sometimes put on visas especially if the person has only one name. <S> This isn't necessarily a problem. <S> But it is sometimes then copied onto I-94, Social Security and Driver's License, which can be a problem.) <A> I suspect that the name is shown in your I-94 record just as you entered it on your ESTA application. <S> This also differs from the way it is encoded in your passport. <S> The ICAO standard specifies that the name in the machine readable zone be broken into two parts, where it is possible. <S> The first part is the "primary identifier," which corresponds to the US "last name," while the second part is the "secondary identifier," corresponding to the US first and middle names. <S> (The last name is also known as a surname or family name, and the first and middle names are also known together as given names.) <S> Any spaces or characters other than letters are either omitted or indicated with the specified filler character, which is the less-than sign ( < ). <S> The primary and secondary identifiers are separated by two filler characters. <S> In a comment, you give this for your MRZ: HARI< <S> SO<KUMAR <S> The name that would match your ESTA record, however, is KUMAR<<HARI <S> So you can see that you've already entered the US with a mismatched name. <S> There's a lot of confusion in the US with Asian naming conventions. <S> There's even confusion with some European naming conventions. <S> Having the various parts of your name distributed differently in your passport and visa is unlikely to pose a problem. <S> They must see things like this on a daily basis. <S> If I were you, I would not try to get them to put your first and last name on the visa "properly," but I would point out to them that they have not copied your entire name from your passport. <S> It seems reasonable to expect that your visa should reflect the passport by including the entire name given in the passport as your "last name": <S> HARI <S> > <S> SO <S> > <S> KUMAR>>FNU <S> But if they don't seem happy with that request, I would leave it. <S> Since the name on the visa is what US officials came up with when they were given your passport, another US official ought to accept the name on the visa when given your passport.	In general, both Social Security and Driver's License offices expect your name to be identical on all official documents including passport, current visa, current I-94, and other current official migration documents.
What happens to visas that last longer than a passport? I'm about to get a visa that will outlast my passport by roughly three or four months. The time difference is not a lot and probably won't have any big effect on anything but it got me wondering. Does the expiration of a passport have any effect on still valid visas? Is this visa still usable even though the passport isn't? Or does this vary from country to country? <Q> For example, for the United States : <S> My old passport has already expired. <S> My visa to travel to the United States is still valid but in my expired passport. <S> Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport? <S> No. <S> If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel. <S> (Example: tourist visa, when your principal purpose of travel is tourism). <S> Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country and type <S> (Example: both Uruguayan regular passports, both official passports, etc.). <S> When you arrive at the U.S. port-of-entry (POE, generally an airport or land border) <S> the Customs and Border Protection Immigration Officer will check your visa in the old passport and <S> if s/ <S> he decides to admit you into the United States they will stamp your new passport with an admission stamp along with the annotation "VIOPP" (visa in other passport). <S> Do not try to remove the visa from your old passport and stick it into the new valid passport. <S> If you do so, your visa will no longer be valid. <S> Or the UK (but see the link a bunch of details where this does and doesn't apply): You can use the valid visa in your expired passport when you’re travelling to and from the UK. <S> You’ll need to travel with your expired and your new passport. <S> This is true of most countries, but you'll need to check for official advice from a particular country to ensure their rules work the same way and whether there are any conditions. <S> If this is allowed by the country you're traveling to, you will also need to ensure your own country allows you to keep your old passport and that it is returned to you after renewal (some countries require that you request this specifically or it will be destroyed). <S> See <S> Can I keep my old passport when I have it renewed and a new one issued? <A> As mentioned above, it'll depend on the country, and possibly the type of visa. <S> Many countries (most?) ask that the passport's validity covers at least the length of the visa. <S> In all the countries I have applied a visa for (mostly Asia), both for visits and residence, I had to document the validity of my passport, and it had to be equal or longer to the length of stay. <S> For tourists visas I was often asked to provide a passport that had a validity exceeding the length of stay by 3 to six months, which makes sense, as these were countries where you can extend your tourist visa in-country. <S> A notable exception I can think of is visas that by default exceed most passports' validity, like the 10-year visas given by some countries. <S> But these aren't the most common kind of visa. <S> For resident visas, it could be argued that as a resident you can easily extend/renew your passport at the consulate, but the countries I have dealt with prefer to play it safe. <A> Many countries accept visas in old passport for entry of both new and old passports are presented. <S> We don’t know which country’s visa you have <S> but it’s highly probable that it will be fine. <A> This happened to me with my 10-year India visa, and their policies at the time (not sure if they're still the same) required submitting both the old passport with visa, and new passport, for the visa to be "moved" (cancelled on the old passport, and a new one affixed to the new passport with the original expiration date). <S> Of course it also carried a nice fee for the service. <S> This definitely varies by country, and you should check the policies of the country that issued the visa. <A> Normally the Thai will not give you a visa longer than your passport. <S> But if your passport gets fully stamped during the validity of the visa and you have to get a new passport, you can just go to a Thai embassy and they will transfer your visa to the new passport. <A> This has happened to me a number of times when my visa extend beyond the validly of my passport. <S> Especially inUSA <S> i never ever had a problem. <S> I presented my expired passport with the valid visa alongwith my new passport abd <S> they gave me entry without any hassle. <S> Sajjad Mahdi	Many countries allow you to use a valid visa in an expired passport, as long as you present a valid passport along with it and all the other details (usually including your name) have not changed:
Main destination of Schengen visa I know that the Schengen visa's main destination is the place where I must spend most of my days in Schengen countries. But I am planning to stay 6 days in Spain (first destination), 5 in France, 4 in the Netherlands and 1 in Belgium. In this case, there is no country where I will spend most of the days of my travel, so what will be my main destination? Thanks. <Q> 6 is bigger than 5, 4 and 1, so it is Spain, which also happens to be your port of entry. <S> You thus have two reasons to apply with Spain. <A> The main destination rule: <S> If you need visit one of the states for a specific, demonstrable reason, that is the main destination. <S> Example: If you have a job interview in France and decide to add the weekend after in Italy on tourism, France would be the main destination. <S> If you have no reason to single out one destination, the one where you spend the most days is the main destination. <S> Example: Three days in France, six days in Italy, four days in Austria means Italy would be the main destination. <S> If you spend the same number of days in different states, the first entry is responsible for the visa application. <S> Example: Five days in Germany, five days in Poland, and Germany would evaluate the visa. <A> Your question's premise is incorrect. <S> You write <S> the Schengen visa's main destination is the place where I must spend most of my days in Schengen countries <S> In fact, the main destination country, if one can be determined, is the country that must evaluate your visa application. <S> In Article 5, the Schengen Visa Code says: Article 5 Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application <S> The Member State competent for examining and deciding on an application for a uniform visa shall be: (a) the Member State whose territory constitutes the sole destination of the visit(s); (b) if the visit includes more than one destination, the Member State whose territory constitutes the main destination of the visit(s) in terms of the length or purpose of stay; or (c) if no main destination can be determined, the Member State whose external border the applicant intends to cross in order to enter the territory of the Member States. <S> Thus, as noted in o.m.'s answer , the main destination may be determined in terms of either the length or the purpose of your visit to each country. <S> As noted in dda's answer , when considering length, the threshold is not a majority of the days but rather a plurality, although as you can see even that threshold is not explicit in the code. <S> So if your trip to the Schengen area is for the purpose of attending a conference in France, you could argue that France is your main destination even if you will spend more time in Spain.	If your purpose in each country is the same, then your main destination in terms of the length of stay is Spain.
Dress for First Class? I'll be flying first class from Kansas City to Orlando this fall. This'll be my first time experiencing this, as I typically fly coach. This time around I found a good deal on FC seats and just wanted to experience it at least once. Any suggestions on typical dress for first class? I know this sounds silly, but I didn't know if it's considered proper etiquette to dress more professionally or at least nicer when sitting up front? EDIT: I understand that domestic First Class is not the same as Intl. I'm not expecting fancy lie-flat seats, or walled-off suites. I know the seats are bigger, and you get to board/de-plane first. What I'm asking, is do people tend to dress nicer than, say, shorts/t-shirt when riding up front? UPDATE: the plane(s) I’m flying on are B737-800s. I have one short layover in ATL both ways <Q> If you've been on a plane before, I'm sure you've walked past first class; nobody cares. <S> If you want to dress up, sure, but I'd prefer to be casual and comfortable. <A> and just wanted to experience it at least once. <S> Dress up , dress as nice as you like and comfortably <S> can for a flight and make it a whole experience. <S> You want to enjoy it <S> so enjoy it to the fullest. <S> Banter <S> : Go ahead flag <S> it <S> I would not bother about all these comments and answers trying to dampen your spirit <S> oh business class is nothing in the US, <S> oh this <S> oh that. <S> You paid extra for it, there is no harm dressing up nicely to feel better regardless of what others do. <S> None of these commentators will pass a chance to enjoy a free upgrade on the same flights. <S> If it turns out that the business class was the same thing as the economy class <S> so what? <S> I don't know why the crowd here has to stress being casual all the time. <S> There is nothing wrong with dressing up for something you want to experience at least once . <A> Nobody cares what you wear in first class. <S> I recently flew to Barcelona in first class with casual shorts. <S> The flight attendant kept apologising for a loud family near me, but I was fine. <S> They had kids and kids will be kids. <S> It's all about attitude, not dress. <A> Pretty much no one dresses up to fly domestic First Class in the U.S. (and very few people do to fly long-haul First Class.) <S> There will probably be a few people wearing suits in First, but that's primarily because they're business travelers who are wearing the suit for business at the destination, not because they're flying First. <S> You'll find some of those in economy, too, especially on business-heavy routes. <S> However, most people will probably be wearing casual clothing. <S> Basically, if you would look under-dressed in the First Class cabin on a domestic flight, you will also look under-dressed in the economy cabin. <S> And in almost any other public place in the U.S., aside from perhaps a pool or beach. <A> I always dress well when I fly Business Class (I never fly First). <S> Why? <S> Because if am flying Business Class, I am flying on a friends-and-family coupon from someone who works for the airline, and the airline (for some reason) insists on a dress code for deadheads like me. <S> (Not that kind of Deadhead , the not-high kind .) <S> Slacks, not jeans; button shirt; socks. <S> Last time I did this, I was flying to a funeral and the standard for the funeral was considerably lower. <S> If you are paying your own way, you can fly in your boxer-shorts, if you are so inclined. <S> Here is a discussion of United's dress code for us non-revs <S> and it cites United's policy is full (although, without a link). <A> Not to dampen your spirits, but the experience of first class depends chiefly on the airplane you are flying on, and flights on your itinerary are all flown on either the 737, A320 or other similar aircraft. <S> These are not really equipped with a proper first class. <S> For most, you are looking at wider seats, some older ones may just block the center seat of the 3-3 configuration on the first few rows and call this premium / first / business. <S> The other perks include a fancier lounge (depends on the airport), reduced fees or extended allowances, perhaps a complementary meal or drink. <S> To really enjoy the perks of first class, you need to fly on a medium to long haul (or ultra long), ideally international flight. <S> The good news is the biggest perk you get with flying first <S> is you earn more miles, and this is irrespective of the aircraft or airline. <S> Pool these up and then get yourself an upgrade on your next long haul flight :-) <A> Because first class is comfortable, I like to wear pyjamas if it’s a long flight. <S> Especially in the world of hoodie-and-sneaker millionaires, dressing up is only something to do if you really want to. <A> But yes, there are often people dressed like slobs there too, but usually folks there take pride in their appearance. <S> From the times I've been in first class, I have noticed that sometimes those that are well-dressed are treated better by the flight attendants than those who are in cheap ragged clothes. <S> So dress comfortably; but yes, it is (well, used to be) a big difference in First Class and so why not dress to impress? <A> First class is mostly for employees who are flown around all the time on a company's budget. <S> Otherwise, it's for people who don't want to be crammed in miserable seats and be able to skip some lines and get a bit better service. <S> Some wealthy people fly first class, but usually that's kids of wealthy parents since most wealthy people know what their money is worth and first class is not worth it. <S> People dress however they want, with some showing up in sweats. <S> You'll see more sweats than suits, so don't sweat it. <A> Which airline? <S> ; as it makes a big difference to the service you receive. <S> I’ve sat next to celebrities in jeans or sweats, and I’ve sat next to what must have been $$$$$ suits with gold and jewels dripping from every appendage <S> ; it's the person and the attitude that will endear you to an attendant as opposed to what you are wearing. <S> Be polite, don’t be afraid to say it’s your first time, and I am certain the attendant will make you feel right at home.	Regarding attire, I say dress up or down, however you wish, there is no rule per se, be comfortable and dress in what makes you feel confident. I have noticed most passengers in first class are frequently well-dressed: if they are wearing corporate business attire, or casual, they are wearing high-quality clothes in good condition.
New passport, old one not expired I have two passports. My old passport was made in 2014 and it is to expire in July 2020. It is empty with no visas on it. I wanted to apply for a 2-year Master's program in Germany that will start in October 2018. However someone told me my passport should be valid 6 months after my intended return date. So to stay on the safe side, I applied for a new passport a month ago and my old one has been cancelled. They put a stamp on it that a new passport had been issued. Now the new one is the one I have to use. Will it create any problem at the German embassy? Will they ask why I got a new one while the old one was not yet expired? I will carry both passports on my interview day, but could this be a cause of visa rejection? <Q> This is an absolutely normal thing to do, for exactly the reason you did it. <S> You have nothing to worry about. <S> Good luck with your interview and your studies. <A> According to this site , the passport has to be valid for three months upon arrival. <S> On the other hand, they suggest that the passport be valid for the duration of the course. <S> As ajd already mentioned, people frequently apply for a new passport before the old one expires, mostly to get the new passport before the old one expires (regular processing time in Germany is 4-6 weeks, just to give you some numbers), or because they changed their name, because the pages are full, because they don't resemble their picture any more, ... <S> I don't think you will be asked about the renewal, but if they ask, don't overexplain. <S> A simple "I wanted the passport to be valid for the entire duration <S> so I don't have to worry about it <S> " sounds like a perfectly valid reason to me. <A> The old one is cancelled, so expiration date and all the data in there has no more meaning. <S> But if you wrote somewhere in the form the number of your old passport, it is better to have with you also the cancelled one. <S> It will speed up things: it shows up that you control both passports (so no identity theft), and that both passport are for the same person (especially if you have a common name, this could slow down things).	While I haven't been able to verify your info about the validity of the passport, I don't think you have to worry.
Travelling around Europe on my way to the US. Where to store luggage? I am going to start my graduate studies in the US this September. I am planning on visiting Europe on my way from India. Since I am moving to the US, travelling light is out of the question. I expect to have 2 large (80 x 50 x 30 cm) bags with me at least. My main destination and port of entry is going to be Amsterdam (as I disclosed on my visa application). I had planned a 10-day trip earlier, covering 3 cities, anticipating a delay in the visa approval. Now that I have the visa, I am thinking of expanding the trip to 20 days or more. The problem, of course, is luggage. I have searched for luggage storage facilities in Amsterdam, Berlin, and they cost way too much (15-16 euros a day per bag). Does anyone have an alternative? I am also willing to consider adding a destination city to my itinerary for cheap enough luggage storage. Apart from luggage storage, is there any other option? Can I ship my luggage from my first destination to last destination, where they will keep it until I pick it up? Does anyone ave an experience with this? How much does it usually cost? Any suggestions/tips are welcome. <Q> Luggage storage in train stations, bus stations and airports is often quite expensive. <S> They also often have a maximum storage time of a few days, as they are in busy places and meant more for short-term storage. <S> If you have friends or family in Europe, one possible way would be to ask them if you can store your luggage at their place. <S> If that is not possible, I would search for a luggage storage where local people might store their furniture for example. <S> These storages are usually not that centrally located, but also much cheaper. <S> From Amsterdam for example after a short googling <S> I found a place offering self storage which is already much cheaper compared to train station storage. <A> According to Berlin's official website , At the Central Bus Station Berlin ZOB video-monitored lockers are available even in "jumbo-sizes". <S> They cost between 2 to 5 Euro per day. <A> Some stations, such as Munich (at least a few years ago) also have a "proper" luggage storage (i.e. one with a person behind a counter), which might be better if you have large pieces of luggage.	Large lockers are available at all major (and even medium) German train stations and should cost around 4-6€ per day, depending on the station.
What are typical Canadian meal times? I'm preparing a trip to British Columbia (Kootenays area) in early August, and since I like to organise my days in detail (all the way from getting up to going to bed) in order to get the most out of my time, I'd like to have a heads-up on general routines so as not to go against the grain (I had a bad experience with this in Spain and the UK when I first started travelling). It gets pointless when you plan a slightly late dinner-time in order to enjoy daylight hours and then discover restaurants are getting ready to close down in half an hour. I'm from Portugal and I already know meals are fairly different. Portugal: Heavy lunch at about 12-1 pm and relatively heavy dinner at about 8 pm. Canada: Light lunch at about 12 and relatively heavy dinner at about 6-7 pm. But since sunrise and sunset times are way different, I'd like to have a general feeling about the usual times people get up and call it a day. Portugal: Sunrise at 6.30 am, most people get up at about 7 am (8-9 am weekends) (1) sunset at 9 pm, most people go to bed at about 11-12 pm (about 10 pm for children). Canada: Sunrise at 5.30am. Does that mean folks get up at about 6 am? Sunset at 8 pm, similar to the UK. Does the evening tend to end early? (1) Daylight hours change throughout the year, but most people get up about half an hour before or after sunrise (depending if it's winter or summer); going to bed seems to be little affected by sunset times, unlike getting up. <Q> No, the sunrise time does not have a big effect on the Canadian day. <S> Most people go to work/school about 8 or 9, and get up accordingly. <S> This depends on where you are of course. <S> A farming community will be earlier, and also if you are camping or similar. <S> Sunrise varies through the year. <S> That 5:30 can be 8:30 in the winter - and the variation can be more extreme if you go to the far north. <S> You are right about mealtimes. <S> Canadians eat around 6-7, and you may find some restaurants starting to shut up shop around 8, just when an urban European is starting to think about eating. <S> This is likely to be true in the Kootenays. <S> Plan to eat around six, and be finished before 8. <S> Nightlife depends on the place. <S> A major city will be thriving through the night. <S> Somewhere like the Kootenays. <S> You should not assume there will be anything open after 9 or 10, and a lot of things will close before that. <A> I live in Canada. <S> The daylight hours vary significantly here. <S> I live in southern Canada, on the prairies, and the daylight variation is not as severe here as it is in the north. <S> Still, in late June we get about 17 hours of daylight, and in late December, only about seven. <S> It's just not practical to change one's waking hours. <S> :) <S> I personally get up around 7 am and go to bed around 10-11 pm, but some get up earlier than I do, and some sleep in later than I do. <S> As for meals, lunch usually starts between 11 am and 1 pm (noon is the most common time, but people who are traveling often have a more relaxed meal schedule, which also works well in restaurants because it can avoid the busiest times). <S> In particular, high-end dining is often done at a later time than normal-quality dining. <S> It would not be unusual to get a reservation at a really high-end restaurant for 8 or 9 pm. <S> (Personally, I avoid late meals because it causes acid reflux for me; I try to eat no later than 8:00. <S> But that's a personal consideration.) <S> Nightlife varies wildly by city. <S> City centres may be booming in the late evening in larger cities, or be very quiet in smaller cities. <S> (My city of 250,000 is pretty quiet downtown after about 7 pm.) <S> As always, if you are a traveler here, you can follow your own schedule, although it isn't uncommon for restaurants in some areas to close by about 8 pm, particularly in smaller centres. <S> If in doubt, check before you go. <S> Even in this case, hours tend to be more extended on Friday and Saturday nights. <A> Restaurants generally follow the same patterns but there are always some exceptions including ones open 24/hours per day. <S> Typically though breakfast service is from 7 to 10, lunch from 11:30-2 and dinner starts at 5:30 which most restaurants winding down quite a bit by 9, meaning the kitchen closes around that time, although people can stay an hour later or so. <S> This is typical but there are quite some variations. <S> Busy places often are open from lunch until dinner time and do not close in between, although can be quite empty from 2-6 PM. <S> The sunrise and sunset time varies daily and between the earliest sunrise and latest one, there are quite a few hours. <S> People do not generally change their routine for that, it would be too disruptive. <S> Transport has fixed rush hour schedules morning and evenings which also do not change as sunrise and sunset times do. <S> Most people's schedules are driven around work hours weekdays and shift later during the weekend. <S> So most people wake up between 7-8 and end up sleeping around 11-12. <S> Some people purposely shift their days earlier or later (as do I because if feels better for me and saves me transit time). <S> Generally though people sleep in more in the weekends and stay up later Friday and Saturday night. <S> Restaurant meals are often adjusted accordingly with breakfast served in 11 instead of 10.	Supper is usually at 6-7 pm but some eat earlier (particularly older people without rigid work schedules), and some eat later. Your statements about meal times is correct.
Liability car insurance when visiting Europe from the US I am visiting England soon and renting a car. I'm very confused as to car insurance while vacationing. I live in the United States and have car insurance and credit cards. I am covered for "Collision and Theft" through my credit card company (Amazon Rewards Visa) as long as I decline the car rental company (Avis) insurance. However, I'm don't know whether I'm covered for liability, and if so, by whom? I called my car insurance (State Farm) and was told the coverage is only for the U.S., Canada, and 500 miles inside Mexico. In the U.S., we typically have liability insurance and collision insurance. To my understanding, liability covers damage to humans and other cars and property whereas collision insurance covers damage to ones own car. But perhaps these terms don't apply in other countries and I'm fine. I just want to be sure I'm covered. There is insurance through Avis available for $20/day which is quite a bit. Can someone set me straight? Thanks. <Q> Liability insurance is mandatory in Europe, and follow the vehicle. <S> In many places you can't legally have license plates on vehicles without valid liability insurance. <S> It will not be a option you can take away, and it will have coverage according to local and European laws. <A> tl;dr Your rental car will come with adequate insurance to ensure its road legal and that the rental company won’t lose out. <S> See this handy rental guide , particularly point 5. <S> Every vehicle has to have an insurance policy in the UK if it’s to be driven on the roads. <S> That’s a legal requirement. <S> As such all rental cars come with at least some level of insurance cover (rental companies don’t want their cars impounded because you didn’t take out insurance). <S> Any other insurance you choose to have is in addition to this (though not legally required). <S> There are three main levels of cover in the U.K. Third Party <S> The minimum cover required by law in the UK. <S> It covers you against costs that arise as a result of injuries you cause to other people and damage to their vehicles. <S> I believe this is equivalent of what you call liability insurance. <S> Itcovers your liability against third parties. <S> Third Part Fire & Theft <S> As above with added protection against your vehicle being stolen, or destroyed in a fire. <S> Comprehensive Third Party Fire & Theft plus cover for damage or theft of your vehicle's contents. <S> I believe this is similar to your collision insurance. <S> Your rental car should come with comprehensive insurance, I’ve never heard of any company providing less. <S> There are many other additional insurance add-ons you can purchase <S> but these aren’t legal requirements. <S> One they car rental company will probably try and sell you is excess waiver insurance. <S> If you take this out and subsequently need to claim on the insurance policy, there will be no excess to pay. <S> The catch is the insurance they sell you can cost a significant amount. <S> I would recommend taking out your own excess insurance prior to picking up the car. <S> It’s easy enough to take out your own policy online and significantly cheaper. <S> Here is a great guide to car hire. <A> However, these limits may be insufficient for your personal comfort. <S> Your best bet may be to find an insurer that offers personal umbrella liability policies that cover foreign automobile usage. <S> These policies top up the third party liability coverage on your personal auto and property policies, and add in some coverage, such as this situation, libel, slander, and directors’ and officers’ liability for your volunteer work for non-profit corporations. <S> While not all have this feature, at least some do. <S> (I am an insurance broker by trade.) <S> Availability may vary by region. <S> Talk to brokers and agents in your area to see if such a policy is available for you.	European car rental agencies are required by law to supply insurance to the minimum statutory requirements of their jurisdiction.
Compensation for missed connection due to delay with same airline but separate bookings Long story short, I had to fly from A (in Spain) to C (in the UK) and I booked two separate flights with the same budget airline, so the actual route was A (Spain) -> B (UK) -> C (UK). The first flight was delayed by 90 minutes, which means that I was unable to catch the second one (the layover time was around an hour and a half) and had to buy another ticket for the following day (with another airline). I googled a lot and found mixed responses. Is there any chance I can get a refund for my second flight? I will obviously ask them but I'm unsure what my best course of action is. <Q> No , you're not entitled to any compensation. <S> You chose to book separate flights, so the airline did not guarantee your connection and the risk is fully on you. <S> In addition, because your flight was delayed by less than 3 hours, you're not entitled to EU's delay compensation either. <A> This won't be very much, and some airlines impose a fee or minimum amount for this refund that could make it completely pointless. <S> Check your airline's policy to see what conditions apply. <A> As jpatokal already said, you're out of luck. <S> Let me add a different perspective. <S> It costs the airline money to guarantee that they will get you to the final destination. <S> Some, such as Ryanair, have therefore decided not to offer tickets between destinations which are not directly connected. <S> This helps them push the ticket prices very low, but you risk experiencing issues with (not really) connecting flights in case of a delay. <S> If you want to have a "guaranteed" connection with this airline, you can try booking with Kiwi, who take care of getting you on another flight instead of the airline which is unwilling to do so. <S> They accept the risk of losing money if there is a delay and they have to pay for another ticket out of their pocket, so their tickets won't be as cheap as the ones you get when booking directly with the budget airline. <S> In a sense, they are not only a booking agency, but an insurance company as well. <S> That being said, they do not really guarantee that they will get you to the final destination, but they have a very good incentive to do so if it's possible. <A> Jpatokal's answer is fairly definitive and correct. <S> I'm sure the answer is no. <S> A UK internal flight (2nd leg) is also of a short distance, so for any similar situation the compensation is limited. <S> A site I've used for advise in the past, details the rules around compensation and offers guidance on how to obtain it (usually at no cost), just in case anyone sees a similar situation: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays/ <S> PS: I've no affiliation to the site, it's associated with Martin Lewis, whom is a financial expert whom has his own TV show on ITV (in the UK). <S> I thought it to be useful in case someone wants to read more regarding the rules regarding compensation or have a very similar issue.	You might be entitled to a refund of the Air Passenger Duty .
My seatmate needs to get up every 15 mins. What ought the cabin crew do? For an Air Canada ("AC") flight, my grandma booked the aisle seat in a column with 2-seat configuration in Economy class. Her only seatmate kept getting up every 15 mins. This is too inconvenient for my grandma, who was hoping to nap. So she tried to negotiate: She: Sorry to bother you. Will you be getting up a lot? He: Yes sorry. I need to use the bathroom. She: Would you like to change seats then? He: No thanks. I prefer the window seat. She asked the Service Director (AC's term for purser ) for help, but Director said there were no other seats in economy class. She then asked for a seat in another class , but Director apologised and stressed that he can't elevate to other classes in this case. In effect, Director did nothing. How could my grandma have convinced them to let her sit in another class? EDIT: Some comments recommend booking a window seat, but my grandma can't righteously do this as she needs to get up regularly too, to stretch, (not every 15 mins. though). She prefers the window seat only if the seatmate gets up more than she, and this is the first time that happened. <Q> As @gsamaras says, there is nothing <S> the cabin crew can or should do. <S> However I do think your grandma was a little passive. <S> Her asking "Would you like to change seats?" indicates that it's no bother to her, she's just asking for the other person's convenience. <S> What would be worth trying, after the exchange in the question is for her to say: <S> Actually it's very inconvenient for me if I have to get up and let you out every fifteen minutes. <S> I'm hoping to sleep. <S> I think it would be much better for both of us if we changed seats. <A> What ought the cabin crew do? <S> Nothing . <S> Of course, in the same class as the one of your purchased ticket. <S> Next time, please book a window seat (you can pay a bit extra for early check in, in order to make sure that you get it, but in general, if you check in as fast as the free check in opens, then you are going to find a window seat). <S> I assume that passenger was sitting in his seat (and not at an empty seat, where you argue to the crew that he is not sitting in his assigned seat), and has the right to use the bathroom at will, when the seatbelt sign is off. <S> My grandma doesn't like window seat <S> Then, as I said, your best bet is that someone from the crew reallocates her, after she informed them. <S> However, notice that they don't have to do anything, but the grandma can target the human soul, and get a favor. <A> The crux of the question is when can a customer, in economy class, ask to be upgraded. <S> In which situations? <S> How could {I / my spouse / we / <S> any kin} have convinced them to let {me/her/him/us} sit in another class ? <S> First and foremost, it seems that the OP should tell their family members that being upgraded to a seat due to an inconvenience is the exception, not the rule. <S> If it were so easy to be upgraded then passengers would ask to be moved whenever they are seated near or next to… a colicky baby, or a child that is crying ( screaming ) for longer than ten minutes a co-passenger who has a very bad cold and/or seems feverish someone who never stops talking who snores in their sleep <S> who is morbidly obese who uses both armrests who nods off to sleep on your shoulder who spreads their legs and/or invades your space (AKA “seat hogging”) <S> who wears too much perfume/cologne/ <S> aftershave who leans over, repeatedly, in order to look outside the window. <S> who is never off their mobile who takes off their shoes and puts their feet up who clips their toenails who picks their nose and inspects their snot <S> who loudly unwraps sweets and/or sucks or chews gum noisily who brings smelly food from home to eat on the plane who picks their teeth teenagers (and non) who play games on their tablets with the sound on who unpacks their carryon because they're looking for their reading glasses/a book/nail clippers etc. <S> who continually needs to visit the toilet/restroom <S> In all the above scenarios, the only thing a hapless traveller can hope for is to ask the offender to be more considerate (excluding the obese seatmate or the ill passenger) and/or to talk to one of the flight attendants on board and hope they can find a solution. <S> And sometimes there is no solution, there is no remedy. <S> You just have to suck it up . <S> When can you get an upgrade? <S> Is answered here: What techniques, tricks or otherwise have you used to get upgrades on flights? <S> And can you sneak into first/business class is answered here: <S> What are the chances of success and the consequences of sneaking into business class? <A> You don't have to get up every 15 minutes. <S> If they have to go to the restroom every 15 minutes, then that is their problem, not yours. <S> If they do not want to cooperate, that is also their problem. <S> FYI, you are obliged to follow crew instructions, not passenger instructions.	I think that your best bet, if you ever got yourself in a situation like this again, would be to ask the crew, if you could be re-seated, if the flight is not fully booked.
As of 2018, does Ryanair deny boarding to non-EU passengers who skip the landside visa check? Ryanair is notorious for requiring that all non-EU passengers go through a visa check at a landside check-in desk before their flight. However, do they actually deny boarding to passengers who ignore the visa check and proceed straight to the gate? I'm not interested in what Ryanair's website, terms and conditions, or support agents have to say about this. The question is strictly about what's going to happen in practice . <Q> For the last several years I flew RyanAir, <S> I have never had my boarding pass stamped (I have non-EU/EEA passport). <S> I have never been refused boarding, and never seen anyone being refused boarding. <S> The typical RyanAir procedure depends on airport, and is one of the following: <S> They scan everyone's non-EU passport regardless of whether one did check or not. <S> This is typical at BER airport. <S> They walk along the line ready for boarding, and ask who has non-EU passports and didn't do check, sending us to the gate agent for the check. <S> Note that this check takes some time (10-30 seconds), and they do close the gate 30 minutes before departure; if you do so, try to arrive earlier than 30 minutes before the gate closure time. <A> This is anecdotal, but here's a forum post about someone who was denied boarding at Edinburgh in March 2018 for not obtaining a visa check stamp. <S> However, another poster says that at Edinburgh in February, the gate agent gave non-EU passengers an opportunity to have their boarding passes stamped at the gate, so experiences vary. <S> It's clear that this requirement is not enforced consistently at all, but does appear to be enforced at least occasionally. <A> As a Non EEA/EU from London to Madrid it was not required, but from Madrid to London it was and we were denied boarding. <S> We had to go through the whole inmigration and security check again. <S> Lesson learned, if you have to print your BP and it says “visa check”, you have to get the stamp. <S> Don’t play with it; we almost lost our flight because they were not allowing us to board. <A> My family (2 adults and 2 kids under 6) was just denied boarding at the gate because of this Visa thing with Ryanair. <S> The airport is Eindhoven. <S> We hold American passports and are residents of the Netherlands. <S> They didn't care. <S> The gate person said this was just policy. <S> They happily went through the effort to remove our 5 bags from the flight and offered to rebook us for free 4 days later. <S> It seems like approving a Visa at the gate would have been less effort. <S> We are obviously not happy about it. <S> We will not book Ryanair again. <A> At Basel, for flights to London-Stansted, it's done at the gate, with a Checkport (Swissport subsidary) agent verifying documents (which, however, isn't always done carefully - I've seen South Africans and Macedonians not being checked for a visa or exemption), before stamping the boarding pass (often even for EU/Schengen citizens), which is then shown at the final boarding check a few metres ahead. <A> My Ryanair boarding passes always say this must be done at the check-in desk before passing security. <S> In Edinburgh in March 2018 <S> I forgot to do it <S> and nobody said anything about it. <S> In Warsaw I tried to do it at the Ryanair check-in desk and they told me to do it at the gate. <A> I got "Ryan aired" at Eundhoven today along with 5 other people, -we were denied boarding - inclyding two who had their luggage checked on to the plane. <S> I guess you have to point it out as staff at Eindhoven don't seem to know this fact when checking your passport even though the Ryanair flight was in the next room. <S> I arrived two hours early and got through security and passport control no problem and waited 30 minutes while the staff talked to each other. <S> This is an hour before the flight. <S> Someone even checked my boarding pass but did not tell me I needed a speciali stamp until the plane arrived and <S> they started boarding us. <S> They set us aside and told us to wait <S> and they would check our documents <S> I'df there was time. <S> New Zealanders do not need a Visa to the UK and easyjet knows this si fly with them. <S> They then said there was no time. <S> I was rebooted 4 flights later at 9.25 PM the next day <S> and I suspect they use this as a means of "bumping" people off overbooked flights. <A> I live in Spain. <S> For national flights not necessary. <S> For international flights (i.e. from Spain to the rest of Europe) it is necessary. <A> You need it stamped at the counter even for domestic flights. <S> I am South African and travelling from Scotland to England. <S> This applies for all non-EU citizens. <S> You have to pay an extra £3 to check in and print your boarding pass so that it can be signed (this only applies if you need to checking in 48hr before your flight)	They call non-EU passport holders who didn't get visa check to the gate agent before boarding, and scan your passport there. I suspect it varies from airport to airport and maybe even from flight to flight.
In a restaurant in Italy, should I be seated when my food arrives? I sat at the table, ordered the pizza. While it was being prepared, I decided to go to the bathroom for a short visit. An employee came (the griller) and while I was in the middle of my business, he informed me that the pizza was served. I left the bathroom and told him ok thank you, but his behavior suggested that I should be at the table by the time the pizza arrived. He talked to me like saying "dude what are you doing, you should be at your seat by now". Just like an air attendant would speak to you, if he would find you in the WC when the aircraft prepares for landing. I am not interested in complaining or anything. I tried to justify his behavior as you occupy a table, but are not consuming your food ASAP, thus it might take longer for me to seat the next customer. Should I be seated when my food arrives (assuming that my theory stands about the "eat your food ASAP"), or was this case just a random phenomenon, an outlier? <Q> The only logical explaination is that he was simply suggesting you to hurry up, because the pizza was getting cold and you wouldn't taste it in its best moment (when the mozzarella is still hot). <S> Service in Italy is generally great, so what I would think is that he was doing me a favour. <S> Actually there's also the possibility that he was stressing you to finish your meal fast to make space for other guests, which could be the case if you were in the bathroom for a long time , but only in this case, otherwise it would be poor service. <S> In conclusion, if you are doing your business in the bathroom, waiters don't normally come knocking <S> "hey you have to drop everything and begin to eat", so no you're not expected to stay at your table when the food arrives if you're in the bathroom. <A> In my opinion you should be seated when your food arrives, especially if you are alone at the table. <S> But it seems strange that they will come looking for you in the toilet. <S> How long where you in there? <S> I would not want my food to be served without me being there and most restaurants (> fast food category) <S> I know, would wait with serving until I am back, and keep the food warm in the meantime. <S> The reasons for wanting you at the table could be: <S> So you can check if the food is okay (actually what you ordered) <S> So you can be sure nobody tampered with it in the meantime <S> (it is the waiters responsible until you get it, so he cannot just leave it unattended) <S> So the food is warm and fresh. <S> To make sure you did not left suddenly P.S: I am from central Europe. <A> I find it very weird. <S> I would never expect restaurant's staff to talk to me in that situation, not in a McDonald nor in a Michelin 3-star restaurant ; except maybe if I stayed there more than 20 minutes, and they started to worry about whether I am alive. <S> It seems impolite to me <S> and I have never encountered this situation in any restaurant, nor in Italy nor in France... <A> Another reason could be for self-insurance/coverage. <S> What if someone decided to steal a slice of pizza, or the entire pizza, as you're in there? <S> Would you believe the waiters when they would tell you "your pizza was already served"? <S> Just another possible option. <A> You could have left through the bathroom window because you saw someone from the wrong mafia family enter in which case there would have been no point in preparing more parts of your order. <S> More seriously <S> : I don't know the restaurant's topology but it may simply have been the case that he was not sure just where you went and checked the bathroom. <S> It would have been creepy to just peep and then silently close the door again, so he told you that your dish was ready as a sort-of explanation of him looking. <A> The only reason that the waiter had to chase you in the toilet is because he was looking for his money. <S> As far as the waiter is concerned, you placed your order and ran; and they want to know if they have to bin the food and maybe call the police. <S> I don't believe for a moment that the waiter really cares if you eat the pizza hot or cold - especially given how long meals last for <S> , it's always cold by the time you get to the end. <S> Just imagine that once making your order, the food is on the table; and a table where there's no customer sitting means it's time to clean up the table.	If you're alone, and leaving your table, taking your bags & coat (and laptop etc etc) after ordering and plan to return, tell the waiter you'll be back in a short while.
Flying with GOL airlines without a CPF When trying to make an online check-in for a GOL flight (Rio de Janeiro GIG to Foz de Iguaçu), I cannot make it through passenger identification because I do not have a CPF number. I have two concerns: Can I actually fly without this number? If so, can I check in online or do I have to do it at the airport? The form at the GOL website looks like this (personal data omitted): <Q> From Documents Required for Travel : <S> Foreign passengers: <S> Foreign nationals boarding domestic flights in Brazil will need to show one of the following documents: A valid passport. <S> If you are a foreign national residing in Brazil you must show an RNE (National Registry of Foreigners) or a Protocolo de Renovação (RNE Renewal Procedure) issued by the Brazilian Federal Police. <S> A diplomatic or consular ID. <S> An original photo ID or valid passport if you are a citizen of a Mercosul member or associated country. <S> CPF should be needed only when buying the ticket (for tax purposes, as mentioned by Aganju). <S> During check-in, on every website I used there was a checkbox <S> "I'm a foreigner", "I don't have CPF" or something similar, or <S> CPF field should be optional when you enter any nationality that is not Brazilian... <S> This really seems like a bug on their website. <S> You can try to download their app or simply do the check in on the airport. <S> I'm a foreigner living in Brazil and it happened to me three times already, I couldn't check in on the website, I went to the airport and did it without any issues. <S> Or, if you prefer, you can generate random CPF using this CPF generator - it returns a fake but valid number (11 zeros didn't pass because the website probably validates the number checksum). <A> It is possible to fly without this number. <S> Just like year I took 5 GOL flights all without having a CPF <S> and I even checked-in online, so <S> it must be a recent bug or perhaps some previous data you entered that has then expect a CPF. <S> In my experience I found the GOL call center extremely helpful and efficient <S> (I had to deal with them because their system did not handle my foreign credit card over several attempts but no problem for check-in), so do give them a call regarding the issue. <A> I am a foreigner. <S> I have tried through the web. <S> It does not work without CPF. <S> Even on mobile <S> .. <S> I also tried using free CPF generator. <S> It does not work. <A> I also had issues check-in in both with the app and on the website. <S> Eventually I was successful on the website (using the chrome app on my moto e4 phone). <S> First you have to select your country from the home screen. <S> I am from the USA, and that was an option. <S> If your country is not listed, there is an option for "other." <S> After that it allowed me to check-in using my US passport number. <S> Good luck!	Your passport is enough to fly, you don't need to have CPF. Best thing to do is download the app from your phone and fill up the required fields and you can check in successfully!
Is 3 hours enough time to transfer between Bangkok airports? My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon and may have gotten ourselves into a jam without realizing it. Here's the situation: We land from an international flight at Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) at 1:50pm on a Thursday. That same Thursday, we have a 4:50pm flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Ko Samui (domestic?). We then return from Ko Samui to BKK, landing at 7:15am on Monday. We then have to get back to DMK for an 11:05am international flight out that same day. Is there enough time between these flights to make it between airports / customs / etc.? Do we forfeit one of the legs for another? Any help, advice, tips, or tricks to make this happen would be greatly appreciated! <Q> Yikes, this is super tight. <S> Some info on how to transfer between the airports is here . <S> You don't have time for the bus, so you are probably best off taking a taxi and hope for a driver who doesn't take you on the scenic route, and that the traffic isn't horrible. <S> You need to get out of the plane, go through immigration, collect your bags, go through customs. <S> Then find a cab and brave traffic. <S> Then go to check in and hope you get to the front of the line before the bag drop cutoff. <S> If your incoming flight is early and you are really lucky, you may be able to make it, but chances are you won't. <S> If the two flights are not on the same booking, you'd be treated as a no-show and may have to buy an entire new ticket on the spot. <S> I strongly recommend to rebook this. <A> As already stated, your best bet is probably taking a taxi straight between the airports. <S> A very useful tip (besides making sure you have Thai baht currency) is to head straight for the elevator in DMK when you arrive, clear immigration and have your luggage. <S> Take the elevator up to the departure level, head towards the entrance/exit and wait for a taxi to come and drop someone off. <S> Most taxis will gladly pick you up instead of having to wait at the arrivals taxi queue! <S> I have done this two times and it has been very successful - <S> the second time there was literally zero waiting time, I was in a taxi heading to my destination within 5 minutes of grabbing my luggage! <S> The other time I made the mistake of first heading to the taxi queue, getting a ticket and eating a quick meal while waiting... <S> I gave up after 40 minutes when I realized it would take me at least an hour more, and headed to the departure level entrance where I waited about 2 minutes <S> (there was one other couple who was also waiting for a taxi). <S> Even so, it will probably be super tight, so you just have to hope for the best regarding delays, luggage, traffic, etc. <S> Make sure to tell the taxi driver to take the tollway/expressway. <S> A useful phrase in Thai might be "leo leo", meaning "hurry" :D <S> Another option would be to check with the airline you're going with to Samui (I'm guessing Bangkok Airways?) <S> if it is at all possible to reschedule the flight? <A> At night it would be easier, but during the day, that's possibly the worst-case scenario... <S> Especially if you have check-in luggage. <S> It will take you anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to pass through Immigration and Customs, and pick up your luggage. <S> As others have advised, go upstairs to the departure level and take a taxi. <S> It will cost you more, probably. <S> Especially as tourists... <S> In zero traffic conditions, the drive takes 40 minutes (40 to 50 km, depending on the road taken). <S> After lunch, who knows... <S> Hour and a half probably. <S> If it rains (these days, July, it rains every day), don't even bother. <S> Bangkok redefines nightmare when it comes to traffic. <S> Then if you make it within 2 hours to Suvarnabhumi, you have another long wait. <S> Bangkok Airway has a bunch of counters for all their domestic flights. <S> You and a few hundred happy tourists, and locals, all mixed together. <S> Security is also on the slow side of things. <S> And the gates are far far far away. <S> If I were you, I'd start looking at rebooking the PG flight to Samui. <S> There are too many unknowns to make any optimistic prediction.	Things that may help a little: have local cash on hand, check in online for both flights and print boarding passes ahead of time, study the maps of airports, download the apps from the airlines to have up to date info on gates, delays etc.
Can I ask for the Immigration and Customs declaration forms as soon as possible on a flight to Japan? On my previous flight from Amsterdam to Tokyo two years ago, about an hour before the seat belt lights came on for landing, we were given our customs declarations form (I'm a UK citizen). I was spending less than 90 days there so I did not have to apply for a visa . My upcoming flight will have me arrive in Tokyo early in the morning, so I was hoping to sleep for most of the flight with as few interruptions as possible (which I can appreciate on an 11-hour flight is optimistic!). As such, I was planning on asking the cabin crew if I could be given my immigration and customs paperwork at the earliest opportunity during the flight so I can take my time filling it out and not worry about it later. On a personal note, it also removes one less item of stress from the journey. Are there any laws or common airline-enforced practices that would prevent me from being given my customs paperwork so early in a flight (especially if the flight is to Japan)? <Q> I have woken up to find a landing card in my seat pocket or on my lap more times than I can count (eyeshades really contribute to people leaving you alone.) <S> I fill it out while we land or while waiting in line at immigration. <S> I've filled out a LOT of them from a LOT of countries and have never needed more than 5 minutes. <S> If you're worried, find a copy of the form online <S> so you know what information you will need. <S> Specifically: don't ask the crew anything special wrt landing cards use an eyeshade to minimize the chances crew will shake you awake to give you the card. <S> prepare in advance (eg get your local address if you need one, <S> etc) have your own pen easily accessible in case <S> the seat belt sign prevents you accessing your carry on <S> There will be time. <S> If you spot a supply of the cards as you enter immigration, and you plan to travel to Tokyo regularly, take a spare. <S> I used to full out the US cards at home <S> and then when the crew gave me one, just put it in my bag for the next trip. <A> Usually, airlines have a set schedule for various tasks, and immigration forms are handed out at a set time, on a schedule. <S> I sometimes ask for the form early, and depending on the mood, the FA will bring it, or tell me "later". <S> Just try your luck. <A> As BritishSam commented, you can probably ask for the paperwork early, but as others pointed out the staff might not remember that 10 hours later. <S> With a long overnight flight arriving in the morning, they will almost certainly dim the cabin lights so everyone can get some sleep. <S> Around an hour or two before arrival they will generally wake everyone up for breakfast and bring up the cabin lights - the cabin will generally get a lot noisier. <S> This is part of the "wake everyone up" process <S> and there's probably not much you can do to avoid it, except doggedly try to stay asleep. <S> An alternative approach that I have found is to make yourself really tired before going to the airport - party late or just stay up all night. <S> That'll make it easy to fall asleep quickly once on board. <S> If you have a window seat and make it clear you want to sleep (reclined seat/eyeshade/blanket/neck pillow/etc), the cabin crew generally don't wake you until they really need to. <S> With a bit of luck you could get a good 7 or 8 hrs sleep on an 11 hr flight. <S> And I find this reduces jetlag.	be prepared to do the form as the plane taxis to the gate or the passengers in rows ahead of you are disembarking, or even while standing in the immigration line.
Getting identity photos in the UK How can I get an identity photo (eg for passports or other kinds of official documents, such as foreign visas) in the UK? In France, for instance, there is the Photomaton group, which has booths in nearly every city, mostly in train stations and airports (and famously in the Amélie movie). In the UK, the same group ( http://www.photo-me.co.uk ) has about 4 of them in the entire London area, all far from the city centre. So I wonder: how do people get this kind of pictures in the UK? Note: googling for "uk printed identity photo" or something similar leads to several websites proposing how to print such photos, but the real challenge is taking them in the first place: given the number of constraints on such kinds of photos, it's unreasonable to expect people to take them using smartphones or point-and-shoot cameras: you need to control lighting, background, distance, etc. Which is the main advantage of using a photobooth for that. <Q> There are also retail stores and a majority of pharmacies <S> e.g. Snappysnaps that will take passport style photos. <A> Most large Post Offices offer this service - search ‘Post Office near me’ for a list of locations and services provided. <A> Many large supermarkets have an automated photo booth. <S> In one supermarket near me, there is an actual photographer who took my picture and printed copies on the spot. <S> They are a better quality than from a booth, and only slightly more expensive. <S> Edit : <S> The photo booths in supermarkets are usually located near the back, perhaps near the cafe or wash rooms. <S> They are easily identifiable, as they proclaim what they do. <S> An internet seach of "photo booth near me" turned up a useful map showing the locations of different companies' booths. <A> Photo-Me operate most photo booths. <S> They don't appear to have a web map search, but you can phone them! <S> Call 0800 035 <S> 66 00 to find the nearest photo booth equipped with digital passport photo services. <S> says their website. <S> That's a freephone number if you're calling from a UK mobile or landline. <A> Timpson stores often provide this service. <S> It has more than 1,000 stores in the UK and Ireland and has a locator tool that lets you search by postcode, town or city and the service, Photo ID and Passport Photos. <A> If you have a decent camera and some experience with lighting, you can take your own photos, I have done this. <S> However you have to be even more scrupulous about following the rules exactly. <S> In particular plain white background - not a wrinkled bed-sheet etc. <S> If you must use a wrinkled bedsheet, allow enough distance behind the subject and adjust aperture to throw it out of focus, also adjust exposure to deliberately blow the highlights and render a flat white background. <S> no smiling, mouth shut. <S> exact size, no borders. <S> exact framing of head. <S> There are precise templates for positioning. <S> This is the hardest to get right. <S> Generally this produces a boring unattractive photo, you just have to accept this. <S> If you apply for a passport through a post-office, they will notice if your photo has not been taken by a professional - mainly by looking at the printing on the reverse, they will then be extra meticulous in checking the photo and will reject it for the slightest hint of a possible deviation from their interpretation of the true spirit of the rules. <A> I personally like Jessops passport photo service despite the high price, especially when trying to get non-standard photos for countries outside the UK. <S> They have various background colours (white, gray, beige, etc) and make sure all the measurements are correct to satisfy whatever crazy requirements need to be met. <S> Most of the booths only do UK photos.	Passport photo machines are commonly found in UK railway stations and shopping centres. There are also many independant photographers who may offer a similar service.
Proper clothing for rather pale person in very hot and sunny climate I'm from central Europe and more on the pale side; I don't tan easily. When hiking locally (Alps, etc) I usually get away just fine with short trousers/T-shirts and a panama hat (i.e., straw), but then that's only for a day apiece or so (and mostly in autumn/winter/spring anyway, so heat is not the issue). I am aware that these kind of clothes are not applicable for a desert; I am certain that I would get sunburned, quickly. What's the best solution for very hot climates (e.g. Egypt), and 1-2 weeks, mostly being out and about? What material cools, wicks sweat away, and keeps the sun away from my skin best? I appreciate that the locals have great solutions for that, but I would prefer something which is "culture-neutral", i.e., I don't wish to commit a faux-pas by inadvertently wearing something that may have a political meaning locally (i.e., some garb having strong connotations in some area, which I might not be aware about). And also something that does not stand out in Europe, and will be good for hiking here as well. Is there something significantly better than just any old white/beige, well-ventilated cotton trousers? Are the more technical "outdoor" garbs much better? I don't need lots of pockets, etc. <Q> It's 100% recycled polyester, so there is more to this than just what it's made of. <S> I tested this out cycling a specific route near my home. <S> In a tshirt I literally had sweat running down my arms making it hard to change gears. <S> In the tech shirt, my hands were dry <S> and I drank about half as much water on the same route. <S> I got mine from Mountain Equipment Co-op , a well known Canadian brand, but I am sure there are European vendors for the same clothing manufacturers. <S> Look for descriptions that include an SPF factor of 40 or 50, mention of words like "wicking" or "cooling", and most importantly, try one before you go. <S> Many of them also have thumbholes which allow the shirt to cover part of your hand as well as your wrist, and keep them from riding up when you're active. <S> They also sell very light weight pants that stretch in the right places for climbing, paddling, or whatever but then look reasonable when you go out for dinner. <S> The difference between the special technical pants and the regular lightweight cotton pants I could buy anywhere was noticeable, but not enormous like the shirts. <S> Also, don't forget a hat. <S> Keeping the sun off your face and neck doesn't just prevent sunburn, it also keeps you cooler. <S> Straw is hard to pack and can blow off: I'd suggest a pale fabric with an all-around brim, not a baseball cap. <S> Ideally it would have strings to help keep it on in windy weather (you can keep them tucked up inside it in normal weather.) <A> This is in effect the same answer I have given for tropical clothing during raining time. <S> Linen: If you can wear it, it has the best comfort. <S> It absorbs sweat easily, feels very cool, repels dirt and is germicidal. <S> Hemp: <S> Not as good as linen, but a viable alternative if you don't like to wear linen. <S> Silk: For good weather. <S> It is one of the airiest cloth, but you should not wear it with rucksacks etc. <S> Polyester: There are many clothes in outdoor shops which are very light, easily washable and very comfortable. <S> The difference to heavy cotton is noticable, so give it a try. <A> It is tempting to think it's a good idea to wear short clothes in hot climates <S> but that for me it only works up to certain heat. <S> As an inspiration, let's look at the Bedouins who live across the middle eastern deserts (and other places) <S> ( Photo By Nickfraser, CC BY-SA 3.0 ) <S> Bedouins typically wear long and loose clothes that allow for air circulation - their cloths are relatively thick and the inside stays circulated and cool when they move. <S> Their clothes are typically from wool from their herds which is counter-intuitive to some since wool is typically used in winter. <S> They also wear a hat that has very good coverage of their head (a quaffia). <S> This style of hot-weather clothing is both very functional and comfortable and provides excellent sun protection. <S> It's still incredibly hot in the desert - but comparing using it for a few days to wearing more "western" clothing - it was a lot more comfortable to me. <A> As someone raised in the Middle East, this topic is close to heart. <S> General Tips: <S> Loose fitting, long sleeves and pants legs. <S> Wear an undershirt if you are like me and tend to sweat profusely. <S> You will often be transitioning between very cold, air conditioned environments to the direct heat. <S> Not having yourself prepared can lead to health complications. <S> Cover your head. <S> Not only can you get sunburned on your head, having shade over your eyes is handy. <S> Carry lots of water with you, dehydration will creep up. <S> Don't drink very cold water if you just came in from the sun. <S> You will be suffering for days. <S> Wear comfortable shoes, avoid open toed shoes (sand is hot). <S> Avoid shoes with cork or other perforated soles. <S> Moisture can collect in these, and transition from extreme cool (AC environment) to extreme heat (pavement) can cause the moisture to expand quickly and disintegrate the sole. <S> For the specific type of clothing, you'll note the locals will wear white in the summer and darker shades in the cooler months. <S> White, beige, off white is the preferred colors. <S> For materials, avoid synthetics if you can. <S> Natural fibers work best. <S> Locals wear very light blends of materials. <S> Cotton + Poly blend. <S> Avoid leather at all costs. <S> Specific recommendations: <S> Cargo pants, beige or tan, full length, loose. <S> These have more give than normal slacks, which are also good if you are comfortable in them. <S> Running / jogging shoes; avoid "boots" as these don't do well in the sand. <S> A loose fitting, long sleeve, shirt with a collar. <S> A cap or umbrella for shade protection. <S> Sunscreen (SPF 15+) Water (not cold, but warm). <A> Umbrellas (or equivalent) are very popular in Asia for protecting against the sun. <S> I doubt there are political issues with umbrellas.	I was surprised to discover that a long sleeved "technical" shirt with a high Sun Protection Factor (SPF) kept me much cooler (and reduced the amount of water I needed to drink while cycling) than a cotton T shirt. Carry something warm with you, like a wrap, a front-zip hoodie (make sure its not heavy), or a windbreaker.
In practice, what is the distinction between ESTA and visas? It is often claimed that ESTA is not a visa - both by the US government and the travelers themselves. However in practice, I find it difficult to see the distinction between ESTA and e-visas: It costs money, while a true visa-free system is, well, free You have to fill out personal details about yourself to receive it Not everyone who's eligible is approved for it Even if you enter overland, you still have to answer the same questions on form I-94W and pay a fee to enter the country The vast majority of VWP passport holders enter the US by air, so they do need the ESTA What is the exact distinction then (in practice) that separates ESTA from a regular e-visa? <Q> From the perspective of the traveler the difference is somewhat semantics. <S> From the perspective of the US government, introducing the ESTA would have been much simpler than re-writing the various legislation around the Visa Waiver Program, which is likely why they went with this path. <S> Where with an e-visa, you would. <S> Now that might seem obvious (because, well, it is!) <S> but it's an important fact if only for one major reason - US Visa holders have more rights than people attempting to enter under the Visa Waiver Program. <S> If you hold a US visa, and you are denied entry at the border, then under US law you have the right to have your case heard by an immigration judge. <S> If you are denied entry under the Visa Waiver Program - even if you hold a valid ESTA - then you have no such right. <S> The other difference between the two, which is the reason that people normally make the "ESTA isn't a visa" distinction around here, is that if you are "denied" an ESTA, then you have NOT been denied a US visa. <S> This is important, as one of the questions asked when applying for a visa is whether you've been denied a visa previously. <S> If the US instead used e-visas rather than ESTA, the answer to this question would be "yes" if you had been denied an e-visa, rather than no as it is today. <A> I am one of those people on this site who almost always prefixes my answers to ESTA questions with "ESTA is not a visa. <S> Your entry to the US is governed by the Visa Waiver Program". <S> The reason I do this is that questioners are often confused. <S> They say "I read that I can only stay 90 days on an ESTA, but my ESTA say it is valid for three years. <S> " Or "If I drive to Canada and come back, do I need to get a new ESTA?". <S> So my intention is to direct people to look up the rules of the VWP, which usually tell them what they want to know. <S> I also don't want to be one of the people perpetuating the mistake, so I always want to be saying "VWP will allow you to stay 90 days" rather than "ESTA will allow you to stay 90 days". <S> If people learn "you can stay 90 days with an ESTA", and then find that with you can drive to the US without an ESTA, they ask "so how long can I stay then?". <S> If they learn that VWP rules apply to both, they aren't confused. <S> My other reason for saying "ESTA is not a visa" is that is how the US sees it, and the US gets to decide. <S> Correct terminology is important when you are dealing with legal issues. <S> Calling it a visa is going to confuse people, especially if they eventually read official sites that call it something else. <S> If the US asks if you have held a visa before, they do not want ESTA holders to answer "yes". <A> For all intents and purposes, ESTA is just what the US calls their e-visa concept. <S> Like other e-visas, it is somewhat more burdensome on travelers than traditional visa freedom, but quite a bit less burdensome than a traditional visa-in-advance. <S> They reason why they don't call it <S> an e-visa is partly historical (it was one of the first such programs, so there was no established terminology to follow when they started it), and partly diplomatic (in a tacit understanding with other government that if they don't call it a visa, it doesn't need to upset existing reciprocal visa-freedom arrangements). <A> If an ESTA were a visa, the US would be in violation of reciprocal agreements on visa-free travel. <S> So they say an ESTA is not a visa, and since the ESTA is an American legal concept their voice is significant. <S> Other states are not calling them out on the inconsistencies. <S> – o.m. <A> The list of similarities you posted has little meaning, as you need to do the first three things too when you want a credit card, or many other things. <S> However, you are right that in practice, the difference is meaningless for the vast majority of users. <S> The purpose of ESTA (='Electronic System for Travel Authorization') is to check if you are eligible to travel without a visa. <S> Your input at that time is not verified, so you could type in whatever you want (the same is true for eVisa though). <S> The USA has no eVisa, and all other Visa require a lot more effort and answers, nearly always with a personal interview. <S> The cost is also significantly higher. <S> All arriving travelers have to answer questions they are asked, that does not depend on ESTA, Visa, or even Citizenship. <S> The USCIS officers have the right and duty to verify that you are who you claim to be, and that your intended stay is matching the limits and regulations. <S> You can't take the questioning as a reason that ESTA and Visa are the same, as all travelers are subject to questioning (and eVisas in other countries are not any difference). <S> If your question was serious, that should point out the major difference; if your question was rhetoric and a ramble about the US milking you for money with a fake name - you are probably right, but think about how you would set up a better system; it would be interesting if you find a way to do it for free, without jeopardizing the secutiry.	However there is one major difference between the ESTA and an e-visa, and that is that with an ESTA, you don't have a visa.
Stay longer in the US than what I told CBP I'm Japanese, visiting my boyfriend in the US for the first time, staying with his family for about 40 days. We've been dating for a couple of years, but this is the first time I'm going to America. He's always been the one to visit me, because I was a student and did not have enough money to visit him. But now that I graduated and have a job (part time), I've got enough money saved up to visit him in the US. However I'm very worried about entry in America, worried that they will force me to go back to Japan, especially because I'm planning to stay for so long. So I thought of a plan, which is that I buy tickets for a two-week trip (for example October 7 to 28) and after I enter the country, I change the return flight date to November 16. Of course it will cost more, but I really don't want to get sent back to Japan. I would appreciate it if someone could give me advice on this issue and tell me if my strategy would work or not. <Q> Your problem statement sounds like the beginnings of a huge mess that would potentially take years to untangle. <S> When talking to immigration, your best strategy is to always answer truthfully when asked a specific question. <S> If asked for how long you're planning to stay, answer the exact date. <S> If asked whom you're planning to visit, answer that you're visiting your boyfriend. <S> If asked what you're doing in Japan - explain it concisely (work, school, business), as well as why taking off 40 days to visit the US won't interrupt said activity. <S> All you have to do is provide a short answer to the exact question asked - you don't have to tell the immigration officers long stories about your fears, a simple "I'm visiting for 40 days <S> " statement is perfectly sufficient. <S> What you're describing is a routine scenario and 40 days isn't particularly long for a tourist visit. <S> Relax, say the truth, and enjoy your trip. <A> Japanese citizens can travel to the USA on the Visa Waiver Program/ESTA , and I assume this is what you are intending to do. <S> When entering the USA on ESTA, no matter what you tell the CBP officer about the length of your intended stay, if they let you in you will usually be allowed to stay 90 days. <S> Exceptions do happen, but they are not very common. <S> This is more than twice as much as what you are planning. <A> I have actually been in very similar situation and have traveled many times to the US to visit my girlfriend through the Visa Waiver Program/ESTA (I am from Germany, but I don't think that makes a big difference). <S> The longest I stayed was about 2 months right after I finished university. <S> I always told them how long I planned to stay and the purpose of my stay <S> and it was never a problem. <S> There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. <S> When the CBP officer asks you about your stay. <S> Give them a concise and truthful answer. <S> No need to elaborate unnecessarily. <S> If they want more information, they will ask you. <S> When I first came, I felt like I had explain why I have a girlfriend in the US and why we had a long distance relationship etc. <S> They won't really have time to listen to your life-story and will probably just cut you off. <S> In my experience these are the type of questions they will ask you and the level of detail they expect: What's the purpose of your trip? <S> I am visiting my boyfriend. <S> (possible follow-up) Is he a US citizen? <S> Yes/no. <S> (possible follow-up) <S> How did you guys meet? <S> E.g.: We met in Japan where he worked for a year. <S> or online dating site or ... <S> (possible follow-up) <S> How long have you guys been together? <S> How long are you intending to stay in the US? <S> 40 days <S> What's your job in Japan? <S> I work as a [...] <S> A couple of tips: Print out your ESTA application, so you have it handy (just in case). <S> Write down the address/phone number where you are staying. <S> Print out the itinerary of your flight back. <S> A CBP officer asked me before if I had it. <S> I don't think he would've prevented me from entering, but it's probably better to have it just in case. <A> To answer the question posted in the title: <S> yes <S> you can. <S> If you are admitted into the USA, you will get a "admit until date". <S> This date might be stamped into your passport and also will be accessible in your electronic I-94 record . <S> Up until that date you can stay in the USA legally. <S> This is a convoluted world. <S> If you lie to the CBP they will catch you, they are trained and experienced in catching liars and you won't be admitted. <S> But if you don't lie and gets admitted andd something just comes up <S> then sure you can stay longer...	Therefore you have nothing to worry about — just tell the truth about 40 days, and stay up to whatever limit the CBP officer set (whether it is more, or even if it is less, though that is rather unlikely) if things go better than planned :)
Business travel to the USA with demonstration items I will be travelling to the USA and bringing a few items with me for demonstration purposes. The value of the items will be around $500, and all items will be taken back with me. I will also bring some cheap hand tools with me, maybe worth 50$. Do I need to declare the items and tools? As it seems I have to, how do I go about declaring these items? I will be leaving from a Canadian airport, which has US customs. Is there a form I should complete beforehand or do I complete it when I arrive at customs? <Q> Under $500 shouldn’t be a problem entering the USA. <S> There’s really no concern that you’ll try to sell them, but if there was you might: you may want to register your tools before your departure to the USA with your own home country’s customs and get a receipt. <S> This allows you to bring them back home without them counting against your personal exemption - but in this case it also shows you have no intent to leave them in the USA. <S> you may want to mark the items with a sticker or marker that says “For demonstration purposes only, not for resale” <S> But both are rather overkill for items of such small value. <S> It’d be more a concern if your tools cost over $2k and looked like they were packaged for resale. <A> The B1 visa has such provisions already built-in: <S> As a B-1 visa holder, you can temporarily bring goods or products into the United States to solicit orders but you cannot sell them or make money in the United States. <S> If you visit the U.S for a business venture, conference, meeting, trade show, exhibition, sales, etc. <S> you will receive no salary, or income from a U.S. based company, source or entity. <S> Source: CBP Website <S> Further, there is a page on the CBP website which deals specifically with trade imports. <S> They both state the same - there is dedicated allowances for the temporary import of goods specifically for exhibition, display or sample purposes. <S> On the CBP Form 6059B (PDF) (the blue declaration form), it specifically states for Visitors (non-residents): <S> Keep in mind its better to be safe as missing <S> something due to confusion can be interpreted as deception by omission. <A> "If you are a visitor (non-U.S. Resident), print the total value of all goods (including commercial merchandise) you or any family members traveling with you are bringing into the United States and will remain in the United States." <S> Sample Customs Declaration Form <S> You say "all items will be taken back with me" so those items are not items that "will remain in the United States". <A> The items, worth only $500, are probably no big deal, unless you have a whole bunch of identical items that look like they could be sold. <S> That's a customs issue. <S> However the tools could be an issue. <S> Assuming you don't have a work permit, how do you intend to explain the need for tools? <S> I suggest leaving them at home.	Declare the value of all articles that will remain in the US As you will be taking the samples back, you do not need to declare their value; however, I would tick "I have commercial goods" (#14) just to be safe.
Free street parking in Montreal I'm looking for free street parking in Montreal near to city center. I found this website and there are 4 payment zones. So if I park on the selected street, will it be free of charge? <Q> Not completely. <S> Most of the street is non-stopping. <S> Part of it is not paid because it is reserved for those with a residence permit. <S> There may be a few free spots in between but those are rather limited around the Montreal downtown area. <S> There is also a moment, usually an hour or so, some days when parking is not allowed along the whole street, so you cannot park for free over extended periods. <S> Generally, Montreal parking is paid around the center of the city from 9 am-9 pm weekdays and 1-6 pm on weekends. <S> This gives you free parking the rest of the time. <S> A portion of what is left of the city center is reserved for residents, usually the whole day, but there are many areas where it is reserved for part of the day or night only. <S> Unfortunately parking rules in Montreal are rather complicated and you may have up to 3 signs applying different rules to the same side of a street block. <A> On the stationnement de Montreal site, When you zoom on the map: "NOTE : <S> les zones non colorées sont <S> tarifées à 1 $ / h." <S> There are some free spots here and there, but hard to find. <S> have a look at Parkopedia <S> I used this zip code, H2L 3T9 to center around where you are looking for. <S> (click on the "street" button at the bottom) <S> There doesn'T seem to be a lot of free space for the whole day. <S> I always suggest finding a paid parking garage spot as a plan B. <A> I wrote this blog post and built a map to find free parking in Montreal . <S> It is mainly downtown for now <S> but the map can be edited by anybody a la Waze. <S> There is a free spot just nearby on rue Robin between St André et Labreque https://www.spotangels.com/#id=296811059&address=941%20Rue%20Robin%2C%20Montr%C3%A9al	According to the the site, it is not free, at best it is 1$/hour at worse it is reserved for resident.
What are the most important things to do when preparing to leave home for an extended period? I'm going to be traveling out of the country for about 2 months, and I don't want to forget anything important as far as preparing my home to sit vacant during that time. I own my home. I know I should arrange for mail holding/forwarding, and should make sure my lawn is kept. What else should I be considering to help ensure that I can rest easy while I am away? <Q> Snow removal. <S> Nothing says uninhabited like snow piling up with no path to the entrance or garage. <S> It really helps to have VOIP that you can access from the same number around the world. <S> Lower your heaters to a little above freezing in order to reduce cost but avoid pipes to burst from cold. <S> You can suspend services such as internet but not really necessary for only two months. <S> Disconnect any devices that do not need to be running while you are away as a safety measure. <S> Do backups of all your digital assets and store them in two locations, one of which should be off-site. <S> This is true even if not travelling but it is a good time to remember to backup everything and make sure they are safe from the potential of losing your home to fire and possibility of theft. <S> Depending on where you live, you may still get stuff packed into your mailbox - mostly unaddressed stuff - even with mail retention, so place a No flier sticker on the mailbox and ask someone to pick up anything that is left there about once a week. <S> Although 2 months should not be a problem, it is best if you park your car with the hood facing outside so that you can get a boost for your car from its parked position. <S> Some people disconnect the battery when away for several months. <A> My advice, including some professional advice from my career as an insurance professional: Have someone pick up your mail regularly, at least every couple of days, if your mail is delivered right to your home <S> or you get flyers and newspapers delivered there. <S> Have someone take care of the yard. <S> Keep lawns mowed; remove snow and ice in the winter, soon enough after snowfall that it's not obvious that you're not home. <S> Timers can be used to make lights come on and off at sensible times in the evening to make it look like people are home. <S> Turn off the water in the home, at the main shutoff valve, in case of a pipe leak. <S> If you live in an area that gets freezing temperatures, have someone check your home daily to ensure that the heat is working, or have a centrally monitored security system present with a temperature sensor. <S> If you don't, your coverage for water escape due to freezing could be suspended. <S> (Check with your property insurer.) <S> Clean out the fridge and remove all trash and recycling before you go, to prevent odours and general unpleasantness. <S> Ensure all doors and windows are properly closed and locked, especially ones you don't often use. <S> It's easy to forget to properly close them. <S> You may want to disconnect expensive electronics from AC power, in case of a lightning strike or power surge. <S> Turn off your water heater. <S> Most water heaters have an "away" or "vacation" mode you can set, that will consume less natural gas or electricity. <S> Also consider shutting off the water intake into your water heater, because water heaters are prone to rupture, especially in areas with certain water conditions. <S> The less water available, the less mess will arise. <A> In winter, leave the heating on a low setting. <S> Leave a couple of lights on timers, for the same reason.	To minimise risks you could: Turn off the heating and the main water stop tap. Take as many valuables as you can out and put them in a safe location or an actual safe. Update your alarm, banks and credit card companies on your travel plans with up to date contact info and a local trusted person to contact for emergencies with the home. Ask a neighbour to remove any newspapers or circulars left stickingout of the mail box/slot, which would show that the house is empty.
I bought a flight ticket, but now I have a health issue which specifically forbids me to take flights. Can I get a full refund? I bought a plane ticket from Turkish Airlines, 2 months before the flight. Then I went to the doctor, and the doctor said I have a health problem, which specifically forbids me to take flights for one month. I have a valid doctor's note too. I can document this in any valid type. Does it makes me eligible for a full refund? <Q> The conditions of carriage for your ticket do not include a provision for a refund in this case. <S> Though there is a provision (3.2.1.3) to extend the validity of your tickets if you can't travel due to illness, but it only applies if you get sick once your trip starts. <S> However, many airlines will make accommodations in such situations as a customer service gesture. <S> If they aren't able to do so, you might ask for a supervisor to see if they can make an exception. <S> If their policy forbids a refund (airlines are generally quite reluctant to ever refund non-refundable tickets), they may be able to provide a lesser remedy, such as allowing you to reschedule the flight without paying a change fee. <S> If that fails, you could contact a travel advocacy journalist like Christopher Elliott to see if they can get anywhere with the airline. <S> His site also has contact information for Turkish Airlines management (see advice on writing for help ), who would be the final word on what the airline will do in this situation. <S> If you have travel insurance, this may be a reason for a claim as well. <A> As the accepted answer says, your airline doesn't have a policy to provide refunds in that case, but you may be able to get one with a personal approach. <S> In the event you don't succeed, you can still get a refund on airport fees and taxes. <S> In low cost tickets (which nonrefundable ones generally are), these can amount to half the cost. <S> Don't settle for this, though, only as a last resort. <S> A medical condition is a very strong reason for a full refund. <A> Speaking from experience, although only one particular case. <S> My father-in-law was planning to visit us in UK from Georgia, flying with Turkish Airline. <S> About a week before the planned trip, he was admitted to hospital in relation to a previously undiagnosed heart problem - and he was actually still in hospital on the day of the planned travel. <S> The ticket was a non-refundable, non-exchangeable, etc, etc. <S> (i.e. the cheapest possible). <S> With a note from the hospital, the airline agreed to refund the actual price of the ticket, but not the taxes and airport fees, as they don't control those. <S> In our case, it was about half the ticket price. <S> The remainder of the costs (i.e. taxes, fees, etc.) were covered by his travel insurance (minus USD $25 deductible). <S> All in all, we lost about $25 out of about $400 cost of the ticket - better than losing everything. <A> In this situation it will be especially important to have a note written from the doctor. <S> Typically there is a processing or cancellation fee <S> so don’t expect a full refund. <S> You might be better able to pursuade them to give you a credit that you would have to use within the year. <S> When you call the airline, the first person you will speak to usually doesn’t have the authority to do anything beyond the standard policy. <S> If you are hoping to make the cancellation and get a refund or a credit, you will likely have to escalate to a manager. <S> I encourage you to be kind as you will likely get a better result.	You can contact the airline, explain the situation, tell them you have a doctor's note, and politely ask if they can grant a refund.
1.5-hour connection time for an international flight from Vancouver (YVR) to Sydney (SYD) through San Francisco (SFO) My partner (Australian) and I (American) are visiting Canada and the US in October. Our last flight back home involves either a 4.5-hour layover in LAX or a 1.5-hour layover in SFO. Both options are single ticket through either Delta (LAX) or United (SFO), United being the flight with a 1.5 hr layover. I am more than sure that the 4.5-hour layover will be overkill, as I will go through immigration quickly and he should be a bit quicker, as he will be able to use those kiosks for non-residents who have visited the US in the last 5 years (we will have just spent 2 weeks there prior). Still, 1.5 hours ins't a lot of time. My questions are: Are we required to go through immigration/customs for an international to international flight? Is 1.5 hours enough time? <Q> Usually you would both have to go through immigration, since the US does not recognize the concept of sterile transit. <S> This includes collecting and rechecking your bags. <S> However, @ZachLipton correctly points out that YVR is a preclearance airport, meaning you will complete this in Canada before your flight to SFO. <S> On paper the minimum connecting time for international to domestic/intl is 80 minutes, so if you have already checked into your connecting flight and have no bags, it's technically feasible (especially with the preclearance) but uncomfortably tight. <S> However, since you're connecting to a flight to Sydney, if you miss it you'll be stuck for a minimum of 24 hours waiting for the next one, since all flights to Australia leave around the same time. <S> So I'd strongly encourage you to play it safe and take the 4.5 hr connection. <A> Almost all flights from Vancouver to the US go through preclearance, which means you will arrive in San Francisco as a domestic flight, without any special procedures. <S> And departing international flights in the US are procedurally identical to departing domestic flights, as the US has no exit checks; you simply walk onto the flight from inside the terminal just like a domestic flight (sometimes gates for departing international and domestic flights are next to each other with no difference in appearance). <S> So basically this is no different from a domestic-to-domestic connection. <S> Depending on which terminals your flights are arriving and departing from (you have not provided enough information to tell), you may have to leave the secured area and re-enter security. <S> In that case, you should leave extra time for the wait in the security line. <S> 1.5 hours is probably enough if there is no delay in the first flight, but it is cutting it close if there is any delay. <A> If it's two United flights, then all you need to do is walk to the next gate, nothing else involved. <S> The Sydney flight will leave from the international terminal, which is connected to United's Terminal 3. <S> That could take more than 5 minutes (a ~3,500 ft walk, with some moving sidewalks, is the worst case scenario if they're as far apart as possible), but you won't have to go through immigration/customs or security or handle your checked bags or anything else at SFO. <S> Delta does not fly from SFO to Sydney, but if you're flying Delta into SFO, you'd need to change terminals to reach any flight to Sydney, which will take more time and mean you need to go through security again. <S> 1.5 hours should be sufficient if your flight is not significantly delayed, but it, as jpatokal points out, only leaves so much margin for delays before connecting to a flight that leaves once every 24 hours. <S> If your flight from Vancouver is sufficiently late, you'll likely be waiting until the next day for another flight. <S> Whether or not that risk is acceptable to you is up to you, based on your need to be in Sydney that day. <A> One more problem: <S> SFO has a fog problem--their main runways are too close together for instrument flying rules. <S> Visibility drops, the airport capacity gets cut in half. <S> Generally 90 minutes is fine for a connection at SFO, but twice now (out of maybe 20 connections) <S> I have arrived more than 90 minutes late due to fog. <S> (The first time we just barely caught our flight, the second time I knew better and was on an earlier flight, the recommended flight landed after we were already sitting on the second plane.) <S> Thus I will not book a connection that short at SFO, period.	You will have to go through US immigration/customs in Vancouver (all passengers do, even for international-to-international connections in the US), so be sure to arrive at the airport extra early.
Seeing Northern Lights in Scotland Northern lights are apparently visible in Scotland according to numerous websites. While locations do vary, most seem to say that northern lights are visible pretty much anywhere in the country. What they do not say is how often are they visible. Suppose I am looking to visit Scotland 6-7 weeks after the fall equinox to coincide with the November new moon, what are the chances that northern lights would be visible some nights from Scotland? I will gladly adjust my location within the country accordingly, if some places are more likely to see this phenomenon. Thus the question is: How likely is one to see the northern lights in Scotland between the end of October and mid November? Also, where within Scotland would the likelihood be greater? <Q> Go as far north as possible, to a remote location away from city lights. <S> Wait for a period of strong solar activity and a clear night (neither predictable more than a few days in advance, unfortunately), and expect to see only a faint coloured haze above the horizon. <S> If you want to see the ribbons of light arcing through the sky you need to be north of the Arctic Circle. <A> The thing you need to understand is that the Aurora Borealis tends to occur in an oval over the North Pole. <S> Based on how strong is the aurora (KP number), the further south the aurora will be visible. <S> Take a look at a KP number chart, such as here , you will see that a fairly strong aurora, KP-5, is required to see the aurora in the northernmost UK, while a much weaker KP-2 aurora will be visible in Iceland, where they are fairly common in winter. <S> This means that auroras in Scotland will be fairly rare and unimpressive. <S> You will have much better luck in Iceland or northern Scandinavia. <S> Last winter, I saw the aurora in Alaska here in the USA. <S> We were in an about comparable viewing situation as Iceland. <S> We were there for 4 nights, which were KP-1 and 2 <S> and we were able to see the aurora only one of those nights. <S> Those same nights, you would have seen nothing in the UK. <A> I've spent many years looking at the sky in the UK and never seen even a hint of green on the horizon. <S> Often there's a report of a high KP number but the sky will be overcast. <S> Scottish weather is notoriously prone to cloud <S> One way you can improve your chances is to take an aurora-spotting flight. <S> These are fairly regular in the UK and fly north of the mainland, above the cloud. <S> One company offering these is Aurora Flights , Omega Breaks also offer them - never been on one <S> so I'd check with Trip Advisor before booking	You really need to be as far north as possible and get fairly lucky.
Where do you store your luggage in Dutch intercity trains? I'll be travelling from Amsterdam airport to Rotterdam and I was wondering where do you actually store your luggage in these trains? The only experience I have with trains in Europe was with TGV's but since they cover a large distance, there were luggage racks present in the train. I've never really took local trains in Europe before and certainly not in the Netherlands so although it may sound like a very basic questions, I would still like to know if anybody here has traveled in these Dutch intercity trains before and can advice me where I can put my large 30kg suitcase that I'll be travelling with? Are there any sort of luggage racks in the back of the coach like in TGV's? Would it be a better idea to purchase tickets in the first class to avoid rush and get space to store my stuff? <Q> There are basically two types of intercity train in The Netherlands: Single and Double deck. <S> The Single deck type has overhead luggage racks, these may be big enough to fit your suitcase. <S> Intercity Direct (running between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Brussels) also has luggage racks near the entrance of the carriage. <S> The Double deck type has small overhead bins on the lower floor only, but these won't be big enough for a 30 kg suitcase. <S> Some Double deck trains have seats in the entrance hallway, either foldable or full size. <S> If you sit here, you won't have to haul your luggage through the narrow gangway, and up or down the stairs. <S> In both Single and Double deck types, it may be possible to store luggage between seats, but it depends on the seat configuration. <S> Seats positioned back to back will have room between them. <S> Trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam can be crowded, and leaving your luggage in the aisle, or worse, on seats, will not make you very popular. <A> You will occupy some extra seats, but often it is not a problem (and if it is very crowded, just put the baggage in the aisle, the people will probably standing in aisle). <S> Schiphol to Rotterdam is a short travel, and just few stops (if any). <S> I never used first class, but there you will have some more place. <S> Just if the train is crowded, it will be difficult to find the right wagon. <S> Alternatively, you may choose the Thalys (an high speed train, similar to TGV). <S> The reservation is like TGV (or flights). <S> Personally for such short travel, I would choose the first train to Rotterdam, without booking a specific train in advance (this will just add stress in case of delays). <A> There are no dedicated luggage areas in Dutch intercity trains. <S> Some trains have seats which are back to back <S> and you can store your luggage between the seat backs. <S> Some have a bit of space with the seat(s) at the end of the carriage. <S> But in most you are restricted to the racks above the seats, which have very little space in double decker trains and not a lot in single level ones. <S> You can bring you luggage into the area with the seats <S> but if at all possible do not leave it in the aisle, as that will block people passing. <S> An other No is leaving your cases near the door and sit somewhere else as some luggage thieves are around. <S> There are often some seat with more space near the doors.	It depends on the train type, but usually it is allowed to bring your baggage with you, and keep it near your sit.
How to get to Ireland without using a plane or a ship? I wonder if there is any way to travel to an island (in my case: Ireland) without taking a plane or a boat. My sister claims to be frightened of both, so is there a way for her to get there? <Q> Sorry, the only practical way to get to Ireland is a ferry or airplane ride. <S> Both are relatively short: the plane ride is about an hour and the fastest ferry from Holyhead to Dublin takes about two hours. <S> You will have to choose between visiting this beautiful island and some travel inconvenience. <S> Keep in mind; it's only a relatively short trip (from England) and many thousands of people do travel to Ireland every single day without any problems. <A> If she won't fly (I assume a chartered helicopter is as out of the question as fixed-wing aircraft; they're more dangerous), and she won't ride in a boat, there is only one way left, and I intend this answer with all seriousness, not as a joke: swimming. <S> The water is too deep to permit wading, and there are no bridges between Great Britain and the island of Ireland. <S> (One can get to the island of Great Britain by train from the mainland of Europe, but this has only been possible since the 1990s.) <S> She simply won't be able to go unless and until a bridge is built, and while this is a technical possibility, it is not on any government's radar at the moment and these projects tend to take many years to fund, design and build. <S> It seems unlikely that a trip to Ireland by land transport will be possible until at least the 2030s. <S> These people have swum the North Channel between Ireland and Great Britain, but they seem all to have been swimming specialists in extraordinary physical condition, so it is not a journey for the faint of heart - and assuming she doesn't intend to live out her days in Ireland, it would require a return journey via the same method. <A> If parachuting is allowed, there are two options: a human cannonball (although the world record distance is only about 200 feet or about 60 metres; or by catapult, when an altitude of 300 feet or 90 metres has been achieved. <S> But more seriously, the most feasible means of transport are by airship or hot air balloon. <A> There are several companies offering chartered helicopter trips, e.g. https://www.atlashelicopters.co.uk <S> An initial quote from them for flying London -> <S> Dublin is about 7000 GBP, for two passengers. <S> The price is heavily dependent on the time, and this particular stretch would be roughly ~2 hours. <S> You can cut down on costs by finding a helicopter company closer to Ireland. <S> There used to be a hovercraft route to Isle of Man however, but this has been replaced by catamarans. <S> The only active hovercraft route in the vicinity is by Hovertravel and goes between Portsmouth and Isle of Wight <S> https://www.hovertravel.co.uk/ <S> For getting to England, you can go by tunnel from mainland Europe (train, car, bus...). <A> In principle, you could also charter a submarine or other submersible craft. <S> But it would probably be even more expensive than chartering a hovercraft. <A> Rent, buy or hire a hovercraft ferry. <S> There are some services in the UK that offer hovercraft vehicles. <S> One such company is (linked just as an illustration, no endorsement implied): http://www.griffonhoverwork.com/usedhovercraft <A> Obviously, it is possible to swim . <A> You could travel to the Republic of Ireland by crossing the land border with the United Kingdom. <S> Unfortunately, this would require either already being in, or travelling by boat or aircraft to, Northern Ireland. <A> 1) Learn to SCUBA dive. <S> (You want to be deep enough you remain underwater even when the trough of a wave passes over.) <S> 2) Make the crossing by use of dive torpedoes. <S> You'll need a support ship because you'll need several to make the trip, not to mention air tanks. <A> Water ski <S> The question doesn't explain why boats cause fright. <S> If it's about being in control of the circumstances, then water skiing may offer a feeling that being on a boat doesn't. <S> Crossings between the UK mainland and Ireland are 12 to 50 miles long . <S> Such a crossing would be feasible given the right equipment and a moderate amount of experience. <S> [Thanks to PLL for the suggestion.] <A> Perhaps if you get lucky, you could board a passing by iceberg that may be floating by caused by global warming (if you believe such things). <S> Icebergs can be many miles in diameter and would not likely cause sea sickness. <S> You will have to construct some sort of apparatus to drive it over to Ireland though. <S> Or if you two are patient, you could wait a few hundred million years and hope the tectonic plates will eventually connect you to Ireland. <S> Maybe there will be a bridge before then though if you can't manage to live that long.	There are also many Hovercraft companies both in Ireland and England that could possibly allow chartering a trip between the islands, however for traveling over the open seas a large high capacity hovercraft would be required, and as there are no active routes catering to many persons, this would be very expensive. Ireland is an island and there are no tunnels or bridges (or any other means) that would be suitable for cars, buses or trains.
Transferring from a Schengen country to the UK (which is a non Schengen country) at Schiphol I'm planning to take a flight from Milan (Italy) to Aberdeen (UK), with one stop at Schiphol. Both flights are operated by KLM and I have 1h25m available to change planes, I'm only carrying an hand luggage and it seems from their website that I have to go through passport check (since I don't have a passport I'll be using my ID card which is valid for travels inside the EU) but not security again. Is the above correct? Is 1h25m enough to change planes? <Q> Passengers who arrive at Schiphol from a country with trusted airport security do not have to pass through transfer security. <S> This includes all EU countries. <S> You'll need to pass through the Schengen outbound border control, but that is quick and painless for EU nationals. <S> 1h25 will be plenty if your inbound flight is not too much delayed. <A> KLM wouldn't sell the ticket if they didn't think it was possible. <S> Below is from their website about transferring at Schiphol. <S> It should take you about 40 minutes. <S> Although time might be added for outbound border control. <S> This is usually pretty quick from my experience travelling to the UK while connecting in Europe. <S> The standard transfer time at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to a flight within Europe is 40 minutes and 50 minutes for an intercontinental flight. <S> If you are travelling to/from Schengen and non-Schengen countries, you should count on having to go through additional security checks and customs inspections. <S> These can substantially extend the time it takes to complete your transfer procedure. <S> If you do not make your next flight because of a lack of time, you will automatically be booked on another flight. <S> Your baggage will be relabelled and you will not have to retrieve it or check in for the new flight. <S> Your new flight details can be retrieved and you can print out your new boarding pass at a kiosk. <S> KLM website <A> 50 minutes is the minimum connecting time (MCT) at Schiphol Airport. <S> Having said that, 1h25m is sufficient and You should be fine as long as your inbound flight is not delayed. <A> I recommend you to have a biometric passport: it really speed up all passport queues, and it helps you go to other countries. <S> So if you think in future you need it, try to have it also for this travel. <S> I think 1h25 is usually enough: Schiphol is a convenient airport for transit. <S> I think in 15/20 minutes <S> normal walk <S> you can reach all gates from any gate (worst case). <S> For European flights, gates usually closes 10/15 minutes before departure time. <S> So you still have enough time for passport control and shopping. <S> But last week I had a similar situation (1:35 minutes), and because delays on first flight, I was denied to board on the second flight. <S> So be prepared to go to a transfer desk and get a new flight.	The standard transfer time at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to a flight within Europe is 40 minutes and 50 minutes for an intercontinental flight.
Online boarding passes for Star Alliance connecting flights I booked a trip from Canada to India. I started on Air Canada and transferred to Lufthansa. A day before I left I selected my seats, checked in online and obtained my boarding passes, all through Air Canada's online check-in UI. However, leaving India, starting on Lufthansa and transferring to Air Canada, I can check in on Lufthansa but I am unable to check in on Air Canada through Lufthansa's UI. Is something wrong with my trip? Or does Lufthansa simply not support it? <Q> Probably everything is fine. <S> (I'm not sure if this works with Lufthansa's Amadeus code -- I believe AC has their own codes -- but you should be able to either find this in the booking confirmation or on checkmytrip.com. <S> [EDIT: <S> Since you checked in on AC for the outgoing flight, this would be the same code.]) <S> It might be that this is only possible XX hours prior to the departure of the AC fight. <S> Another option is that AC wants to do some document check before handing you your boarding pass. <S> In either case, I wouldn't be too concerned (as long as you have all required documents/eTA/...) <A> Given the flight time from India to Germany, this is probably a timing issue: the check in is not open for the AC flight at the time when you check in the LH flight. <S> I can guarantee that LH supports (some) interline check in with AC: I connected to AC in FRA from a European LH flight last month and had no problem with LH checking me in the AC flight and producing <S> (electronic) boarding passes for all my flights, including AC flights. <S> Of course the LH check in was much closer to the time of departure of my later connecting AC flight. <S> I’ve had some issues when the connecting flight is on another day as the departing flight (overnight stay on a single reservation), although travelling to Europe and connecting on the next day after the overnight flight has never been an issue. <A> There are some inconsistencies with the Air Canada checkin system. <S> Just last year I booked via Air Canada a trip of 21 flights, made of 9 non-stop and 6 pairs of connecting flights, so this happened sometimes that I could not check in through those that were connecting flights but everything was OK. <S> First, as you did try the AC site. <S> When you booked through them, that is the site that is most likely to work. <S> Be careful though because they sometimes give you more than one Reference Number (for my 21 flight trip, I had 3), so you have to use the right one at the right time. <S> All numbers were listed on the booking confirmation. <S> Checkin opens about 23 hours ahead of a flight. <S> When you have a very long flight followed by another, it is possible the next one is still more than 23 hours away, so checkin will not be available. <S> When you have a short and a long then, you may be able to check in one way but not the other because of this. <S> Sometimes they just can't do it. <S> Although this did not apply to Lufthansa on any on my segments, one AC followed by 2 GOL domestic connections forced me to check in manually at the counter in Brazil. <S> You mention seat selection which was even spottier throughout my itinerary. <S> I found that doing the selection via TAP Portugal was more success than others, even for non TAP flights (at least for those corresponding the the right reference number). <S> Also they do let you select seats that got ignored by the next airline which happened when I connected from TAP to Thai Airways. <S> This is compounded if you have airline status as some non-AC flight could see my level - and provide the privileges that come with it - but some did not.	You can try to check in on AC's website, there are cases where the checkin for each flight has to be done with the operating carrier.
Do Schengen visa officers check employment status for all applicants? I am 23, female, Indian, about to travel to Paris for a conference for 4 days. I am currently unemployed, but was employed until last month. I will be applying for a Schengen visa. Do you think it will be okay to write in the application that I am still employed, since I did get my salary until last month, so the documentation is good. Do the Schengen visa officers check the employment status for everyone? I think lying is never a good option, but I also think if I show that I am just unemployed last month and apply for a visa, they might think I am not planning to return. In reality, I resigned to study seriously for exams that will allow me higher education in India, but I don't have an admit yet, and I go to a coaching institute during weekends (I started going in February). But saying that I had this thought of resigning exactly before going to Paris sounds fishy I think. What should I do? My bank account has salary from my employer until a week ago, so just to reiterate, the documents seem perfect if I state that I'm still employed. I have travelled for conferences before in the past to Schengen countries as well as the UK and the US, only the US visa is valid at the moment. <Q> You are young enough that being "between stages of tertiary education" and thus technically unemployed is quite common. <S> It would be better if you were already accepted, but it is not necessary . <S> Going to a professional conference is a good thing, especially if it ties into your studies. <S> Previous Schengen visits are also good. <S> You could have overstayed then and didn't do it, that makes you appear a lower risk of overstaying. <S> A letter from your parents that you will return is completely worthless. <S> They cannot make you return, even if they tried. <S> If your parents provide the funding for your trip, you have to explain why they do it, and that the money is really a gift to you. <S> This is a "source of funds" matter, not an "intention to return" matter. <S> Tell the truth, make the application, make it clear that you have a well-planned itinerary and that you can afford the trip. <S> There is a risk that the application will be denied, but this is much less serious than getting caught in a lie. <A> Do the Schengen visa officers check the employment status for everyone? <S> You can never answer this question. <S> It totally depends on the officer but the important thing to note is that it's irrelevant. <S> But saying that I had this thought of resigning exactly before going to Paris sounds fishy I think. <S> This could sound fishy <S> but I don't think you have an option of concealing this information. <S> What should I do? <S> I would suggest you write a cover letter explaining your circumstances (your employment status) and also the conference invitation would put some weight on your application. <S> If you have a good travel history and stable bank statements then I don't think you should be bothered about your current employment status. <S> Just make sure you provide sufficient evidence that you have good ties to your home country <S> and you have every reason to go back to India after attending the conference. <A> I'm from India and have often received Schengen visas. <S> In your case, I believe its best to say you are unemployed in the form - in your covering letter, you can say (as a previous poster suggested) that you resigned from an earlier job. <S> The fact that you have previous schengen visas and a valid US visa will greatly strengthen your application. <S> Be sure to mention that in your covering letter. <A> Just say you are taking a break and apply. <S> Don't lie on the visa application. <S> Indian here as well. <S> Once the visa officers even called up my company (TCS) to check if I was working there despite having multiple Schengen visits and UK visits. <S> If you are from a smaller company, they'll certainly check. <S> I know it sucks with all the cancellation fees of flights, accommodation etc if a visa is rejected, but trust me lying is not worth it. <S> One of my visas was rejected by some racist officer from Malta. <S> But since I didn't lie, I was able to both complain to the EU Commission as well. <S> And the complaint helped me in the sense when I applied again to another EU country, shared the email chain, it went smoothly.	My bank account has salary from my employer about a week back so just to reiterate, the documents seem perfect if I state that I'm still employed. If they do indeed check and find out that you are lying then it's considered as deception and this could mean that you will not be granted a non-immigrant visa or an immigrant visa in the future.
From London to Rome by sea, land and air I need to get from London to Rome. I know there are direct flights, but, I wanted to take the opportunity to do a boat trip along the way. My general plan was taking a train from London to Dover, then a boat to Calais or Dunkerque, then a train to some airport in France, then a plane to Rome. But, I did not find an appropriate airport in France for this plan - all airports I checked required 3 of 4 trains and a very long land journey, which I would like to avoid. So, my question is: what is the way to do this trip, with the least land-travel? <Q> 3 or 4 trains from Calais or Dunkerque to a French airport? <S> Calais - CDG: quite a few options with a single change, either in Lille or in Paris Nord. <S> Note that you may need to leave from Calais Frethun rather than Calais Ville <S> (but you'll need a taxi to get from the ferry terminal to the train station anyway), and if via Lille, you may need to go from Lille Europe to Lille Flandres. <S> But there's at least one option for doing it in less than 2 hours. <S> Dunkerque - CDG: change in Lille, Paris or Arras. <S> Shortest: 2h16. <S> Not in France, but you can do Calais-Bruxelles National in 1h33 with a single change in Bruxelles-Midi. <S> Getting to Lyon St Exupery is surprisingly long (over 5 hours), but can be done with a single change. <S> There are other options like Strasbourg (a bit over 4 hours, 1 change), but there's no train station in the airport, so you need to get from the train station downtown to the airport. <A> I am not sure this is a great idea in general, but a practical route would be: London to Harwich ; train from Liverpool Street to Harwich International. <S> The train can be timed to meet... <S> Harwich to Hook of Holland - either a daytime or overnight sailing, takes 8-9 hours. <S> Hook of Holland to Schiphol Airport - in theory this is a train via Rotterdam, but the Hook of Holland line is closed until early 2019 . <S> There is a replacement bus to Rotterdam (~30m) <S> and then you can get regular fast trains to Schiphol (~30m). <S> Schiphol to Rome - for the random day in October <S> I checked, there were twelve flights to Rome Fiumicino, though the timing isn't always great. <A> Picking up on the mention of Sardinia in @skifans answer, you could fly from London to Sardinia, and get a ferry from there to mainland Italy. <S> For example Ryanair fly Stansted to Cagliari, from where you can get a ferry to Cittavecia. <A> Jersey airport on the channel islands is only a 15 minutes taxi from the docks. <S> However, it has very limited flights to the European continent, you'll likely need to change planes and likely by back tracking to the UK. <S> According to ferries ( https://www.directferries.co.uk/ferries_from_jersey_to_england.htm ) operate a daily services from Pole and Portsmouth. <S> And you will get a greater choice if changing in the UK. <S> Alternatively you could fly to the island of Sardinia by changing at Bern with Sky works, and then catch another ferry towords Rome. <S> You'll likely need another train/bus/taxi to get from the western Italy docks into Rome.	At time of writing there is a summer only Saturday Flybe flight to Zurich which arrives in time for the last Swiss flight down to Rome, always check for your exact dates of travel. You can get a combined "rail and sail" ticket from Stena Line which covers the train journeys as well as the ferry.
In US hotels, what happens if you skip checkout and just leave the hotel? Every time I check out of a hotel, they ask me if my stay went fine, let me review my incidental charges and ask if they should charge the credit card used to check in. But what if I simply walk out of the hotel without formally "checking out"? They have my credit card on file and these days you don't even have to return your room key if you want to keep a souvenir. Would it be rude and create more work for hotel employees? The question arose after spending 15 minutes in the check out queue at a major US hotel. <Q> At many hotels, particularly those affiliated with major chains, it's perfectly fine. <S> There's usually a box by the front desk to drop off the keys so they can be reused. <S> In some cases, there's an option to "check out" on the TV's interactive menu or the phone system, which lets them know you're done with the room. <S> Many hotels now can simply email you a copy of the bill as well. <S> For example, this express check-out feature is expressly stated as a member benefit of Hilton's rewards program. <S> If your hotel doesn't offer an express checkout scheme, I would find it rude to leave without checking out, yes. <S> They need to know when you're out of the room for housekeeping purposes. <S> If you just disappear, the staff may take extra time to contact you with a copy of your bill. <S> And while I've never had it happen to me, it's always possible some hotel manager will accuse you of staying past check-out time because you never checked out, and that's a bunch of trouble you don't want. <S> If you aren't sure about a particular hotel's policy, you can always ask when it's not busy. <S> Even if the hotel doesn't have a formal express checkout policy, when I've known I'd want to leave in a hurry in the morning, I've asked to "settle the bill" the night before, and they've arranged things to expedite my departure. <A> I've been traveling a lot for work lately, and I don't want to waste any time in the morning standing in line at check out. <S> In the morning, I'll just drop my key with the little paper holder that has my room number at the front desk, say "bye" and walk out. <S> No need to wait for "checkout". <S> I think it's polite to at least tell them you are leaving so that the hotel staff can start cleaning and be ready for the next guest, but if you don't need a receipt, then you shouldn't have to wait in line. <S> Once or twice I've accidentally left the key in the room on my way out, and then just tell the front desk clerk, "I was in room XXX <S> and I'm leaving, I left the key on the dresser". <S> US Hotels always make you pay in advance when you check in. <S> If you ask they can even print out a receipt for you at that time. <S> They do have your card on file and would add any incidental charges if needed, but I don't ever have anything to add (pay per view, room service, stolen or damaged property, etc). <A> Housekeeping reports back to the main desk when a room is empty (back in the 80s <S> when I was a desk clerk there was an automated system using the room phone), and it gets rented again. <S> Whether or not you checked out isn't actually the trigger. <S> Checking out puts the room on the cleaning list, it doesn't put the room on the rent-me list. <S> And in the mornings, by the time there's a queue at the desk for checkout (usually populated by tourists who rarely travel, not business travelers) <S> , housekeeping is working at full capacity, so actually checking out <S> doesn't really matter. <S> If you're checking out very early, then they'll probably clean the room early too, but then there's a clerk at the desk with no other guests to deal with. <S> At the hotel I worked at, the key point was around 3pm; housekeeping was finishing up, and then they'd have to check the rooms that were scheduled to check out that day, but housekeeping had reported occupied + cleaned before checkout time. <S> If they were empty, they got a fresh clean (pretty cursory) and then went on the rent-me list. <S> (The only time you'd get charged for a late checkout was if you actually checked out at the front desk after checkout time. <S> If you just left, we'd never know.) <A> You will simply get charged the pre-agreed amounts on the credit card you gave them when booking. <S> Many frequent-travellers don't check in or out - you get your electronic room key in the app, and just leave when you are done. <S> All major chains support something similar; I haven't visited any check-in/out desk for years. <A> One advantage of checking out at the counter is that it gives you an opportunity to receive a paper invoice and verify on the spot that the amount charged by the hotel corresponds to what you were supposed to pay. <S> Mistakes do happen -- once a hotel had added a $50 "valet parking" charge even though I don't own a car... <S> Probably it is still possible to dispute such charges after you have left the hotel and they have charged you for the stay, but <S> this is more complicated than fixing the error at checkout -- especially if you live abroad in a country where you can't easily dispute credit card charges. <A> This practice is very common in the US, since a credit card is taken at registration. <S> However, I have family members who, accustomed to US practices, attempted to pay at registration at a hotel in Scotland. <S> They were not allowed to do this; they then forgot to checkout the next morning. <S> They spent a night in jail in Scotland before things were sorted out!	It's common for such hotels to leave a copy of your bill under your door sometime during your last night (they'll later add any charges you incur in the morning, of course) with a note that you can simply accept the charges to your card on file by leaving.
USA passport with British residency permit. Can I use the EU passport line? I have a USA passport and a British residency permit. Is it allowed to use the EU passport line or must I use the all passport line? <Q> Your residency permit and passport themselves aren't enough to use the UK/EU line at most airports. <S> I've heard of some people at major airports being allowed to use the UK/EU line. <S> You can register as a registered traveller here , as a US citizen your US passport is eligible. <S> You won't have to fill out a landing card and can go through the EU/EEA/Swiss line (including ePassport gates) at some UK airports and train stations. <S> You can use the service at the following airports: Birmingham Bristol Cardiff East Midlands Edinburgh Gatwick Glasgow Heathrow London City Luton Manchester Southend Stansted <S> You can use the service at the following Eurostar terminals: <S> Brussels <S> Lille Paris <S> Registered traveller cost £70 and is valid for 12 months. <S> If you are unsuccessful in your application you are refunded £50. <S> There are some eligibly requirements here . <S> But if you travel to and from the UK a lot it's worth doing. <S> To renew it costs £50 after the first 12 months and £20 if you get a new passport while you have membership. <A> Unfortunately, the answer is that it depends. <S> There is some suggestion on this discussion board that at Manchester Airport, UK residents are allowed to use the EU queue regardless of citizenship, even in the absence of an EU citizen family member. <S> I wouldn't rely on that since it's a fairly old thread, but if the queue is very long for the all passports queue at your port of entry, there is no harm in asking a member of staff which queue you can use, making sure to point out your residency status to them. <A> Couldn't add this as a comment to MJeffryes: <S> I have an EU passport, my spouse has a US passport with a various UK residency permits/visas over the years. <S> After arriving at the front of a long non-EEA line at Manchester and being told we could have gone through the short EU line together, we both now go through whichever line looks quickest. <S> My spouse has also been though on their own in a UK/EEA line. <S> It's been fine at Manchester, Heathrow and Edinburgh. <S> Can't vouch for the "officialness" of this, if in doubt, just ask the border staff before you join a queue -- they may or may not know or be correct, but at least it's not your fault then!	It's well known that at many airports, family members of EU citizens are allowed to use the EU passports queue.
What is the best way to ensure a disabled, inexperienced passenger will receive suitable assistance on a trip from Windhoek to Europe? We have invited a young Namibian student to speak at a software conference in Cardiff, UK. There are various flight options, none of them direct. The young man walks with crutches, slowly, and finds it difficult to carry bags (a suitcase would be out of the question for him). He has never travelled by air before. I think the best option is to get him to Cardiff Airport (CWL) where we can pick him up easily, though there are other options (all also involve international transfers). My questions: Which airlines and airports have the best reputation for looking after disabled passengers (indeed are there any that are better avoided)? What information should I provide to the airline (and how) to ensure that he will get the assistance he needs? Is it possible or advisable to pay for additional assistance of this kind? (Likely airlines on the route include KLM via Amsterdam and Qatar via Doha - there are more options via other airports but at the moment I think the advantages of a Cardiff arrival are significant). An update : following advice received here, we booked the flights - WDH-AMS-CWL, which we selected because KLM and AMS are known quantities and the trip was shorter than alternatives. The traveller was assisted at each airport on the way and when he returned. He said he was looked after well, and the staff at the airports and the crew on the flights were helpful. He enjoyed the trip, and I feel much more confident now about organising something similar in the future <Q> He will be able to make it. <S> I have seen many people with disabilities travel alone <S> (I am a cabin crewmember) <S> Let's break it down into a few elements (considering that you are going to use a major airline and not a LCC): <S> Going to the airplane: <S> Many airports even provide golf carts free of charge . <S> All you have to do is to flag the reservation with a wheelchair request . <S> Again, you can do that with almost all airlines online without the need to call someone. <S> Luggage: <S> Usually the same person who comes with the wheelchair will take care of that. <S> In other cases, the airport itself will take care of that. <S> Moving inside the cabin: Crutches are allowed on-board, he can use them in case he needed to move during the flight. <S> I've also seen people who use crutches use the seat-backs instead to give them support until they reach the toilet. <S> However, if crutches are not an option due to small space, many wide bodied airplanes have a small cabin wheelchair, just inform him to ask the cabin crew. <S> Lavatories: <S> almost all airplane toilets are equipped with handles to support people with disabilities. <S> As for the "first time traveler" part. <S> There's nothing to worry about, really. <S> Airports have all kinds of signs, boarding passes can be obtained online, anyone with uniform will be able to provide support. <S> Cabin crew onboard will be more than happy to help, safety demonstrations are there. <S> He will be fine. <S> Make sure to book him a seat near the toilet and in the left side of the airplane (for easier boarding and deplaning), a seat behind a bulkhead (extra legroom) will be perfect. <S> Remember, seats at emergency exits will not be an option for him. <A> In addition to the other answers: make sure you minimize the number of connections make sure there is enough time for each connection <S> That probably leaves you with Qatar going through Doha. <S> KLM markets Amsterdam to Windhoek as a "direct" flight, but it actually stops in Luanda. <S> It appears to be the same aircraft continuing (which isn't always guaranteed) but he may have to get off the plane during the layover. <S> "Direct" has become a bit of a marketing ploy: some airlines just randomly combine two flight segments and give them the same flight number. <S> It's certainly NOT guaranteed to be non-stop and sometimes it's even a different aircrafts, different gates, different crews and there is no real difference to a regular layover. <A> I think most reputable airlines ( KLM , <S> Qatar in your question) will offer proper aid and services to person with mobility limitations. <S> They will have wheelchairs and personal to give assistance with luggage and everything from boarding, disembarking and/or transferring. <S> BUT You will need to ASK in ADVANCE for the special service.	Getting off the airplane: Once the reservation is flagged with a wheelchair request, there should be a wheelchair waiting at the arrival gate. almost all airlines/airports do provide free services for people who need help with moving.
For US airports, is there really a difference between printable boarding passes and mobile boarding passes? When checking in online today for an Air Canada flight, I was informed that my boarding pass had to be printed rather than shown on the screen, as AC doesn't support "mobile" boarding passes for that airport. However in theory there's absolutely no difference between a QR code printed on a piece of paper and one shown on a display. So if I rocked up to Las Vegas airport with just a "paper" boarding pass on my screen, would I really be refused entry by the TSA? In short, as of 2018 is there ever really a need to print a boarding pass in the US, regardless of what the airline says about it? <Q> Phone screens are not like printed paper, even if they seem similar to the naked eye. <S> A scanner for paper is designed to illuminate paper and read the reflection. <S> So the scanner could send a specific wavelength, and expect the same. <S> Phone screen could not deliver such wavelength (it must just have good R, G, B), but pretty free on how to choose the wavelength distribution. <S> Old scanner used in particular deep red or infrared. <S> Phone will not have infrared transmission on white. <S> Scanner could choose the intensity, but a phone reader not. <S> Additionally white on paper is continuous, but a phone screen is not, you will have lots of dark surfaces (especially if you filter e.g. only red). <S> It is above our eyes' resolution, so not a problem for us, but a scanner should have a signal filter, not to see such black, but still see the black dots. <S> In facts, I have had many more problems when scanning tickets on a phone (in general, not only at airports) than on paper. <S> Modern scanners have a camera and these cameras are much more sensitive (on low screen light), so the problem is disappearing. <S> So, it is risky. <S> If you have a "retina"-like phone, with many pixels, and a very bright screen, it will be less problematic, but with a cheap phone you may have problems. <S> On the other hand, good phones have better colour (and "LED" pixels), better colours means more saturated colours, so less wavelengths. <S> So it is your risk. <A> There is one reason I can imagine - if it is an international flight, they are required to check your documents to make sure you are allowed to enter the target country. <S> Many airlines do that by writing 'docs ok' or some other shorthand on the paper boarding pass (some use a stamp, <S> as once you know the method, you could just write yourself 'docs ok'). <S> With a online boarding pass, they cannot write that on the paper. <S> That could be the reason they require paper boarding passes. <S> I have seen the same with Lufthansa flights to Europe from Orlando and Newark; if you use the mobile boarding pass, they ask you for your documents (again) at the boarding door (more or less annoyed). <A> Yes. <S> Printable boarding passes work. <S> Phone boarding passes are unreliable, because they require you be logged into the airline "app" and that login expires for security reasons. <S> Or the user has to find his email. <S> Or the user cant get WiFi and for some reason the process to get that BP requires it. <S> Or the battery is flat. <S> On cell signal, airports are a relatively good case, since they are open, airy, spread out and on the surface. <S> I can tell you in the bowels of Union Station, cellphone signal isn't a possibility (which also means the free wifi on the train cars has no uplink). <S> Amtrak had not thought to extend wired WiFi (least of all free Wifi) to the platforms proper. <S> As it happened, I had the foresight to shoot a screencap of the boarding pass, and I switched to my photos app and presented the screencap. <S> Anyway, back to our airport. <S> You will have quite a lot of tech snafu's like this. <S> Forgetting their app password. <S> Frantically searching their emails. <S> Or their battery dying. <S> Or whatever. <S> People being peolle, this wont happen in the queue, it'll happen when they are talking to the agent. <S> And it really, reaally slows down the line. <S> To an airline, flow is money. <S> If you require printed tickets, all that is solved. <A> My guess would be simpler: paper is faster to scan during the boarding process. <S> TSA certainly isn't going to be the issue here, by the way <S> (they'll let you in; they probably don't know the individual airlines' policies, <S> at least the individual agent likely wouldn't); it's the gate agent who'd have the issue with it. <S> While much of the time phone screens are fine, sometimes they just don't scan; they take an extra 30 seconds to a minute sometimes to scan for people whose screens don't have sufficient contrast or brightness, or whose phones are overly smudged, or don't have it up when they get to the gate. <S> Paper will be faster on average, so they may well be simply disallowing them to speed boarding. <A> It doesn't answer the broader question, but at least in this instance Air Canada agrees that there isn't a difference: <S> Transcript of screenshot Q <S> : Is it necessary to print the boarding pass when departing Las Vegas airport to Vancouver? <S> Or can I just show it on my phone screen? <S> A: <S> Hello you may definitively have your eBoarding Pass on your cellphone. <S> /Alex <S> So its probably an issue with their site not being up to date. <A> It's Air Canada's aeroplane, so they get to make the rules about who is allowed on board. <S> If their rule is that you don't get on without a paper boarding pass, then you need a paper boarding pass if you want to fly. <S> (Other answers have explained why they might want to make such a rule). <A> For U.S. airports in general? <S> TSA won't care and likely hundreds of thousands of people go through TSA security with them every single day, including at LAS. <S> I've being going through TSA checkpoints with mobile boarding passes for years <S> and it's never been any trouble. <S> If there is any difference, it has nothing to do with US airports in general or TSA, but only Air Canada and possibly only Air Canada at that particular airport. <S> If there's any problem, it would be with Air Canada scanning your boarding pass at the gate to board, not with TSA scanning it to enter security.	No, there's no difference and mobile boarding passes are definitely supported.
Can I receive a package in Zurich airport while on transit? In a few weeks I will have a flight with few hours transfer in Zurich. I will have several hours and I can leave the transfer zone, it won't be enough to leave the airport though. Let's say I want to order something from an online shop located in Switzerland, is there any way to get it delivered to the airport so I could pick it up during my transfer? <Q> You can send it " Poste restante " to the Post office in the airport. <S> Just address it to: Mr or Mrs Firstname LastnamePoste <S> restante8060 Zürich <S> The Post Office is located in arrivals 3, and is open every day with pretty long hours (7h30-21h00 Monday-to-Friday, 8h00-21h00 Saturdays and Sundays). <S> Note however that this will probably work only if the parcel is actually sent by Post, and not through one of the alternative parcel delivery companies. <S> Some retailers and/or card issuers may also have a problem sending a parcel to a Poste restante address or an address not matching the card's billing address. <S> And of course you need to be sure the parcel gets there before you do (they will keep it for a month). <S> Of course, you need to be able to exit the airside, which means entering the Schengen Area if you're in transit between two non-Schengen flights, with all the consequences in terms of visa requirements. <A> This page from Swiss Post shows that the airport in Zürich has a post office with PickPost Service . <S> It's open 07:30-21:00 though, so not 24/7. <S> As @jcaron mentions PickPost is only available for Swiss residents. <A> This is a generic answer but one other option in these circumstances is to phone one of the hotels nearby (preferably with a shuttle bus to the terminal) and ask them if you can have a package delivered to their front desk. <S> Intimate that you’d leave a tip for this.	But among services mentioned in the airport post office page is "Receiving letter and parcels" so I guess Poste Restante could work.
Unable to charge HP NoteBook 840 G4 laptop while being overseas I work for a software company in the US. I decided to take some vacation time and fly back home (to one of the former Soviet countries). My manager asked me to grab a work laptop with me to perform some tasks remotely. I remember I was going home several years ago and got my personal laptop that time, and a simple adapter from US type outlets to European type (I guess they call it Type C or Type F). It was more than enough to use it. However, this time I'm having a really hard time to even launch my work laptop. Plugging in the power cord does nothing (the charge icon is not flashing, pressing the power button does nothing). I used a voltage checker and it showed normal voltage at the end of the cord, so the next suspicion I guess is either the battery has died, or I need some really special adapter to make this HP laptop work. Has anyone had this problem before specifically with HP brand? Any suggestions or pointers in the right direction are higly appreciated. Thanks a lot people! <Q> There's nothing in your pictures that indicates that they shouldn't work on a European grid. <S> I think you need to treat this exactly like any other instance of: <S> My laptop and/or its power brick died unexpectedly while I'm traveling . <S> Assuming your employer is not so large that they have an office (with local IT support) near you, typically the plan would be something like: <S> Call HP in the country <S> you're in and get the address of resellers or repair centres close to you who might be able to sell you a new (local) power brick. <S> Call your boss and get his/her blessing to buy that and expense it later. <S> (Also get them to find out if your company has any worldwide service agreements that cover the laptop). <S> When you're there, ask politely if you can plug your laptop into one of their supplies for a minute or two, to make sure it is the power brick rather than the laptop that's dead. <S> If it's the laptop, then you're in greater trouble. <A> Try a power outlet outside your room/hotel. <S> It is known that in several countries, namely Italy, the electric outlets in many famly/small chains hotels are only good enough to drive electric shavers or similar devices on purpose. <S> It already happened to me twice. <A> Thanks a lot people for your time and patience and advice. <S> All of you really tried to help me resolve my problem. <S> This is incredibly ridiculous, but the problem was not in the cord or adapter or any kind of hardware. <S> I called HP support center to figure what might have gone wrong. <S> It seems like I shut down the laptop before my flight, but <S> what (probably) happened is the laptop didn't shut down correctly, rather went to hibernate mode. <S> In this case (according to the HP support guy), the laptop won't charge at all (WHAT???) <S> from any sort of cord / wires / chargers. <S> In order to resolve this the user has to hold the power button on the laptop for 10 seconds. <S> Before he/ <S> she sees some light flashing on the keyboard then release this power button. <S> What is this: security feature? <S> Power saving feature? <S> Bug in the software? <S> God knows! <S> And I've been struggling with it several days. <S> Good thing that I didn't decide to replace the battery, for which in this specific HP model I would have to take the bottom cover out in order to get to the battery. <S> And in our company this is against the policy to dig inside assigned hardware (sealed), which might get us punished even with employee discharge :-)	Whilst it does not appear your case, it could also happen all your room outlets are broken.
Can you sneak into Premium Economy Class? People ask whether they can sneak into business or first, it's virtually impossible. But what about sneaking into Premium Economy Class? What if I stand at the end of the boarding line, and just sit in an empty Premium seat (that I know is empty because everyone else boarded)? If they ask for boarding pass, I'll just say I threw it out after passing gate. They don't keep a name-list or seat-list Premium Economy right? <Q> These are either paper printouts or viewed on handheld devices carried by the cabin crew. <S> They will not be fooled by your claim that you threw out your boarding pass. <S> And they know you have ID with you, so they can always find out where you're supposed to be based on your name. <S> On some airlines, such as American , the crew is instructed to verify that passengers haven't upgraded themselves to premium economy by checking the manifest. <S> They'd see that you're sitting in a seat that's supposed to be unoccupied. <S> Some airlines may even allow you to purchase the seat on-board. <S> It may be possible on some airlines if enforcement isn't strict, but if the seat comes with more than just extra legroom (food, drinks, etc...), it's even more likely that you'll be caught. <S> You could also find that the seat isn't really empty, as others may still board after you even if you're at the end of the boarding line, including standby passengers. <S> With industry-wide load factors at high levels, there's a good chance that seat may belong to someone else, and you won't know until the aircraft door is closed. <A> I've been contracting for a major Australian airline. <S> I've seen the app the crew uses. <S> It has a manifest of every passenger in every class, names and notes. <S> They most certainly know which seats are supposed to be empty, sorry ;) <S> (also it might cause a note to go against your name once they spot you) <A> It may be possible if your are lucky, but don't count on it. <S> As already answered by Zach, airlines very well do know who should sit where. <S> The question is if they always check, and in which detail. <S> Case in point: A budget airline I travelled with recently has different "classes" even within economy. <S> Specifically, bringing checked baggage and getting a snack are extra. <S> We booked late and got seats in different rows. <S> After boarding was complete, I noticed the seat next to my wife was empty, so apparently the person who had booked it didn't show up. <S> I changed to there in order to sit next to my partner. <S> 20 minutes later, stewardesses go through the cabin with a paper and hand out snacks to selected passengers. <S> We booked without (weekend trip, hand luggage was enough), but I received a snack, most likely because I was sitting in a seat that had booked the higher package. <S> They didn't check boarding passes or anything, just seat numbers. <S> The crew will see the seat is booked, see that someone is sitting there, and if the gender matches, will probably not question you. <A> They don't keep a name-list or seat-list Premium Economy right? <S> Wrong. <S> It's worth watching what the cabin staff does and talks about during the boarding and take-off preparation. <S> One of the things that you can't overlook when you sit in front of a (smaller) plane is passing the passenger manifest by the ground staff to the on-board crew. <S> This is pre-requisite to complete boarding. <S> It might be handled through apps in some airlines these days but it has to be passed and confirmed for the plane to close its doors. <S> Then the crew discuss what kind of "special" passengers do they have and how many of them . <S> Usually premium is handled by a different part of a crew, so they'll be fully aware which seats should be empty. <S> I remember overhearing a discussion like "we have two infants, 5 premium and 3 business on-board today" when I was sitting in the back of a plane. <S> Finally, the premium economy usually has some kind of complimentary meals even on a short-haul flights. <S> On long-haul the meal offered is of a better kind than that served in Economy. <S> Those are also carefully counted so it will be obvious that something is wrong. <S> I have also personally witnessed once a person to be pushed from a premium to economy seat (she was evidently trying to "upgrade" her flight the way you describe) <S> and once a person being requested to get back to theirs seat within Economy. <S> So apparently crews are cautious about such things. <S> All the flights I'm referring here happened within Europe, on-board of different airlines though. <A> Several years ago on United, I asked a flight attendant if I could move from my full row to the empty middle row behind me. <S> Apologetically, she said the crew tries to keep that row for themselves, but I could move forward to a less-full row (she specified which one). <S> It was only after I was seated in that new row that I realized it was a minor upgrade. <S> A different flight attendant "caught" me in the row, made me move out of it, and was rather nasty to me for the rest of the flight.	Airlines certainly keep a passenger manifest ( it looks something like this ) that lists everyone on board and where they are supposed to be seated. So if you manage to sneak into a seat that was book but ends up empty, you may have a reasonable chance of not being noticed. You'll be asked for your boarding pass if someone else shows up to claim their seat.
Is the "FirstOntario Centre" "in Toronto"? There's a real confusion with the fractal dimension of major world urban centers: say you live in Williamstown, Victoria. If you're talking to someone who is also there in that major urban area , of course you would not say "I live in Melbourne". You'd distinguish. But if talking to someone from Japan , you'd just say "Well I'm from Melbourne!" ("Mate!") It would be absurdist to mention "Williamstown". So, New Jersey and Brooklyn and Connecticut don't exist to 99.999% of the world, they're just part of "New York". Is the FirstOntario Centre in Toronto? If you live in Toronto, do you "go to concerts at the FirstOntario Centre"? If I'm going to a concert at the FirstOntario Centre, should I fly "to Toronto"? Should I "stay at a Toronto hotel"? Is this FirstOntario Centre thing emotionally and urban-center wise a feature of Toronto? Or it really more of a separate thing - like Dallas / Fort Worth, say? Or is it "actually" part of somewhere else? (Buffalo? Chicago?) <Q> The FirstOntario Centre is in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, not Toronto. <S> I've never lived in Hamilton, so I don't know how people talk about it there. <S> It used to be called the Copps Coliseum, and was originally built to try to attract an NHL team to Hamilton. <S> Hamilton is a city about 70km west of Toronto. <S> As for your other questions, depending on where you are coming from, you would not necessarily want to fly in to Toronto to go to a concert at the FirstOntarioCentre, (Buffalo might be cheaper, for example) and you would most likely want to stay in Hamilton at least for the day/night of the concert itself. <S> Wikipedia has more information about it here: FirstOntario Centre . <A> It is not even part of the Greater Toronto Area , which I would use as the limit of areas that are not Toronto but that people might refer to as Toronto nonetheless. <S> If I lived in Hamilton and wanted to explain it to someone in Japan, I might say that I lived "near Toronto". <S> I live in Toronto and did not even know there <S> was a FirstOntario Centre, <S> let alone where it is. <S> Hamilton has its own airport with several commercial passenger carriers. <S> The main Toronto airport is relatively close, but Niagara Falls Airport, Buffalo, and London, ON airports are close enough that you might consider them. <S> (Which you probably wouldn't from Toronto.) <A> I live in Hamilton. <S> I usually tell people "I live in Hamilton, <S> that's near Toronto". <S> Assuming you're coming from outside of North America (Australia?), I would recommend flying into Pearson Airport in Toronto (YYZ). <S> It's a global airport with lots of flights. <S> Public transportation to downtown Hamilton is cheap and fairly easy (coach, travel time about 1 hour, about $13 CAD one-way, runs hourly for most of the day [ <S> e.g. maybe <S> not between 3 and 6 AM]). <S> Other options: <S> Buffalo Airport (BUF) may indeed be cheaper (although not necessarily from outside North America), but travel time is about 1.5 hour [plus a US/Canada land border crossing, which could add significant time if you're unlucky], and <S> last time I checked there weren't good public transport/shuttle options. <S> The Hamilton airport (YHM) is unlikely to be a good option from outside Canada; they handle mostly domestic flights, and taxi to downtown might cost more than the bus from Toronto. <S> Billy Bishop airport (YTZ) is a small airport in Toronto that serves North American routes only. <S> I've never heard of anyone flying into the London (Ontario) airport to get to Hamilton <S> (I've flown out of or into all of YYZ/YHM/YTZ/BUF in the last 8 years). <S> I'd be surprised if they had any flights from outside North America. <S> If you were coming for a longer visit and wanted to sightsee etc. <S> in Toronto, it wouldn't be insane to stay in Toronto and travel back and forth to Hamilton (about 1 hour by bus or train, although as others have commented it would probably be more expensive). <S> You could take taxis back and forth from Hamilton to Toronto but it would be very expensive (certainly more than $50 CAD).	No, Hamilton is not considered part of "Toronto".
European SIM card in US mobile phone I have traveled internationally with my mobile phone, but have always kept the SIM card from my US carrier (AT&T). As a result, I try to minimize my airtime when abroad: no phone calls, use WiFi whenever possible, etc. I am planning several, more extended, trips and am considering getting a local prepaid SIM when I arrive in Stockholm. I have an unlocked iPhone 6, so the SIM is removable. When I return to the US, I'll put my AT&T SIM back in, and keep the Swedish SIM for future travel. I'm aware that some prepaid plans are terminated after a period of inactivity. I will not have a fixed address in Europe, but I will have credit cards that can be used in Europe. I've looked at some of the related questions, but they all assume that one knows what they're doing... I don't! I am trying to avoid putting multiple questions here, but they're all closely related: I've never done this before; is this a complicated procedure -- or is what I've described even possible? Will this cause any issues for my US carrier (e.g., will they terminate my plan)? Obviously, I expect to be billed for my normal monthly plan. Although I am primarily interested in data, will I be assigned a Swedish phone number for local calls and SMS if needed? I assume that if someone calls/texts my US number, it will be the same as if the phone was turned off, and I'll get voicemail/texts when I return. Followup: I was able to purchase and use a prepaid SIM from Telia.se in my iPhone with minimal problems. I was assigned a Swedish mobile phone number, was able to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, and access the internet. Since I don't have a personnummer , I was unable to place international calls. This (mostly) wasn't a problem for me, since the whole point of the SIM was for in-country use. The only issue I had was that I was unable to call an International Freephone number from my mobile (which make sense, I guess). <Q> Nothing complicated about it. <S> You buy a prepaid SIM card, maybe get some vouchers to extend the validity and get more voice/data, turn off your phone, switch SIM cards, and reboot your phone. <S> Voilà, you have a Swedish number. <S> Meanwhile, if people call or SMS you on your US number, they won't be able to reach you. <S> Your provider will bill your plan as usual, and that's about it. <S> When you go back to the US you might get a bunch of SMS and missed call alerts. <S> Depending on the European supplier, you might be able to extend the validity of your prepaid card with recharges. <A> You'll also have to check that your phone isn't network-locked. <S> If you're paying for your phone as part of your monthly cell payments, then it might be. <S> A network-lock (sometimes called a SIM-lock) prevents your phone from registering (being used) on another cell network. <S> The easiest way to check (apart from asking your cell company), is to put a pay-as-you go SIM from another network in it (or even use a friend's SIM). <S> If the phone is network-locked, then the SIM won't work. <S> If it is locked, then you can ask your cell company to remove the network lock. <A> An annoying problem when removing your home SIM us that you won't get important messages. <S> I had two such issues, both credit card related: <S> I was notified by SMS that I reached 90% of my credit limit (long trip, lots of expenses). <S> I didn't see it, and when it reached 100% the card stopped working. <S> When buying online, my card issuer wanted extra authentication by sending me an SMS with a code. <S> So I quickly put my home SIM back in to get it. <S> But try doing this when buying using your local SIM data connection... <S> A dual SIM phone is the best solution. <S> A cheap GSM phone for your home SIM is also an option. <A> Yes, this is possible. <S> I do this with my unlocked US iPhone (at&t) <S> whenever I travel to my birth country in Europe. <S> On the plane I switch the SIM cards. <S> After arrival I add a small amount of money (~$10) to the EU prepaid SIM card. <S> From that company, I almost immediately get texts with special offers, for example, for $X get a certain amount of minutes, texts and data, and almost always the deal is very good. <S> Soon after that, a screen pops up asking if I want to make the new number the principal one (no!), and whether I want to add the new number to iMessages and FaceTime (yes!) <S> I make this trip every few months, which keeps the prepaid card number always active. <S> On the plane ride back, I put the at&t card back in, and all goes back as it was pre-travel. <S> The latter was what I did before I started purchasing unlocked iPhones. <A> I'm not sure about the technical aspects of the whole US iPhone vs European SIM. <S> My experience is with a European Android phone and a SIM from a different European country. <S> So you might want to run this past AT&T before you leave. <S> However: Is this a complicated procedure? <S> Not at all. <S> I found it easy: power off my phone, take out the SIM, put the other SIM in, and turn the phone on again. <S> And it didn't break anything when I switched back to my home SIM. <S> Will this cause any issues for my US carrier? <S> Don't know specifically about your carrier, but my home carrier didn't terminate my plan even after weeks of using the other SIM. <S> And yes, I was billed by my home carrier on the normal monthly schedule. <S> However, some carriers do deactivate prepaid accounts after longish period of inactivity (6 months?), so this might make your plan to save the Stockholm card pointless. <S> Will I be assigned a Swedish phone number for local calls and SMS if needed? <S> Yes. <S> Make sure you have your contacts in the phone memory, not on your home SIM. <S> You can tell your friends this new (temporary) number <S> so they can call/text you. <S> You might also get texts from the Swedish carrier in Swedish, welcoming you as a new customer and so on. <S> I assume that if someone calls/texts my US number, it will be the same as if the phone was turned off, and I'll get voicemail/texts when I return. <S> I don't know about voicemails but found my carrier only retained the texts for a while. <S> I got the impression that after ~30 days they expired off my home carrier's system.	You can also get a 2 SIM card phone, or travel with a separate unlocked phone for use abroad.
A->B->C with 2 tickets, several hours of transfer, and for B I'll normally need a visa On a travel website I have this offer: I'm not a citizen of any of those countries. I'll normally need a visa for India. However, in this case, how will Kiwi ensure that I even will be allowed to board a plane in Thailand without having an Indian visa? There'll be 2 different tickets, right? What will I tell in Thailand "I won't leave the transit zone thus I don't need a visa?". Note that it says "transfer protected". That is a protection for a delay, cancellation, etc. Not for what I'm asking here. PS: Assuming, I'll be allowed to board if I buy those 2 tickets from Kiwi, will I still be able to board if I buy them on my own from the websites of the airlines instead of buying from Kiwi? <Q> (Note: I don't know the transfer process and policy at Jaipur airport, the visa checking policy of AirAsia, or whether the check-in for Air India Express can be done online. <S> But I'm posting this answer because other answers incorrectly suggest that this would be sold as one ticket with one PNR.) <S> When you see "Transfer protected by Kiwi.com Guarantee" it means Kiwi is buying two separate tickets in your name, with two different passenger name records <S> (PNRs). <S> Therefore, the airlines won't help if, for example, you miss the connection due to a delayed flight. <S> The good thing about the Kiwi.com Guarantee is that if a delayed flight makes you miss the connection, Kiwi themselves will (generally) find you another flight to your destination. <S> Depending on the airline, you may even have to exit security at the intermediate airport in order to check in with the second airline, then re-enter security. <S> Unfortunately for you, Kiwi won't help if you're denied boarding due to a visa issue. <S> Kiwi's fine print says: Kiwi.com is not responsible for any visa issue, including airport transit visas; this is the responsibility of the passenger. <S> Kindly note that without the correct documents, you may not be allowed to board the aircraft. <S> You can learn more about your visa requirements by visiting the IATA Travel Centre or by contacting the embassy or your foreign ministry. <A> However, in this case, how will kiwi ensure that I even will be allowed to board a plain in Thailand without having an Indian visa? <S> They don't. <S> There'll be 2 different tickets, right? <S> Yes, it's two tickets. <S> Otherwise it would say "Transfer protected by the airline". <S> What will I tell in Thailand "I won't leave the transit zone <S> thus I don't need a visa?" <S> Since these are separate tickets, Air Asia will NOT allow you to board unless you have a valid Visa for India. <S> As far as they are concerned they are flying you from DMK to JAI and that's it. <S> They have no knowledge or control over what you do once you get to Jaipur, so they must assume you want to go into India. <S> You need to collect your bags and do a full new check in for the second flight. <S> In many airports you need to leave the transit zone to do this. <S> Often, after the baggage claim there is no way back to the transit zone and/or there are no check in counters or bag drops in the transit area. <A> One point that has surprisingly not been mentioned until now is that if you have two tickets (which I'm pretty sure will be the case here), you most probably won't be able to check your luggage through. <S> That means that if you have checked luggage, when landing in Jaipur, you'll need to go through immigration (entering India), get your bags, go through customs, go to check-in to drop your bags, go through immigration again (exiting India). <S> So I'm pretty sure you will need a visa. <S> Not sure if there are special transit visas in India, though? <A> Kiwi doesn't care. <S> AirAsia does, very much so. <S> But if you buy this trip, it will probably be on one ticket, with one PNR. <S> And even with two PNR, you'll still have proof that you don't plan to enter Jaipur, but fly onwards. <S> This will be enough for AirAsia to let you board their plane. <A> Your PS has not been answered yet: As others have already said, this itinerary will most likely result in two different tickets. <S> Assuming that Air Asia's policy is to let you board without a visa for India if you can prove that you are just transiting, then yes, you will also be allowed to board if you buy the two tickets yourself. <S> From Air Asia's point of view, you have a ticket for them and an onward ticket for another airline, independent of whether you book through Kiwi or not. <S> So it really depends on Air Asia's willingness to let you board and also on whether it will be possible for you to stay in the international transit zone of Jaipur Airport (if such a zone even exists) for the entire layover. <A> If you read the kiwi booking page, it literally says self check-in and in addition warns you about the transit visa requirements. <S> So there is no way you can make this flight unless you have a valid visa before you board the flight. <S> And Jaipur airport website says it has only one terminal common for both domestic and international flights. <S> So there is no airside transit area available for you anyway. <S> So book an alternate route preferrably on a single ticket.	It is your responsibility as a passenger to have all required Visa and you agree to that during the booking by accepting the terms and conditions.
A place to sleep during a 13-hour layover in Charles-De-Gaulle airport? I will likely have a layover of 13 hours, from 20:45 (evening) to 10:30 (morning) in Paris CDG, flying in from outside the EU. I want to get the closest thing to a full night's sleep, in a bed, in a room, that I can - without burning a hole in my pocket. Let's cap it at, say, 150 EUR, though I would really like it to be no more than half that. What are my options? I'll mention I don't even know whether I'm even allowed to exit the terminal (with my carry-on luggage), and go into the city. If that's the case, then I can just look for something in Paris (and no need to recommend one of a million options there of course). If I am sort-of-stuck, are there arrangements for possibly staying at the airport-neighboring hotels? Are there in-terminal hotels? Or even sleeping booths? I know that those exist in some airports in the world. Notes: I don't need a visa to enter France. I'm flying Air France in both legs, and they're being booked together. I'm not very fussy about my sleeping accomodations, except for noise and heat. A related but less specific question: Long layover at Charles de Gaulle airport . <Q> There are many hotels around CDG, either at Roissypole (reachable on foot from terminal 3) or reachable using shuttles. <S> The official website has a map and a search form you might use to check rates and availability. <S> The unofficial easycdg.com has another slightly more usable list with some info on hotels shuttle (in total 25 hotels in Roissy are served by shuttles). <S> If you are willing to use a shuttle, something like Première Classe or Ibis Budget will have bare bones comfort but usually clean modern rooms for €30-50 per night. <S> If you prefer something at Roissypole, Ibis is probably going to be the cheapest and offer rooms around your target of €75 but even the Mercure, CitizenM, or Hilton might have rooms under your upper limit. <S> In any case, all these require you to go landside and leave the terminal. <S> There is also an hotel airside , which therefore does not require you to have the right to enter France or budget any time to go through security and passport control when reentering the airport: the Yotel Air . <S> It is more expensive than cheap landside hotels but still within your price range, you might find that the convenience is worth it. <S> There is also a Sheraton inside terminal 2 (thus saving you the trip with the people mover and the short walk outside terminal 3) <S> but I don't think it's located airside <S> and it's outside your price range. <S> Note that there are several Ibis hotels in the vicinity (and actually three distinct Ibis brands with a different price and service level). <S> The one that's at the airport <S> (no need to take a shuttle) is Hôtel ibis Paris CDG Airport , the others are 3 to 5 km away. <A> If you're flying through terminal 2 at CDG there's Yotel CDG airside which looks like it might be competitive with the hotels in the Roissypole between-the-terminals development that Vincent pointed to. <S> There's a gaggle of hotels of various price ranges in Roissy-en-France just on the other side of the A1 motorway, but they do not seem to be easily accessible on foot. <S> Otherwise, since you have plenty-ish of time, fire up Google Maps and look for budget options near the stations on the RER B line towards Paris -- for example, this four stops from the airport. <A> <A> The dirt-cheap option is Formule 1. <S> They're a subsidiary of Accord, everything is super-automated (don't forget your credit card!) <S> but it's usually clean and perfectly adequate if all you want is a bed. <S> There's a bunch of them right around Roissy, very convenient. <A> I'll mention <S> I don't even know whether I'm even allowed to exit the terminal (with my carry-on luggage), and go into the city. <S> Why wouldn't you be allowed to exit? <S> You have your passport, yes? <S> At the worst, you just have to go thru Customs & Immigrations on the way out, then a Security check on the way back in. <S> I've not flown to France myself, but I would be surprised if there were more to it.	Look at Hôtel Ibis inside the airport area near Terminal3.Easy access and not so expensive.
In Belarus, do norms for a work event include informal bar drinks and snacks in the evening? I'm currently planning a work-related trip that involves a day-long event with clients. Typical events in the USA sometimes involve a happy hour event in the evening with food and drinks. Since the event I'm looking at planning is going to be located in Belarus, I started questioning if happy hours exist in Europe, and Eastern Europe in particular. Are there any similar norms in Eastern Europe around happy hours (and in Belarus in particular)? I do know drinking culture differs between there and, say, the USA. <Q> As far as my experience goes, you can expect to see Happy Hour-style discounts on workdays during business time (e.g. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 3PM to 6PM there would be different kinds of Happy Hour discounts on various kinds of drinks). <S> The rationale here, venues are completely empty after lunches has ended but before evening began. <S> So they hope to capture at least some stray traffic. <S> This is rarely seen in the evenings because that's the time you can charge the full price, go into black. <S> Still there can be some seasonal/weekday offerings on a narrow set of inventory. <S> This will apply to the part of Eastern Europe that's ex-USSR. <A> In Poland, it's quite populart in student cities, and it's targeted mainly for students. <S> Normally beer is discounted, and it's typically from late afternoon until evening (for example 16-19), so that it doesn't match well people that work (and who can afford full prices) but matches <S> well students (who have much more tight budget). <A> With regards to a business practice. <S> I don't think it is commonplace that an event will end with food and drinks in the office. <S> If it is an event with a lot of loosely-related guests (such as a product announcement) you will expect to have a break with food and non-alcoholic drinks. <S> You will not expect food and drinks after the event, on assumption that guests have their own things to do. <S> This, again, mostly applies to ex-USSR part of Eastern Europe.	If it is an event with two parties (such as contract negotiation), I expect that members of hosting party will invite members of guest party to a local bar they know for an informal part of the meeting (getting to know each other better over drinks).
Traveling with dogs in Japan I am debating taking a job in Japan. I have a ~11kg dog, and want to get a sense of how hard it would be to travel with her. For example, would she be allowed on the Narita Express to Tokyo? Or on any of the local trains around the Tokyo area? If I wanted to travel on the weekend to more rural areas, on the Shinkansen, would she be allowed? If dogs are generally not allowed on trains, is there any kind of either mass transit or individual transit which accepts transporting dogs? I don't plan to own a car, so it's important for me that there be some way to get around with her if I need to. To summarize, are dogs allowed on any sort of mass transit in/around Tokyo? And if not, what are the possible ways to transport me and my dog without owning my own vehicle? <Q> Sorry, you cannot take a dog above 10kg on a train in Japan. <S> Per JR East's rules, dogs and other animals can only be transported if they're placed in a fully enclosed crate less than 70cm in length and 10kg in combined weight, plus you need to pay 280yen per ride for the privilege: 有料のもの <S> ●小犬、猫、鳩またはこれらに類する小動物（猛獣やへびの類を除く）で、 <S> 長さ70センチ以内で、タテ・ヨコ・高さの合計が90センチ程度のケースにいれたもの <S> ケースと動物を合わせた重さが10キロ以内のもの <S> https://www.jreast.co.jp/kippu/20.html <S> Rules may vary slightly between companies but the general gist will be the same for buses, trains, etc. <S> You should also be aware that importing a dog into Japan may require a quarantine period of up to 180 days, and that tiny apartments and long working hours and commutes are not very compatible with large dog ownership. <S> Small "cute" dogs are popular but I've rarely seen large dogs outside rural areas. <S> Update : I did find one (1) taxi company in greater Tokyo that carries pets small or large: http://smile-animaltaxi.com/ <S> It's not cheap though, with rates starting from 4000 yen for 5 km. <A> They will transport medium size dogs up to 30kg and large dogs over 30kg, so you’re in the clear. <S> They’re pretty much your only option for larger size animals even though they are pricey. <S> not something I’d recommend a newby try (left-side driving, Tokyo traffic, jet lag, a barking dog, etc). <S> For general travel in Japan, everyone I know either checks their dog in at a dog hotel (of which there are plenty) or has their own car. <S> If you do go with Yamato, it looks like you need to make a reservation and get a quote, which makes sense as there’s likely a lot of prep work needed on the transportation company’s end. <S> Finally, your company may have a relocation specialist on staff or on contract. <S> You may want to contact them as they as usually familiar with slightly odd requests from foreigners. <A> I know this is a few months <S> late、but we have our 13kg dog here. <S> Shes in a snoozer carrier which is a roller and a backpack. <S> Its 70cm by 90cm the limit. <S> She does not stand comfortably <S> but she lays down and sleeps just fine. <S> Jr trains have never asked to weigh our pup and we bring her into downtown Tokyo all the time. <S> Also have rented both from toyota and nissan. <S> Rented nissan from the airport to my apartment and just rented Toyota over the new year for vacation. <S> Again if shes in a carrier they dont care about weight. <S> 11kg is fine. <S> If you end up moving and need a babysitter let us know! <S> Lol	Public transportation options tend to restrict dogs to only small ones less than 10kg that can fit in their own bag. Yamato Unyo, one of the delivery companies, will apparently transport a crated dog from Narita Airport to almost anywhere: https://form.008008.jp/mitumori/PPET0100Action_doInit.action Rental cars don’t allow animals that aren’t crated and a one-way rental from Narita is going to be expensive, let alone
Entered Germany with US passport but leaving Europe with EU passport, complications? I am a US/German dual citizen about to start studies in Switzerland in a month. Previously, I traveled in Europe for about 2 months on a US passport. While in Europe, I received a German passport. I plan to leave Switzerland in 6 months and travel back to the US. I am aware that US citizens are given only 3 months in the Schengen zone. Will this lead to any complications even if I leave on my German passport? Will either of my passports be affected? <Q> As an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen, you have a nearly absolute right to enter the Schengen area <S> and as such you cannot be fined for "overstaying" on your US passport. <S> You having this right is a property of you as an EU citizen and having a German passport is simply a way of demonstrating that fact. <S> Also note that Schengen border control officers routinely forget to stamp passports at exit immigration so there are tens of thousands of travellers out there with no proof of exiting the Schengen area. <S> While this could be a problem for non-EU citizens, there is no reason for you to be concerned about this matter. <A> The only problem I can see regarding the passports is that the "trail of stamps" on your US passport shows you still in Schengen. <S> This could irritate some third country visa officials, but not those from the Schengen zone (if you show them your German passport, old stamps are no issue). <S> I presume that you got a fresh German passport, not a fresh citizenship, or the dual citizenship might be a problem. <S> In the future it would be a good idea to use the German passport to enter the EU, fewer complications and questions that way. <S> It might be clever to get one in a few years, so that the validity periods of the passport and the identity card overlap -- if the passport is just expired the ID card is still valid, and vice versa. <S> The ID card allows you to travel in the EU and some other countries. <S> Of course that means going through the renewal twice that often, so YMMV. <A> As a German citizen, you do of course have the right to enter, leave and stay in Germany as you please. <S> In practice, you shouldn't have problems using the German passport for the EU in the future. <S> However, you should assume that your US passport is "in the system", and will be marked as overstayed. <S> Note that passports are usually electronically scanned at border crossings - <S> wether or not you get an actual stamp. <S> The Schengen does not have an electronic entrance/exit database (yet), though you still may be questioned if you miss the exit stamp. <S> You could also just go on a brief trip outside the Schengen to get the exit stamp, and re-enter on the German one. <S> Nevertheless it makes sense to use the German Passport any EU travel in the future, to avoid any misunderstandings (US law requires you to always use the US passport when going there). <S> For third countries, it makes obvious sense to always use the passport that is most convenient for the destination country... <S> If you're living abroad when your German passport expires, you can renew it at the German embassy. <S> Disclaimer: <S> Nothing I say should be taken as professional legal advice. <S> If you have doubts, ask a legal counsel. <S> Especially true if you just naturalised; in this cases there arcane rules to retaining dual citizenship, which are beyond the scope of this answer.	If you are worried that your German passport might expire at an inconvenient time in the future, you can apply for a German identity card even if you are not resident in Germany.
Legal or financial barriers to driving a rental car from El Salvador to Honduras? Since I (apparently) can't fly from SAL to Choluteca , I was planning to drive. But then I had to think some more: Will I be required at the Honduran border or at the rental counter to show an international driving permit (IDP) or pay an extra fee for leaving the country with it? Or buy/show insurance beyond what I normally get from Allianz ? <Q> Expedia said Alamo would do my five days for $39. <S> Added on CDW $55 from AIG, same price Allianz would do. <S> After paying, they send me a document saying a cross-border permit must be purchased at the rental counter 72 hours in advance for $50. <S> I'm supposed to sit in San Salvador for three days before I can actually make my trip? <S> But really, it's $150: $100 for the privilege of crossing a border plus $50 for the permit. <S> Finally, can't do it anyway unless you rent for seven days or more. <S> Plus liability insurance which Alamo won't accept unless I buy it with their CDW (instead of AIG's) <S> So, looks like buses are going to suck up half of my time in central America. <A> I used my American license and had to wait two hours for a car to free up since I didn't make a reservation. <S> I also had to get a special border crossing permit to <S> take the car out of the country <S> (you are allowed to take rental cars to El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua). <S> The hardest part was going through the car check with the staff. <S> It took us an hour to count all the scratches, dents, etc - this was no zipcar. <S> The staff was very kind, and in the end I drove out of the renta autos with my cousin in the passenger seat and headed towards Antigua. <S> I paid a total of $408.92 for five days. <S> However personally I'd take a bus. <S> As you were already planning to fly its not as if you have planned to stop along the way. <A> As you have said before, I think there is no problem when crossing with a car rented from Salvador to Honduras. <S> I was seeing some information in this website and apparently if it can be done .. <S> I hope I've helpedI <S> am Salvadorian	I have no personal experience, but from this Lonely Planet link from 2017 says that you can cross the border with your rental car, and that you get the permit when you rent it: Renting a car in Guatemala was fairly easy.
Bring 200 boxes of slimming coffee to the US Can I bring boxes of green slimming coffee to my relatives in the USA? Around 200 boxes of green coffee each containing 7 sachets. They are BFAD approved in the Philippines and in Dubai. This is Lean 'n Green brand slimming coffee. The product page shows these ingredients: Green Coffee Bean, Garcinia Cambogia, Psyllium Husk, L Carnitine, Green Tea, Marine Collagen, Coffee, Non Fat Creamer, Stevia. Each box sells online for 630 piso. All 200 is 126,000 piso or approximately 2,300 USD. <Q> The absolute maximum personal exemption for US customs is 1600 USD , per comments you're likely at the $800 level coming from the Philipines. <S> The value of your coffee appears to exceed both levels. <S> You'll need to declare it regardless of value. <S> You will also probably have to pay duty on it as the value of 200 boxes appears to exceed even the maximum limit. <S> Since it is commercially packaged it appears to be generally allowed per these rules . <S> Finally, the product ingredients do not appear to include anything that is banned or regulated in the US. <A> You need to check the ingredient list very carefully. <S> Trying to import such products could get you in serious trouble. <A> Regardless of whether you can , don't . <S> There is no sense in carrying questionable things in large quantities on your person when you will be going through the scrutiny of immigration and customs. <S> Send them as a parcel by post or other shipping service where they'll be subject to minimal or no scrutiny and will not risk affecting your treatment at the border.	And even if they're legal, you will have to pay import duties on them, since 200 boxes is well above any 'personal use'. It is also a food product. Some dieting products contain amphetamines or similar compounds that are restricted in the USA.
EU261: Can I be reimbursed for the taxi ride (at the arrival location) that was necessary for a delay of less than 3 hours? A couple of weeks ago a Ryanair flight (from Italy to the UK), for which I didn't buy travel insurance, was delayed by about 2h50'. At the time of arrival, since it was late at night and the last buses had already left, the only way for me to get to my intended destination was to pay £50 for a taxi ride, of which I hold the receipt. Can this expense be covered by the company under European regulations? <Q> Exactly today (coincidentally, the same day somebody offered a bounty on my question), an Alternative Dispute Resolution agency made a determination on my case, after Ryanair and I failed to agree on the matter. <S> They decided that Ryanair doesn't have to refund the expenses . <S> the contract between Mr (..) and Ryanair was solely for transportation from Bari airport to London Stansted airport. <S> Whilst I appreciate that Mr (..) did experience a flight delay with Ryanair, I consider that once he arrived at his final destination on the ticket held with Ryanair, there is no further obligation for Ryanair to refund any further expenses incurred under Article 9 EC261/2004. <A> EU delay compensation only kicks in at 3 hours: <S> The airline has to prove this by providing, for example, extracts from logbooks or incident reports. <S> The air carrier should give this evidence to the relevant national enforcement body as well as to the passengers concerned in line with national provisions on access to documents. <S> https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.html <S> Therefore you don’t have a right to compensation. <A> This is not explicitly covered under EU261, as the airline's obligation is to ensure that you arrive at your destination airport. <S> Exception to this could be if the ground transportation services were either provided directly by the airlines at no additional charge, or if they were offered by the airlines as a bundled purchase, but executed by a 3rd party. <S> Each individual airlines may have policies that extend beyond minimal requirements of EU261 <S> and you should appeal directly. <S> It all comes down to their individual interpretation of Article 9 Right to care 1. <S> Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge: a. meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time; b. hotel accommodation in cases - where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or - where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary; c. transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other). <S> 2. <S> In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails. <S> 3. <S> In applying this Article, the operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children. <S> For reference, here is case precedent with a woman suing Ryanair related to EU261 claims - http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=133245&doclang=EN	If you arrived at your final destination with a delay of more than 3 hours, you are entitled to compensation, unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances.
Is there any bus or train that travels directly from Vienna to Budapest airport? I want to buy a ticket to travel directly to Budapest airport from Vienna because I don't like changing trains again inside the city. It would be great to have an option to go directly to the airport but I cannot find one. I know some options I may choose from ÖBB but I was interested to check for Hungarian options as well if any. <Q> Flixbus offers 2 buses a day at 5:25am and 5:30pm. <S> So if you're not arriving shortly before, you have 3 options. <S> (The cheapest) Take the local bus (route 100) to the Nepliget bus station and catch a Flixbus there to Vienna. <S> (Dlightly more expensive) <S> Get the express bus (route 200) to downtown and transfer to the blue line to Nepliget and then take the Flixbus to Vienna. <S> Take the express bus downtown, take the red line to Budapest-Keleti and then take the train to Vienna. <S> I would highly recommend it based on speed/safety/price! <A> When you plan your route, Google Maps suggest this Flixbus thing , which seems to have direct buses from "Wien Erdberg" to "Budapest Flughafen". <A> I took the bus from Budapest to Vienna and we stopped at Budapest Airport. <S> I assume the bus also stops there on the opposite way.	When I made this same trip (Budapest-Wien) on 7/18, we took the Flixbus from Nepliget to Vienna.
Warned by CBP about traveling to the US using the wrong visa, but need to go again soon I travel mostly on behalf of my organization. And have been traveling to SE Asia, Europe & recently to the US. I travelled to the US(NY) for the first time on a B1/B2 visa in the 1st week of May to return back in the 1st week on June approximately a month. No issues on this trip. No date for exit written on entry stamp. I had to travel again to US (NY) in the month of July again for a period of around 30 days. But the immigration officer felt that I should be travelling on an L1 instead of a B1 since I am staying for longer duration in the US. He referred me for secondary screening where the officer after checking the purpose of my visit allowed me to enter and stamped my entry with just B1 written in red ink with no date for exit written. He checked with me the date when I would be returning but did not write s duration on my stamp. However he warned me that if I undertake a similar trip they would deport me and cancel my Visa. When I asked for what he meant by a similar trip I did not receive an answer. Now I am required to travel to US again for a week in 2nd week of September and I am not sure if this qualifies as a similar travel. I am travelling on behalf of the same organization to visit a different client in a different city and this time staying only for a maximum of 1 week. I have a multiple entry B1/B2 visa valid till 2027Port of entry for 1st visit: JFK ( flying BA via London)Port of entry for 2nd visit : Abu Dhabi ( flying Etihad via Abu Dhabi) Would appreciate informed suggestions as to can I travel. I have stayed for around 63 days this year in the US. None of my entry stamp have a duration of stay mentioned. I have stuck to my travel plans stated while questioned by the CBP. <Q> Take that warning seriously, it is in their records (and in your interest). <S> But the immigration officer felt that I should be travelling on an L1 instead of a B1 since I am staying for longer duration in the US. <S> That's then the best advice for you, unfortunately we won't be able to better that one. <S> After having assessed your travels and having interviewed you they advised that L1 is the proper category then please go ahead and discuss that with your employer and apply for an L1. <S> There is no point looking to interpret things differently after having been given a clear advice by the most relevant authority. <S> I can spend some time to find some authoritative resources to support my answer but all those resources say that the final discretion to let you in the US lies with the officer interviewing you at the port of entry. <S> The advice that you received was exactly from that very officer. <S> Now I am required to travel to US again for a week in 2nd week of September <S> and I am not sure if this qualifies as a similar travel. <S> I am travelling on behalf of the same organization to visit a different client in a different city and this time staying only for a maximum of 1 week. <S> It does qualify to be the same situation, I wouldn't risk thinking <S> oh he just thought i was staying for too long. <S> Take their advice without any grain of salt . <S> My worthless 2 cents? <S> I have stayed for around 63 days this year in the US <S> They are right. <S> 63 days business activity in only 2 trips in only 8 months does seem to be beyond what B-1 entitles an alien. <S> I think the supervisors are going to say the same thing. <A> You need to call the CBP immediately at +1 202 325 8000, ask for a supervisor (tell them it's a complicated and serious matter and that you must be 100% sure to receive the right answer). <S> Tell them your passport number and last admission number (can be looked up here ), and tell them exactly what the officers in New York told you. <S> Ask them to check their records (if possible), and ask if you should apply for an L-1 or can keep using your B-1/B-2. <S> (Of course, describe exactly what you'll be doing.) <S> Then insist that they write you a clear, detailed E-Mail confirming what you've said on the phone, either so you can show your employer (if they say you should get an L-1) or so you can show local CBP officers (if they say you can keep using your B1/B2 visa). <A> As you probably known, there has been a lot of fraud involving H1-B visas,and the US government is (sort-of) cracking down on it. <S> As a result, various outsourcing companies have been bringing in half-pricedforeign workers under the B-1 visa. <S> This has, predictably, caused peoplecoming here on B-1 visas to get extra scrutiny. <S> What happens next depends a lot on what exactly you are doing. <S> If it issales meetings or training, then you need to carry documentation of whatthe exact purpose of your visit shall be. <S> My personal opinion is that you need to talk to an immigration lawyer. <S> If a Border Agent gets the idea that you are traveling on funny papers,then they will put you on The List, probably for the rest of your life.	If you are going to be writing code for a database or for a user interface,then you will need to get an L-1 visa.
Waiting after international flight before clearing customs I am bringing a large group into O’Hare after a tour, but we need to wait for three hours for 9 additional passengers to arrive on a second flight. We will then be picked up by a charter bus for a three hour drive home. Can the first group wait in the arrival area for the second group before claiming bags and clearing customs? If we clear customs on arrival we will be left waiting in the area with no restaurants and without a decent waiting area. <Q> Do not try this at home <S> ( airport actually) <S> If you wait 3 hours before going to claim your baggage your baggage will already have been picked up by the lost baggage team and a large group waiting without collecting their bags will trigger a security scare. <S> Its not so much about some people wandering around in the lounge as it is about let's say 25 unclaimed bags. <S> I have not been to Chicago O'Hare <S> but I have not actually seen any restaurants or decent sitting areas on any international airport for arriving passengers before they clear immigration. <S> If we clear customs on arrival we will be left waiting in the area with no restaurants and without a decent waiting area <S> On Arrivals you do not get access to that decent waiting area with restaurants ( <S> According to a comment below, this seems possible at many European Airports). <S> Generally you won't really have access to those restaurants that the departing passengers can go to. <S> Actually You're more likely to find a coffee shop or a restaurant after clearing the formalities. <A> I have arrived at Chicago O'Hare (ORD) on international flights before. <S> After landing at ORD, passengers deplane and enter a international arrivals terminal. <S> There are no amenities in this terminal other than bathrooms/restrooms. <S> Instead you are expected to move through the terminal toward the US Custom and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoint. <S> You will need to clear an immigration check: i.e, present your passport, visa, etc. <S> There is a series of baggage claims, where you will pick up your luggage. <S> You will need to clear customs, i.e., declare any goods. <S> Exit the checkpoint and enter the arrivals terminal. <S> This is where non-flyers may meet their family/party when the exit the checkpoint. <S> There is nothing to prevent you from waiting in between any of these steps. <S> There is just nothing to do in the this international arrivals terminal. <S> (Other than visit the bathroom.) <S> References: <S> https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/myflight/international/pages/default.aspx <S> I am making the assumption that you and your party are not received preclearance before flying to ORD. <A> Your thought seems to be that your group will wait at one of the numerous restaurants, cafes or seating areas universally found in airports, then your entire group goes through Customs together. <S> First, it's a lot faster to get your 9 stragglers through Immigration and Customs than your whole brood. <S> Any one of them can have a "problem" with a multi-hour grinder of detention and secondary interviews. <S> That's far more likely with 40 people than with 9. <S> So you are better off moving the bulk of your tour through ASAP, that way if one has a problem, they're likely to be done when the 9 arrive. <S> Second, you might not both be arriving the same way! <S> Those terminals are quite some distance apart. <S> And the mere fact of the plane departing a preclearance-capable airport does not guarantee it will be pre-cleared. <S> Third, as others have said, for non-precleared flights, the pre-Customs area does not have restaurants and cafes. <S> It's designed to efficiently herd you toward immigration, and expose stragglers. <S> Trying to linger there will raise suspicion. <S> People do naughty things in this area.	Some airports have preclearance , where flyers clear customs/immigration inside a "USA control zone" in a foreign country's airport; that plane won't go through C&I again, and will gate elsewhere, probably domestic terminals.
Exit and entry stamps on European passports when leaving Schengen Area Does a European passport get an exit stamp at the time of leaving Europe for Azerbaijan or Georgia? Also will the destination countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan put an entry stamp once you enter there? <Q> If you mean leaving Schengen Area for Azerbaijan or Georgia, then, shortly: If you're a citizen of EU or EFTA , then your passport won't get stamped. <S> For a longer answer, check Schengen Area section of Wikipedia article about passport stamps. <S> Regarding the second part of the question: yes, Azerbaijan and Georgia put an entry stamp once you enter these countries. <S> For Azerbaijan, it looks like this , for Georgia like this . <A> Passports of EU/Schengen states, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino are never stamped on leaving an EU/Schengen country, unless possibly if you ask for it. <S> Azerbaijan and Georgia do stamp all foreign passports (with Georgia also stamping their own passports on exit). <S> If, for some reason, an EU citizen wants to avoid Georgian stamps, they can use a national ID card. <A> If you ask for a stamp, you may get one. <S> Lithuanian border guards are really friendly and they stamped my Lithuanian passport in Kaunas (flying to UK) and in Vilnius (to Ukraine) and returning. <S> However, Latvian officer on Russian border at Grebņova declined. <S> British border guard at Luton also refused, so it depends on officer's mood. <S> Schengen border code says that Schengen/EU passports are not stamped, but the actual stamp cannot make illegal consequences for an EU/EFTA citizen, as they have a right to be in EU/EFTA for as long as they want.	If you're not a citizen of EU or EDTA, then your passport will be stamped, because Azerbaijan and Georgia aren't in the Schengen Area .
Is the RFID chip in e-passports read-only or is it read-write? Is the RFID chip in e-passports read-only or is it read-write? If it's read-only, is all of the data locked-down when the passport is issued? Is the read-only portion extensible so that additional data can be burned on later? If it's read-write, can passport country in any country we pass through enter or change data in the passport? For example, to record entries and departures? Update: I ask for two reasons. The first is that the only biometric I recall giving when I applied for my passport is my photo and I wanted to know if my government could add other biometrics (iris scan, fingerprints) at a later date — either beknownst to me or surreptitiously at a border station. #tinfoilhat Second, I wanted to know if foreign governments could add entry or exit or visa e-tags to my passport, especially when passing through automated gates. <Q> TL;DR: <S> It's complicated , but for practical purposes, currently e-passports are read-only. <S> Long version: <S> The specification for e-passports contains two types of data. <S> Dedicated Files <S> (DF) are writable and is meant for storing visas and various authorizations in the future. <S> However, this iscurrently not used, and most e-passports out there don't eveninclude this capability. <S> What is in active use is the Logical Data Structure (LDS), which stores biometrics etc and isby design read-only. <S> In practice, e-passports are implemented using EEPROM memory , which expands to the somewhat paradoxical Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. <S> For practical purposes, these are read-only, a casual reader can't go in there and change or add anything. <S> The catch is that the EEPROMs are also by definition erasable , so the contents can be erased and rewritten from scratch. <S> However, since EEPROMs can typically be locked/"frozen" to prevent any further changes, any attacker would need to work around this. <S> What's more, since the LDS contents are digitally signed, if a malicious country or agent were to gain access and erase & rewrite them, they would also need to provide a new valid signature, which they can't do without the original issuer's private key. <S> They could reprogram your Sylvanian passport's chip to return data signed by Borduria instead, but I presume this would be caught pretty easily, since it would now be out of sync with what the machine-readable stripe says. <S> And this is also why the originating country is also unlikely to change any data on the chip, even if they technically can, because it would now risk having the information physically printed on the passport from being out of sync with the digital copy in it. <S> Some more reading on the topic: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221406395/download (free PDF download) Edit for clarity <S> : I'm not claiming any of this makes e-passports secure or tamperproof. <S> However, if the question is "are countries I visit recording things in my e-passport when I pass through immigration", the answer is pretty unequivocally "no". <A> Passports conforming to the ICAO doc 9303 specification use a smart card conforming to ISO 7816 , which is very broadly speaking not just a storage device, but rather a miniature computer. <S> It is possible to restrict read or write access to parts of its storage to only properly authenticated entities. <S> Looking at the relevant part of the specification (parts 10 and 11 at the referenced ICAO site), there only seem to be commands relating to reading basic data, cryptographically authenticating the travel document or authenticating the reader to the document in order to access sensitive information like fingerprints. <S> Without any command to actually modify data on a smartcard, it wouldn't be possible to do so. <S> It is of course possible that the issuing country implements additional commands, for example for the purpose of correcting information after issuance. <S> However, such commands, if they even exist, would very likely require authentication of the reader before any write or delete access to the storage would be granted. <S> Regarding your specific question about the issuing authority adding biometric data after issuance, this does seem to be allowed under the specification: <S> Only the issuing State or organization shall have write access to these Data Groups. <S> Therefore, there are no interchange requirements and <S> the methods to achieve write protection are not part of this specification. <S> As there is nothing in the specification regarding write access to the general writable area, it seems to be up to the issuing country to specify access privileges (for reading or writing) to these memory areas. <S> Theoretically, countries could agree on commands for accessing these optional storage areas outside of the ICAO specifications, of course, but I consider that quite unlikely: <S> If the intent is to exchange travel data, why not just exchange it out-of-band, for example through server-side systems communicating passport numbers? <S> This seems much simpler and more effective. <A> Just to answer the "tinfoil hat" aspect, a standard doesn't prevent a country from making passports and readers which implement features in addition to the standard. <S> So, a country could easily issue passports which e.g. record entries and exits or store recent photos taken by the border control of that country in your passport. <S> Passports could also store information about border control in other countries, even if foreign border control equipment isn't actively writing to it (thanks @jcaron). <S> This information could be read out when you return to your country, and be used to estimate how many countries you have visited during your trip. <S> If those countries have accessed information which requires active authentication, it may also be possible to know which ones you have visited.	Anybody with access to the key stored in thepassport's machine-readable section (the swipable bit at the bottom)can read data from here, and the data is electronically signed, soanybody reading it can confirm that the contents have not beentampered with.
Can one visit Israel with a Lebanese passport only? Asking for a friend. He does not hold any dual citizenship and only has a Lebanese passport. I am well aware of the diplomatic tensions these two countries hold but I was under the impression Israel did not have any restrictions on who could visit. However, I've seen contradictory answers online. I suspect he might be questioned upon arrival. To makes things simpler, he's been living in Paris for years now and has no ties to anyone involved in politics in Lebanon. Can he visit Israel with only a Lebanese passport? Also, even if he asks the Israel customs not to stamp his passport, can Lebanon find out he's been in Israel? Can he get in trouble when he decides to visit Lebanon? <Q> He can apply for a visa. <S> Entering Israel, like any other state, requires permission in the form of a valid visa, unless it's for specific reasons by citizens of specific countries. <S> As an enemy state, Lebanon is obviously not one of the countries exempt from a visa. <S> But, it's Israel's policy to allow everyone, including citizens of enemy states to apply for a visa. <S> He should contact the Israeli representatives in France to start the process. <S> Again, he can start the visa process. <S> It's not guaranteed that he will be approved for one. <S> Finally, regarding Lebanese authorities finding out, Israel doesn't stamp passports but gives slips of paper, so there is no problem there, but he must make sure to not enter from the land crossing from Egypt or Jordan as the Egyptian/Jordanian authorities will stamp the passport with a stamp from a border crossing with Israel. <S> Also, usually visas are put in the passport; obviously an Israeli visa in the passport is a dead give away, so he would need to ask during the visa process if it's possible to not attach to the passport. <S> And, depending on his notoriety he would need to look out for public signs that he has been to Israel. <S> For example, posting a picture from Tel Aviv as your FB profile picture is probably not a good idea. <A> According to this table in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) site, Lebanese citizens can apply for a visa, but it "requires MFA confirmation" (a comment in common to many Muslim states, as well as North Korea). <S> I can't tell what requirements does the MFA have for this confirmation, and it's probably not public information. <S> I would guess it involves providing a good reason and/or strong evidence of lack of negative intentions. <S> This thread discusses the similar case of an Iraqi citizen. <S> According to one answer, These countries are in a different and restrictive category, and the best advice is that entry will not be easy and will require special circumstances and justification . <A> However, s/he risks the possibility of interrogation by the Israeli security services upon entry - as we have recently seen in the media even for people from the US. <S> If your friend is active in politics or otherwise related to significant people in the public sphere, this chance increases. <S> Also there might be similar repercussions on the Lebanese side, I'm not sure. <S> I don't suggest that your friend not try this, but I do suggest caution and possibly "lawyering up" to some extent if s <S> /he gets the visa - in case your friend is detained on entry and not released (which is perhaps not very likely but possible).	As other answers indicate, your friend can apply for a visa.
Language used at passport control in Frankfurt international airport I will travel soon to Germany to attend a workshop at a university in Würzburg. The workshop is taught entirely in English. This is my first visit to Germany and I speak very little German. I was wondering if the officer at the passport control would ask questions only in German? If this was the case, could anyone please tell me what I should do then? <Q> I was there a month ago, speak no German, and had no problem communicating with them. <A> As soon as you give your passport to the officer, he/ <S> she will know whether you are a German citizen or not. <S> If you are a non-EU/EFTA citizen and on the right queue, the officer doesn't need your passport either to start talking in English. <S> The questions generally include the following topics: Purpose of your visit <S> Duration of your stay <S> Your return ticket <S> Your travels to other places (during your stay in the Schengen Area) <S> I had about 10 visits to Germany, two of them were to Frankfurt <S> , I have never got a question in German from the officers. <S> Maybe I said "danke" at the end of the conversation, that's all. <A> Being a German citizen, I can't really speak for travellers coming to Frankfurt from outside the EU. <S> However, most people you will get in touch with at a German airport will be able to communicate in English, at least at a basic level. <S> As others pointed out already, communication with officials may be minimal. <S> There is an article that describes the experience of arriving at Frankfurt Airport - How to Navigate Customs and Passport Control . <A> I've been to Germany many times as an exchange student and to visit friends, <S> my experience of Hamburg and Cologne international airports was that they spoke English just fine <S> , I doubt Frankfurt Intl is much different. <S> Mainland Europe has a substantially better education in foreign languages than England does, as a rule most people you encounter there will speak at least two languages. <S> I believe it's actually a major factor in being hired at international airports that you speak as many common or uncommon languages as possible, English being a pretty high priority. <S> If, by some terrible run of bad luck you encounter the one member of passport control who doesn't speak English, their first reaction will be to fetch someone who does. <S> In short, Don't worry about it. <S> You'll be fine. <S> What you should definitely be thinking about is your over-land travel arrangements to get from Frankfurt to Würzburg, I recommend compiling some common and emergency phrases on paper. <S> You'll probably still be fine, but the further east you go in europe <S> the less likely the people you meet are to speak fluent english. <S> Particularly bus-drivers and shop-keepers. <A> As already answered by others most if not all international airports have an English-speaking staff and especially posts like pass control/customs/immigration/check-in and other <S> directly exposed to various travelers will speak English without any problem. <S> I haven't been in Frankfurt but in Munich that works and that would be very surprising to be any different in other major German airports. <S> I recommend greeting the person in English when you approach them. <S> This way you clearly signal this is your preferred communication language. <S> I always do that and never have been responded other than in English. <S> This stands not only in the EU but also other major international airports (in my case these were Moscow Sheremetyevo and Kiev Borispol). <A> I travel a lot (maybe 15 times in last 3 years) to Kiev (Ukraine), Sofia (Bulgaria), and sometimes go through Frankfurt and other times Amsterdam. <S> I have never had an issue with English not being spoken even in the two destination airports. <S> Europe is more and more becoming an English-speaking area. <A> As a non-EU resident of Germany, I conversed in English with all the immigration officers I met in different airports of Germany in the last 3 years. <S> They include Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. <S> As pointed out by others, this is also the case with many other big cities of Europe. <S> I have had officers who spoke in English in the airports of the following cities: Milan, Naples, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Porto, Sofia, Bucharest and Saint Petersburg. <S> In Saint Petersburg though, a lady officer struggled to speak certain words and just got a dictionary from somewhere and told me whatever she wanted to convey. <S> So, no worries, they will always figure a way out to make sure the needful is done. <S> Safe trip! <A> I just came back from Europe. <S> The only place the officers didn't talk in English as soon as I got to them was in Spain, though they'd probably speak in English if i asked them to. <S> So i think you'll be ok. <S> At Frankfurt airport, every officer, security and shop i've been, they all spoke very good English.	As at most international airports in Europe, all of the passport control officers will speak English.
Are there other tram bistros like the cancelled U76 in Düsseldorf? Until 2014, you could have coffee and light breakfast on one of the tram lines in Düsseldorf, Germany . Unfortunately they have discontinued this long tradition since, for the last two years, no new business partner could be found. Are there any other cities with such regular tram bistro service, e.g., daily or on the weekend, and scheduled throughout the entire year, not just as a special tour? <Q> I know of at least two: <S> Colonial Tramcar Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia, three seatings per day every day. <S> More of a pub though, no food on offer. <A> Zürich has a gourmet tram line . <S> The food is seasonal (for example Fondue in the winter), and the food on offer is more 3-course-meal than coffee and small breakfast, which is reflected in the price too. <A> See https://event.vag.de/rundfahrten/ <S> (sorry, seems to be German only...) <A> Milan Tram ATMosfera drives on a daily basis for dinner . <S> I hope you are ok with that. <S> Company uses a historical rolling stock, adapted as a restaurant car. <S> https://atmosfera.atm.it/ <S> - Official site <S> https://www.tripadvisor.it/Attraction_Review-g187849-d1969079-Reviews-Tram_Ristorante_ATMosfera-Milan_Lombardy.html <S> - TripAdvisor reviews <A> They look like this supposedly: <A> In Frankfurt am Main exists the Äbbelwoi Express . <S> Not exactly a bistro, but serves the very local kind of cider. <S> It runs through most of the famous parts of the city. <A> Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch has some loops of tram track which are for tourism purposes, not for general-purpose public transportation. <S> Meal is a four course meal with drinks before and tea/coffee to finish. <S> The tram is Melbourne #411, built in 1927 and ran till 1982. <S> Refurbed in 1999 and started service in 2000 in Christchurch. <S> https://www.christchurchattractions.nz/christchurch-tramway-restaurant/ <S> Current Menu 2018 <S> https://www.christchurchattractions.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Spring-menu-beverage-list.pdf <S> At $109 NZ /person in 2018 <S> its definitely not a snack, and the whole meal takes about 2.5 hours over several orbits of the track. <A> There is also a regular daily service in Brussels the so-called Tram Experience. <S> Well strictly speaking not daily as it does not run on Mondays. <S> This is not a light breakfast, it is an evening meal catered by gourmet chefs. <S> https://visit.brussels/site/en/sites/tramexperience/m_article/concept <S> I have never used it so <S> cannot say what the food is like.	SpåraKoff in Helsinki, Finland, operates hourly in the afternoons during the summer season (May-September). The VAG in Nürnberg offers various special tram tours which include either coffe+ cakes, breakfast or a Schnitzel-dinner. Some of the cars on Аннушка (Annushka) route of Moscow tram are restaurant cars.
Can I live in Russia for the whole 3 years on a 3 year multiple entry visa? I'm an American, considering moving to Russia for a little bit, is there any restriction on that 3 year multiple entry visa that would prohibit me from actually just staying in Russia for the whole 3 years? I checked on https://www.visahq.com/russia/ and didn't see any restrictions, but just checking to make sure it isn't like a "90 days in, 90 days out" policy. <Q> No. <S> Any non immigrant visa is for non immigrant purposes even if it is valid for 10 years. <S> Even if you can’t find that specific limit somewhere there is definitely going to be one. <S> If you could use such a visa for prolonged stays it would kill the purpose of having any immigrant visas at all. <A> According to https://waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/3-Year-Russian-Visa-US-Citizens.html , a 3 year tourist visa allows you to stay up to 180 days each year. <A> I am unable to load the web pages of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the most authoritative source for your answer, but as a second-best source I went to the travel information site of the US Department of State . <S> On their information page for Russia , they say: Under a bilateral agreement signed in 2012, qualified U.S. applicants for humanitarian, private, tourist, and business visas should request and receive multiple-entry visas with a validity of three years. <S> Visas issued under the agreement permits stays in the territory of the Russian Federation for up to six consecutive months. <S> (Please note that other types of visas are not part of the agreement and those visa holders should pay close attention to the terms of their visas.) <S> The maximum period of stay is shown on the visa. <S> (emphasis in original) <S> So, if your visa is a three-year visa issued under this agreement, you can conclude that you are allowed to stay no more than six months on each visit. <S> That doesn't necessarily mean that you can re-enter Russia for a subsequent six-month visit immediately after ending a previous one. <S> Instead, if you want to stay in Russia for longer than six months, you should investigate a proper long-term visa. <S> The place to ask about that is Expatriates .	You must exit Russia before your visa expires.
Can I nest bags in my luggage? I'd like to put a filled backpack in my suitcase (for check-in luggage) along some other items -- this is to protect the items inside the backpack from damage. Is this allowed/any other potential issues I should know about? <Q> Yes. <S> This something I often do to carry specialty bags. <S> I have used this to pack camera bags that I will use at my destination, backpacks to use for hiking or as day pack, beach bags, etc. <S> My wife often packs some purses that match different outfits in too. <S> There two things to be mindful about with regards to security, since they can open bags for inspection: Make sure the inner bag can be opened too. <S> If you lock you bags using TSA locks, either do not lock the inner bag or use a TSA lock there too. <S> If you have items that are likely to be inspected, then better put those in the outer bag directly. <S> It will avoid them disturbing the contents of the inner bag and making a mess or simply leaving the items in the suitcase without putting them back in the inner bag. <S> From my experience, repacking after an inspection is not done very carefully. <S> Items with tubing, wiring, batteries are like to be inspected, so usually I place those in a different bag than fragile items. <S> I carry a tripod, for example, that almost always gets the bag inspected, so I put it so that it is easily visible when the suitcase is opened. <A> It's quite common. <S> You can find plenty of questions on this site with recommandations to do so, e.g. to have a bag for dirty clothes to separate them from the clean clothes. <A> As others have said, yes, it is perfectly fine to do so. <S> Last time I did this was only a couple of months ago, coming from Tbilisi to London. <S> I left London with two bags, as I was taking quite a bit of stuff there and had to pay for the second bag. <S> On the way back I only had a few personal items, so put them in the smaller suitcase and put the smaller one into the larger one. <S> It was still within allowed weight, so nobody asked anything.	A bag is not a restricted item and so you can back as many bags in your suitcase or another bag.
Why are some pedestrian traffic lights covered in shades in London? I recently visited London and noticed some pedestrian traffic lights are covered weirdly so they're only visible from some angles. Looking it up in a search here didn't bring up any results. Does anyone know why they're going through the trouble to do this? <Q> You are most likely to find the green light with shades on the far side of a pedestrian crossing with a safety island (i.e. a two-part crossings, most often offset to each other), as illustrated below (the o are the traffic lights): Kerb_____o------____ <- Shaded light . . <S> > <S> > <S> > <S> Traffic goes this way . <S> ._____\|=====o <S> ____ <S> The safety island <S> o=====\| . <S> . <S> < <S> << Traffic goes this way . <S> .___------o <S> ______ <- Shaded light Kerb Due to road layout and light configurations, sometimes it is only safe to cross half of the road (up to the safety island). <S> The shades ensure that you do not mistake the green light on the island as the signal to cross the entire road - you can only be sure that it is a green light (but not a broken light, which the general highway code on crossing a uncontrolled crossing kicks in) <S> once you are on the island. <S> I do not have a written source to back up what I said above, though I was told this by my driving instructor when I learnt to drive in London a few years ago. <A> These type of shades are not restricted to pedestrian traffic lights. <S> They are widely used in the UK when there are many lights controlling different streams of traffic around a junction. <S> Their purpose is to ensure that drivers (and pedestrians) can only see the lights that are relevant to them and avoid problems like traffic starting to move when another lane of traffic gets a green light. <S> The shutters are not always "horizontal" as in the OP's photograph. <S> They may be "vertical," to prevent you seeing a light positioned to the side of the light that is relevant for you. <A> We use these in the USA and that is the only place I have noticed them. <S> There are at least 2 general "shade" types, "visors" and "louvers". <S> Visors: Horizontal "shades" like the ones you posted are most likelyto block the sun overpowering the light as this intersectionprobably faces roughly East/West. <S> They also come in a few other shapes/forms. <S> The addition of a visor to a traffic-signal head that is in direct sunlight can improve visibility of the signal by providing additional contrast between the lens and the signal head. <S> There are different types of visors including complete circle (or tunnel), partial (or cutaway) and angle visors. <S> - Source Louvers: Louvers take many shapes but the most obvious is a vertical sort of"shade" like so. <S> A Louver's purpose is to restrict the viewing angle of the signal. <S> The purpose of a louver is to block the view of the signal from another approach. <S> They are similar to angle visors but are better in limiting signal visibility to a narrow cone to the front of the signal. <S> - Source <S> It is also worth mentioning that some visor designs work well for the same purpose as Louvers, however Louvers don't generally do a very good job as Visors.	Similar shades are installed on traffic lights for vehicles to reduce the risk of drivers running into an intersection thinking it is a green, when the light meant for the driver is showing red.
"There's been a change in your itinerary" - Why are the flights now longer? Last month I booked a flight on American Airlines for the end of December. Today I got an email from them stating that there had been a change in my trip, and here are the updated details of my flights. For both flights (IAD->LAX and LAX->SYD), the only change I can see is that the departure and arrival times have changed slightly (<30 minutes). The aircraft did not change either, but both flights are now longer! The first flight gained 49 minutes and the second flight gained 10 minutes. 10 minutes on a 15 hour flight is negligible, but adding almost an hour to what was a 5.5 hour flight seems like quite a lot! Why would an airline change their flight time so drastically, when seemingly nothing but the departure time has changed? <Q> The two most likely causes are a change in routing or a change in take off and landing slots. <S> Routes can change for various reasons, some may be longer or shorter. <S> They usually don't make that much of a difference to a short flight (although it can happen if one route had a better jetstream, those are usually variable) <S> These may be changed due for seasonal reasons, or because an airport rearranges to accommodate new bids for the most desirable time slots etc. <A> For any particular flight, you could look it up in FlightAware and see if there’s an annotation for the change. <S> Most probably not. <S> For any particular flight, Rory’s answer is likely correct - that it’s a gate scheduling issue. <S> However, there’s a general trend in the aviation industry to post longer flight times for the same routes than previously: <S> Airlines are flying airplanes slower to save fuel. <S> Back when there was competition and we used travel agents, the fastest flights would show first in SABRE and other databases but <S> as airlines monopolize routes and people sort by price and not time, there’s no reason not to slow down to save fuel. <S> Congestion at airports, cuts to maintenance, number of standby planes and crew, and other operational issue means they need to build in more buffer time for an ontime arrival. <S> No one likes to arrive late while arriving early seems a crowd pleaser. <A> Airlines sometimes make a push to improve their on-time statistics , and this usually includes publishing longer flight times, which will automatically improve the on-time performance for any flight not already running at 100%. <A> The accepted answer is incorrect. <S> We have slot controls at only a few U.S. airports, and neither LAX nor IAD is one. <S> The answer is that airlines adjust schedules all the time. <S> That's a big increase but not unprecedented. <S> There are so many interconnected factors at play that it's nearly impossible to get a neat answer.	Most likely is a rearrangement of logistics meaning take off or landing slots have changed meaning the aircraft needs to take less or more time to get to its slot.
How do I get around Istanbul-Atatürk airport when flying to Izmir? I'm making my first ever international trip in December. I'm flying from LAX (Los Angeles California) to Izmir Turkey..I have a layover in Istanbul it looks like my layover is an hour and a half long. I've heard how terrible this airport is, how rude people are to the Americans, and seriously delayed flights. Please help me figure out this leg of my travel after I land in Istanbul. How far do you think my connection flight will be from my incoming flight. Should I try to rebook my flight with a longer layover? If worse case happens can I catch a train from Istanbul to izmir? What do I need to know to fly international as an American? I have my passport already. Its brand spanking new so that's good. But I just feel so under prepared for this trip. <Q> Don't panic! <S> 1.5 hours should be OK as long as your incoming flight is not delayed. <S> If you do miss the connection, and you have a single ticket for the whole trip, you'll be put on the next flight to Izmir and there are plenty (hourly or so on Turkish). <A> I'm from India, but have flown often through Istanbul. <S> Istanbul has 2 airports, check which one you are landing in and if your connection is from the same airport. <S> 1.5 hours is fine, even in the bigger airport (Ataturk) <S> and there are plenty of flights to Izmir if your incoming flight is delayed. <S> I found the airport staff and Turkish people in general to be polite and friendly to foreign visitors of all nationalities. <A> If you look at Istanbul Atatürk airport on Google Maps, you'll see that it only has a single terminal measuring about 1.6km between the most distant gates - 1,5 hours layover <S> is plenty of time. <S> So pretty much the only thing that can make you miss the connection is if your first flight is delayed. <S> In that case, since you booked the flight as one, the airline has to get you to your destination, typically by putting you on a later flight, free of additional charges. <A> I've heard how terrible this airport is, how rude people are to the Americans, and seriously delayed flights. <S> If you look up reviews for <S> any airport in the world on the Internet, you'll always find some horror stories by some wronged passengers. <S> It's unfortunate, but it happens all across the world, and cannot be otherwise considering how many millions of passengers each major airport serves every year. <S> Think of it this way: if an airline flies to Atatürk, they deem it reasonably safe and convenient for their passengers. <S> And it just happens that over 60 airlines from all over the world fly to your destination. <S> What do I need to know to fly international as an American? <S> I have my passport already. <S> Its brand spanking new <S> so that's good. <S> But I just feel so under prepared for this trip. <S> You need not know anything in particular, but learning the basics of the language and the social etiquette will help, because not everyone will speak perfect (or any) English. <S> This is not a requirement in any way, but it will help you mentally prepare for the environment you'll be in and not feel too alienated. <S> Lastly, try to focus on the good things in your travel and avoid applying negative stereotypes. <S> Visiting a country with prejudice is a recipe for an unfulfilling trip and more problems along the way. <A> As already indicated in other answers or comments, if you have a single ticket for both legs and something goes wrong with the first leg, it is the airline's responsibility to get you to your booked destination, which will usually manifest itself by them putting you on a later flight on the second route if you miss the originally scheduled connection. <S> One important point not yet covered, however, is that, come December, you may not have to find your way around Atatürk airport . <S> There is a new airport under construction north-west of Istanbul proper that is scheduled to take over the role, airport code and operations of Istanbuls main airport by the end of October 2018 . <S> Atatürk Airport is supposed to be closed then. <S> For an airport allegedly so close to operation^, information relevant to would-be passengers is surprisingly hard to come by, but from the looks of it, the airport building is more compact than the one at Atatürk, so the maximum length between distant gates should be somewhat shorter. <S> ^ <S> Here is <S> at least one source casting the "full transition within 48 hours starting Oct 29, 2018" plan into doubt , predicting a more gradual transition. <S> Transport from your origin to your destination will still be the airline's responsibility, so that is still no cause for concern regarding your eventual arrival at the final destination (although an airport-to-airport transfer on Istanbul's European side within an hour and a half sounds somewhat less realistic).	Istanbul airport is generally just fine (much nicer than most American airports, in fact) and in my experience quite friendly.
Validity of German debit card in Switzerland I have a Deutsche Bank maestro debit card that i got in Germany with no magnetic strip, but a chip. I am traveling to Switzerland next week. Can I make transactions in hotel and restaurants in there with this card? If yes, will the deductions be in Euro or Swiss Franc? <Q> As zeocrash stated, Maestro is accepted pretty much all over the place. <S> In fact, my (Swiss) bank card uses the Maestro system if not used at an ATM of the issuing bank. <S> The terminals I have seen recently are all alike, and their primary contact with the card is the chip. <S> Most also allow for no-pin transactions up to CHF 40. <S> You might check the general terms and conditions for your card (should be available from your bank's website), about fees and commissions. <S> The exchange rate when using ATMs or Pay terminals is not that bad (maybe 2 to 3 cents more than the interbank rate). <S> When exchanging cash, most banks do it, but also train stations. <S> If you are in a place with several banks, and you have time, you might shop around, and if it feels good, ask about the commissions. <S> An example: the other day, I exchanged EUR 60 at the train station. <S> The commission was CHF 4, and I got CHF 61.50. <S> The exchange rate was around 1.10 CHF per EUR (which is not too bad at all for cash exchange). <S> If you are with friends you kind of trust, you might ask them which bank they are client of, and whether they would help you exchange. <S> Most Swiss banks have no commission for their clients. <S> At train stations, holders of a GA (Generalabonnement, national rail pass) will pay no commission. <S> It has been mentioned several times here, and I only can confirm it: When the ATM offers the transaction in the local currency and your home currency, always go for the local currency. <S> The difference may be considerable. <S> Many stores and hotels do accept EUR in cash (bills only), but the exchange rate may not be very good, and you will get the change in CHF. <S> Enjoy your time in Switzerland! <A> Maestro cards can be used in Switzerland and chip and pin is apparently in common usage there too. <S> That said, whether your particular hotel or restaurant will accept maestro is really up to the business itself, it's always worth checking before you start your meal <S> /stay whether that business accepts maestro card. <S> With regards to the currency, A lot of chip and pin machines will give you the option to select whether you want to pay in local currency or the card's currency. <S> You're nearly always better paying in local currency as it can avoid large commission fees added on by the vendor's bank . <A> UPDATE: <S> Now that I am in Switzerland, I wish to give an update. <S> If I choose the EUR option there, Deutsche bank is not deducting anything extra. <S> BUT in some shops, and the metro ticket booths, only CHF is shown. <S> And when I am doing the transaction, Deutsche bank is converting it to EUR AND then adding 1.5 EUR charge for each conversion. <S> So a 2.3 CHF ticket became 3.55 EUR(@1 EUR=1.12195 CHF). <S> This is a bit inconvenient, but I think I will lose some money anyway during conversion.	In some shops, and in the hotel I am staying, while paying with the German debit card, it is showing an option of EUR and CHF ( with already converted amount).
Difference between Economy (R) and Economy (L) I'm trying to book a flight, one of the segments says Economy (R) and the other one Economy (L). They are provided by the same air company, Air France if this information is useful. What is the difference between them? <Q> Economy Class on AF are the following: Within Europe: <S> Economy Flexible (U, K, H, L, T) - no minimum stay, cannot cancel, change with a fee Economy Flexible (W, S, A, Q, E, N, R, V, G) <S> - minimum stay required, cannot cancel, change with a fee Economy <S> Fully Flexible (Y, B, M) - no minimum stay, change possible, cancellation possible. <S> Intercontinental: <S> Premium Economy Fully Flexible (W) - no minimum stay, change free, cancellation possible Premium Economy (S, A <S> ) - minimum stay <S> (S: 2 days, A: 6 days); change (S: with a fee, A: not allowed); cancellation (S: with a fee, A: not allowed) Economy Fully Flexible (Y, B, M) - no minimum stay, change allowed, cancellation possible Economy Flexible (U, K, H) - minimum stay (U: 2 days, K: 4 days, H: 6 days), change possible (with a fee), cancellation possible (with a fee) Economy (L, Q <S> ) - minimum stay 7 days, change at a fee, <S> no cancellation Lowest Possible (Q, T, N, R, V) - minimum stay 7 days, <S> no change, no cancellation <S> You can find these on airfrance.com; search for "fare structure". <A> Even though there are only a maximum of 4 travel classes (also known as cabins), namely coach, premium, business and first, there are lots of different fares for each class. <S> Each fare has a code, and they are usually grouped in booking classes name after the first letter of the fare code. <S> Differences between fares may include: availability: on each flight, there’s a maximum number of seats available in each booking class. <S> As the flight gets fuller, the quotas for the cheapest fares will fill up, and you’ll have to book more expensive fares booking restrictions, such as having to book X days in advance, stay Y days at the destination, stay over the weekend at the destination, etc. <S> the ability to change or cancel your booking, and when allowed, the penalties/fees for doing so the number of frequent flyer miles you may earn your priority if there are any issues (overbooking, flight cancelled and you need to be rebooked...) <S> for some fares/routes, the ability to make a stopover (stay one or more nights at one of the connection cities), and the cost for those <S> the number/weight of included checked luggage the ability to combine that fare with others (for connecting flights or for outbound/inbound) available routings and probably a ton more. <S> In some cases, there are fare classes that are quite equivalent, but they just use different letters for different types of flights (e.g. short-haul vs long haul). <S> For coach, quite universally the most expensive fare is Y, which is normally an unrestricted, fully flexible, changeable, cancellable, and refundable fare. <S> All the other vary, and the “order” is quite variable. <S> While booking you will usually be presented with a a chart that explains the difference between the different options (especially when they try to sell you an upgrade). <S> You should also have a link somewhere about “fare rules” or “fare conditions” or something similar. <S> Note that it sometimes links to the full fare rules text which can be quite hard to understand. <A> These look like two different booking classes, having different fares, and rules concerning changing, cancelling, etc. <S> You might find more information on the Air France website, or if you look for the details for that segment.	The fare class differs for international or within Europe flights.
Can I reserve return tickets to a layover country and separately reserve return tickets from layover to my destination? I'm planning a trip from Seattle to Delhi. Can I reserve my tickets in such a way that I have return tickets from SEA -> BKK and separate tickets from BKK -> DEL. I intend to explore the city of Bangkok for couple of days during my onward journey. As an Indian citizen, would the bangkok officials allow me to do this given that I get a visa from their embassy for the days when I want to stay. On my return journey, I won't have much of a layover in bangkok (couple hours). Is this possible? Is this allowed? <Q> It is possible, provided that you get a visa as you describe. <S> However, you might not want to book separate tickets like this. <S> There are a few ways to book this trip, and while all will "work," some may be substantially more expensive than others: <S> One multi-stop ticket (single purchase transaction) covering (SEA->BKK; BKK->DEL; DEL->SEA). <S> The same, except three separate tickets. <S> SEA->BKK; BKK->DEL; <S> DEL->SEA <S> (as there are no direct flights from Seattle to Bangkok, you'll need to stop somewhere else on the way) Two separate tickets. <S> SEA->BKK and (BKK->DEL; DEL->SEA) <S> Two separate tickets, as you propose. <S> (SEA->BKK; BKK->SEA) and (BKK->DEL; DEL->BKK) <S> The problem with booking separate tickets is that you, not the airline, are responsible for your own connection. <S> If your flight is delayed, you could be responsible for the cost of rebooking, while with a single ticket, the airline is responsible for getting you there even if you miss your connection. <S> You'll usually have to claim and recheck baggage, which can require passing through immigration and customs (which may require a multiple-entry visa). <S> If baggage fees apply, you'll have to pay them again. <S> Also, if you need to change your flights, you'll likely need to pay multiple change fees, as each ticket is separate. <S> And in this case, since there are no direct flights from Seattle to Bangkok, it's not clear that it makes logical sense to fly back through Bangkok for your return flight; there are many one-stop routings between Delhi and Seattle. <S> Particularly if you have checked baggage, I'd avoid #4, because you'll likely need to claim and recheck your bags during your return flight. <S> If you do book separate tickets, I'd allow a long time between connecting flights to allow some margin for delays, and obtain a multiple-entry visa so you can enter the country on your return trip as well. <S> Finding good fares on multi-stop airline tickets is tricky (and sometimes impossible), and requires searching a lot of different combinations. <S> You might consider working with a travel agent (or a service like Flightfox ). <A> Sure it's allowed; I do that all the time. <S> Make sure you leave enough time between your 'connections' <S> - if you miss your 'connection' because your incoming flight is late, it is your problem, not the airlines, so 4 - 6 hours should be your minimum 'connection' time. <S> You should be aware that you need to pick up your luggage, and check it in for the next flight- <S> there will of course be no 'transfer'. <S> As others mentioned, depending on the countries and airlines, your plan can save you money or can turn out more expensive - make sure to check all variants (unless you are rich and don't care about the cost). <S> Sometimes a multi-destination ticket is cheaper. <A> Two hours is clearly not enough: it’s barely enough if everything goes according to plan, as you need to: exit <S> the plane get to passport control, wait in line and go through immigration <S> retrieve your bags and go through customs <S> go to departures and find the relevant bag drop/check-in <S> counter wait in line and drop your bags before the check-in deadline (often one hour before departure). <S> Four to six hours is the strict minimum, and even then, if your incoming flight is very late for whatever reason, you are on your own. <S> I would recommend you look into fares which allow a stopover (which is a special layover, usually over 24 hours, where you reclaim your bags and check them back in). <S> In your case, you would have a stopover on the way in, but a regular layover on the way out. <S> Fares with stopovers are not always easy to find. <S> Some airlines will be quite open about it, for others it’s <S> nearly impossible to book them without a travel agent. <S> Your best chance for a stopover is an airline which is based in the city where you need it, so Thai Airways is probably your best bet.	I agree with the other answers, you can definitely do it, but you need to be careful about short connections. Sometimes booking all one-way flights is the cheapest - because you can pick different airlines for each leg.
Passport Check in Swiss Trains? I will be travelling in Switzerland, and I am planning to leave my passport in the hotel. How often are random passport/visa checks in Swiss trains? Thank you in advance. <Q> It sometimes happens near borders (for example on the Zurich-Milan train, I was once checked between Lugano and Chiasso, both in Switzerland), but it's not a general phenomenon. <S> So if you want, you can keep your passport at the hotel, but do carry a laminated copy just in case (ID page <S> and, if applicable, pages with the entry stamp and visa) <A> Please be careful when it comes to making copies of official documents. <S> They may be considered an attempt to counterfeit. <S> But practically, this may make you loose some time if a policeman thinks he / she has a reason to check your identity. <S> Any other official document issued by your home country; preferably with a picture on it (driving license?) <S> may serve as a replacement ID. <A> If you travel using a Swiss Pass, or a Half Fare Card you will be asked to show a photo ID by the ticket inspector. <S> That means you may have to show your passport. <S> So I would suggest you keep it with you.	In Switzerland you are not required to carry any ID with you.
Bought connection tickets with not much leeway - am I guaranteed to board? I recently bought a flight from SFO-IAD through LAX on AA's website (not separately - both flights are under the same reservation). The SFO-LAX flight arrives at 20:56, but the LAX-IAD leg departs at 21:40. This is a very tight window, and less than what AA recommends on their website . Since I did buy both tickets from AA (and therefore wouldn't be checking in or checking luggage at LAX), am I guaranteed to board the second flight (barring exceptional circumstances)? <Q> No, you aren't guaranteed to board. <S> The second flight will endeavour to leave on time, regardless of the status of your incoming flight. <S> If you do miss the second flight, though, American Airlines will automatically book you in the next available flight. <S> This could be the next day. <S> Note also that even if you do make it to the second flight, there is a chance that any checked-in luggage won't. <A> Your connection is guaranteed in the sense that American has sold it to you as a single ticket (which means they at least consider it reasonably achievable if all goes well) and will honor it. <S> It is within the minimum connection time or they wouldn't have sold the itinerary. <S> But if there are delays and you don't make it before the boarding door closes, your primary recourse is a ticket on the next available flight out at no additional charge. <S> The feasibility of this will depend on your travel plans and the urgency of your need to be in IAD the next day: would being late mean a small annoyance or missing a once in a lifetime event? <S> You should also note American's policy for accommodations in such situations: <S> When your flight is canceled or a delay will cause you to miss your connection, we will rebook you on our next flight with available seats. <S> If the delay or cancellation was caused by events within our control or you were diverted to another city, and we don’t board to your final destination before 11:59 p.m. local time, we'll arrange an overnight stay at your connecting airport, if available. <S> If the delay or cancellation is caused by events beyond our control (like weather) <S> you are responsible for your own overnight accommodations, meals and incidental expenses. <S> American Airlines agents may be able to help you find a hotel. <S> Absent something obvious like a mechanical problem with the plane causing a delay <S> , the delay will likely be caused by events beyond their control, and any expenses from an overnight stay will be your responsibility (these may be covered by travel insurance or the insurance provided by some credit cards). <S> The times listed on the website you linked are intended for those arriving at the airport as new passengers, not connecting passengers, and do not apply in this case. <A> As others have stated, you are not guaranteed to board the flight on your booking; you are not even guaranteed to board any flight at all - the airline may decide to deny you boarding (although this would be very unlikely in your case). <S> What you should really ask about is how you'd make it to Washington if you miss your connection. <S> As both flights are on the same reservation, AA will simply put you on the next available flight (and, yes, it may be the next day, <S> moreover it may be to DCA, as once happened to me). <S> Generally, about 45 minutes for domestic to domestic connection on the same airline should be OK. <S> The airline would not have sold you the two flights on the same ticket knowing that the connection is not possible. <S> Anecdotally, I have managed just fine with an international to international connection in 45 minutes (in Munich) and have missed a 3-hour domestic-to-domestic connection (in Charlotte, NC).	You are not guaranteed to board, no, and it is unlikely the flight will wait for you. As best I can tell, American generally operates two flights a day on LAX-IAD, and yours is the second one, so if you miss the connection, your likely option is to wait 12 hours later until the next morning, or potentially take a late night flight out to CLT or DFW with an early morning connection to IAD.
Is a evening - night trip for star gazing around Osaka, Kyoto or Tokyo possible while using their metro? I'll be in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo for about a week at the start of November and would love to see some stars on a starry night. Unfortunately, I don't have a driver's license and I don't know anyone in those areas. I believe my best bet is to take a train out of the city for the opportunity. Since I already book my hotel in those areas, I don't want to stay overnight so I would like to come back after I take in the view. Is it possible to star gaze in this situation? Edit: I really appreciate the comments and suggestions for alternatives, but I'm focused on just those areas in Japan. <Q> I haven't lived in Osaka or Kyoto, but in Tokyo you could try Okutama Lake (a dam lake) in Okutama Town, which is in the most western part of Tokyo and away from the Metropolis. <S> According to this site (2016) it's one of the best places for stargazing in Tokyo . <S> Note that you also need to take a bus in addition to traveling most of the way by train. <S> This link provides more information including access. <S> I added below map in case you don't read Japanese. <S> You should take the bus at bus stop no.2. <S> A larger map (Japanese) can be found here . <S> There is a timetable in <S> this link and this link . <S> I added below diagram to show you the available trips to the lake. <S> From the above timetable, there are only 3 trips on Weekdays and 2 trips each on Sat/Sun/Holidays, the latest leaving at 15:32 from Okutama Station. <S> But you don't have to worry about having to leave early as there are trips back to Okutama Station at night as shown below: <S> So from the lake to Okutama Station, on Weekends you can take the 19:18 or 20:18 bus, and on Sat/Sun/Holidays you can take the 19:37 or 20:17 bus. <S> Hope that the weather will be fine if you decide to go. <S> Enjoy but careful not to miss your ride! <A> Is it possible to star gaze in this situation? <S> No. <S> Japan is a very highly densely populated country, and very highly developed. <S> Therefore, it has a very large amount of light pollution. <S> The cities you are visiting are some of the largest cities in the world. <S> ; for trains, such a service is extremely rare / essentially non-existent). <S> See this darksitefinder map that Michael Seifert linked in his comment. <S> You mentioned that you live in New York. <S> For stargazing reasonably close to your home, I recommend the Adirondack Mountains when skies are clear. <A> It depends on your expectations, the weather and the time the sun sets. <S> Although I never saw anything near the clarity of the night sky in comparison to places like rural Quebec, I was able to see many stars once outside of Japanese cities. <S> Indeed the cities you've mentioned are quite large and have accordingly large light pollution. <S> It seems unlikely that you'd get a satisfactory view on a metro line. <S> Trains are quite good in Japan so if may still be possible to have the experience using a regional train. <S> The main caveat is that public transportation stops running rather early in Japan <S> so you'll need to plan carefully to make sure you have time, especially during summer when the sun sets later. <S> Of course you'll also need to consider cloud cover, since it's not uncommon for the sky to be overcast in Japan. <S> One place I was able to see a decent amount of stars was near Yamanashishi, despite some local light pollution. <S> Yamanashi is about two hours outside of Tokyo by train. <S> Specifically, there is a great view from the pools of the Hottarakashi Onsen which is about an hour hike up the mountain from Yamanashishi Station. <S> The last train back to Tokyo leaves around 10p, so this may only be doable as a day trip in winter when it gets dark early.	You might get some reasonably good night skies in remote corners of Japan such as on Hokkaido, but you can't reach any of those for an evening trip, in particular not with a destination reachable by public transportation, which are always populated places (in some areas, buses may be able to drop off passengers along the road away from official stops, I've seen this in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, but I don't know if this works in Japan
In the Vienna-Bucharest train, info about border crossings, paying for snacks and sleeping car amenities I will soon ride towards Bucharest from Austria using the Dacia Express train, on Vienna to Bucharest route. The usual expert sources (seat61) deliver valuable info; anyway, I still have doubts on the following points: The trip is pretty long as the train leaves around 7pm and arrives at 3pm the next day. So far, I could understand that a cafe car is attached to the train for the Romanian portion of the trip. Are international credit cards or cash in Euros accepted? This can be useful to know if going to the currency exchange office beforehand is needed. Do the sleeping cars have showers at car ends? I booked a regular bed in a 3-berth room, unlike deluxe compartments which have en-suite bathrooms.Using the ÖBB booking system, I only had choice between 3-person and single occupancy, with no mention of standard/deluxe or 2-person possibilities as it is usual in sleeping cars. Lastly: the train crosses two borders. I heard stories, that happened a few years ago, of passengers waking up at odd hours as requested by armed officers for passport checks. Is it still the case today? Thanks! <Q> Back from the trip, then... here are the facts! <S> We actually had the border checks at respectively 3am (Hungary) and 4am(Romania). <S> Customs officials were rather professionally behaved even if these were odd hours! <S> I did not check the presence of a dining car as I bought food beforehand. <S> But, getting of to stretch my legs at Brasov, I had seen a "Bar-Bistro" on the train. <S> The sleeping car cabins are pretty nice. <S> Pillows are quite big, much bigger than the Austrian ones from ÖBB Nightjets! <S> The sleeping car used is a Romanian "vagon de dormit". <S> The car had a shower in the communal bathroom but it missed a showerhead and no water was coming out. <S> Attendant told me that it was due to some things that broke down and were not fixed. <S> A funny thing, the double doors that are located at the end of the car and typically communicate with the next car, or, in this case, are the extremity of the train, were tied together through their handles using zip-ties! <S> The window blind was not blocking light, It was more resembling a sun shade like those found on daytime trains. <S> The cabin next to mine, a 2-bed room with en-suite shower, was not sold. <S> I could open it at the end of the trip and bedding was untouched. <S> It was not offered on the AUstrian railways system, though. <S> Seems odd. <S> The car was a bit worn and refubished with bright LED lights everywhere, of that cold white light. <S> Some of the fixtures seemed a bit DIYed, especially the night light next to the bed; my was not working. <S> Same goes for the electrical outlets. <S> Actually, it if was not for the hammer-banging during the 10pm stop at Budapest and the customs stop, the experience was pretty nice. <S> Beds were really comfortable; I could sleep late and still enjoy it. <A> Regarding the border: yes, there are two border checks at the Hungarian-Romanian border, which take place at night. <S> First, at Lökösháza, Hungarian police come onboard and check/stamp passports/IDs, then at Curtici the same is done by Romanian police. <A> Don’t expect any cooked food in the food wagon, they usually have chips and sandwiches, water, juice and coffee. <S> You could use plane from Timisoara to Bucharest to shorten the travel time. <S> Ticket price for airplane is almost the same as the one for train.	The sleeping cars do not have showers, they only have a wc (which is dirty most of the time).
Helping friend with luggage at London Euston I have a friend catching a train at Euston. He's got more luggage than he can easily handle by himself. I want to help him get his luggage to the train. He's being met by another friend at his destination who will help from the train. I understand that the mainline platforms at Euston have ticket barriers. Is there a procedure to give me access to the platform to help him. Back when I was a lad one could obtain a platform ticket for this purpose. Do such tickets still exist, and how would I get one at Euston. I found the following very reasonable statement on Department of Transport website. At stations with a CTA, operators must make arrangements for people who are not travelling to be allowed into the part of the station covered by the CTA, if they have a good reason. This includes people who are meeting passengers, seeing passengers off or helping them with luggage So I think it should be possible to help my friend, just not sure how to make sure that I can. <Q> Ticket barriers still have to be manned, because a human is still needed to deal with tickets that have got demagnetised, those where the magstripe was never correctly written in the first place, creased/crumpled tickets, jammed readers, and so on. <S> Cambridge has a CTA, and I've never been refused access without a ticket to the platform when I had a reason to want to go (helping with luggage / meeting elderly or young travellers / confirming someone departed on the right train / etc.). <S> The person manning the barrier just overrides the gate so I can enter without a ticket, then remembers me and lets me out when I reappear a few minutes later. <S> I can confirm that platform tickets no longer exist, because I asked. <S> Ask (for access) and ye shall receive, I strongly suspect. <A> It is actually in theory still possible to get a platform ticket at most stations, but I can count on one hand the number of stations where I've required one to go through the barrier without catching a train (but I did once meet someone who collects platform tickets and had managed to get one at almost every station!). <S> My inclination is the same as in MadHatter's answer - to go to the barrier (some platforms have barriers, some platforms have gates staffed by Virgin employees checking tickets). <S> Best case, it won't be manned and you'll just be able to walk through. <S> I'd expect in most cases though the person will understand you're helping someone with luggage and let you through. <S> You can try to buy a platform ticket from the ticket office but it's unlikely to make a difference between not being allowed on the platform and being allowed on the platform (I've certainly not heard of it doing so at Euston particularly in recent years). <S> I imagine at Euston they get many such requests due to the number of people who will be travelling long-distance, so I imagine they'll be used to granting them. <S> Worst case, I imagine they'll have a member of staff available to give such assistance in the event that they deny you access to the platform. <S> Your reference to CTAs is not strictly-speaking relevant because Euston is not a Compulsory Ticket Area to my knowledge (someone correct me if I'm wrong), even though it might act like one in practice because of the barriers! <A> The issue to bear in mind at Euston is that the platform numbers for many services are not announced until a relatively short time before departure, maybe ten minutes or so. <S> Also, there's a separate entrance for each platform or pair of platforms (apart from 1-3 and 8-11 which are entered via automatic gates) and the gate may not be staffed and opened until that time. <S> This means that you won't know where you need to go or <S> which staff member you will need to ask until shortly before the train leaves, and at busy times you will be among a large number of people queuing to get from the concourse on to the platform. <S> So I would definitely advise being there in good time to check whether you can buy a platform ticket, because if you are refused entry to the platform without one you may well not have time to go back and get one. <S> The fact that everyone else will be boarding the train at the same time means that if you are refused entry to the platform I think there's a fairly good chance that your friend will be able to ask another passenger to give him a quick hand with his luggage - unless he's travelling on a busy route at a busy time, such as a Manchester or Scotland service on a Friday evening, in which case they may be more concerned with getting on as fast as possible themselves for the best chance of a seat. <S> If that's the case you'll definitely do well to try and be at the front of that queue. <A> I dealt with similar situations several years back at a different station. <S> What I did was trough a gate but make sure I nod my head <S> "Hi" to a member of staff, on my way back I went back trough the same gate. <S> The guy started asking me for my ticket, but by the time I opened my mouth to say "I was never on a train, just sending someone else off <S> " He remembered he just saw me several minutes ago and let me pass. <A> As a data point, we had no problems, got my friend and his luggage onto the train with no difficulty. <S> This is what actually happened on the day: Park in underground car park at Euston. <S> This car park will be closed from 15th Oct 2018 due to HS2 construction - parking would then be much less convenient. <S> Trailed our way to the lift seeing no trolleys or signs for the same. <S> Later, I heard that there are trolleys to be had near the taxi rank. <S> Lift to concourse, still no trolley. <S> Various brands of ticket machine to be seen, the ones we tried had no apparent way to buy a platform ticket. <S> Went to ticket window and were were told just to ask person at barrier. <S> Friend was travelling to Manchester on Virgin trains - other brands have different procedures. <S> For the Manchester train, platform is shown. <S> Join queue. <S> Two staff scanning barcodes, no auto barriers here. <S> Ask permission to help friend to train: no problem, go right ahead. <S> Deposit friend at their seat, luggage in the rack. <S> All good. <S> Go back past bar code reading staff, say thank you, they remember me and wave me on my way. <S> Get stuck in unstaffed car park! <S> Net: If there are trolleys they are not easy to find. <S> If one can get a platform ticket it's not obvious from where.	Virgin platform staff are helpful and seem happy to allow people to help with luggage.
Cannot book train from Budapest to Bucharest I am looking to book a ticket from Budapest to Bucharest on board the 473 Ister train operated by Hungarian railway ( https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en ) departing Dec 6th 2018. The website mentions that bookings open 90 days in advance but it does not list any tickets for Dec 6th (the last date for which tickets are available are Dec 5th). It has been this way for quite a few days now. It is highly unlikely that the entire train is sold out for this date (or for any dates post Dec 5th since they all show tickets not available) I have sent an email to Hungarian Railway asking them the cause and an automated reply that I got back said it takes anywhere from 1-3 months for them to get back. I was wondering if any experts can help here. I understand European timetable changes on Dec 8th. But Dec 6th should still be listed. <Q> As of now (5 October 2018) tickets on this route are available until 8 December 2018. <S> In response to your comment, about not being able to book the ticket. <S> I think that MÁV could invest some time in training their web page developers with some user experience improvement. <S> The exact steps are these: Select "Budapest Keleti [Budapest-Keleti]" as your departure station. <S> Select "BUCURESTI [Bucureşti Nord] <S> " as your destination station. <S> Choose your date of travel. <S> Click the "Search" button. <S> Make the choices about how you want to travel and then enter your date of birth (make sure you use the format yyyy.mm.dd, including leading zeros if necessary). <S> NB: <S> I could not do this in Google Chrome <S> and I am using an older version of IE. <S> Click the button "Tickets and Prices". <S> Click the tiny down arrow next to "Further Information" Click in the radio button in your train's line. <S> Click the "Ticket to the cart" button <S> You now need to create a login for MÁV. <S> Click on the "Registration" link and fill in your details, then sign in and pay. <S> Enjoy your trip! <A> Even if Hungarian railways generally sell tickets 90 days in advance, they are for international tickets likely bound by a combination of the restrictions of all participating trains operators. <A> The following is the reply I received from Hungarian Railways. <S> So guess I should wait for a few days/weeks before I try again.	I would simply wait a few more days and assume that tickets for the 6th of December will be made available for booking soon. I tried to book the Romanian part of the journey on the CFR web site (they do not offer international connections there) and Romanian railway tickets can obviously only be booked 60 days in advance.
How to wash hands if tap water is too hot? A few days ago I settled in the UK and noticed that hot tap water was not specific to Heathrow Airport. The only option in some toilets (e.g. in restaurants) is "tooooo hot" water. I cannot touch so hot water for even one second, otherwise it is painful. How can I wash my hands if hot water is the only option? <Q> As a British person I can say in this instance I just splash my hands, or move them in and out of the water stream very quickly. <S> I would do in the winter when it is very cold, too, even when both taps are present, because splashing quickly with too hot water is often preferable to ice cold water. <S> Also try using a different sink, because water usually cools in the pipes and/or takes a while to heat up, so you can often get a few seconds of cooler water if nobody has used the sink for a few minutes. <A> If it is not possible to mix with cold water, I would suggest getting some toilet paper wet and use that (afrer cooling down) like wet nappies. <A> If the water temperature hurts you, and there aren't other options, you simply don't wash your hands with that tap. <S> I don't see many solutions... <S> Use an hand sanitizer or some kind of cleaning tissue.. <A> The general idea is that you plug the sink, and then fill it with both cold and hot water so the temperature in the water in the sink becomes manageable. <S> You then wash your hands in the sink, and unplug it at the end. <S> However not all sinks can be plugged (especially in public bathrooms), or you don't always have time to do the whole process. <S> If your hand can manage cold water, then one of the way is to form a cup with your hand, fill it with cold water, then quickly move your hand with the cold water in it under the hot water to warm the contents up to a more comfortable temperature - the cold water in your hand will make sure you won't burn yourself. <S> You'll then use the moderate water in your hand to do what you want, and repeat the process until you are done. <S> If you're in the UK in accommodation where you have access to the boiler (like in some AirBNBs), you can also probably change the water temperature to be more moderate, so the water from the hot taps will not burn your hands outright. <S> Don't forget to ask your landlord first if it's okay to change the settings as well, and note that if the property has a thermostatic shower and not an electric one this might affect it's operation as well. <S> Also this is a short term solution, as the setting should be set back to it's original value occasionally to make sure the water temperature is high enough to kill harmful bacteria <A> A metal water bottle may work. <S> Something like this <S> : Fill it. <S> It will take a few minutes to cool down but it is an option. <A> If this is a common enough problem for you (and there is no hand sanitizer dispenser), you could carry hand sanitizer with you. <A> I agree with SLC's answer : <S> As a British person I can say in this instance I just splash my hands, or move them in and out of the water stream very quickly. <S> Doing something like this also works with a ordinary flame, too, e.g. you can pass a finger quickly through the flame of a candle. <S> Do it quickly (and repeatedly if necessary) <S> : when your hand touches or passes through the water then it will instantly get wet, but not have time to absorb too much heat (note the difference between "temperature" and "heat", e.g. you can touch the outside of a metal kettle at 100C as long as you only do it very briefly). <S> It's annoying to have to do it <S> (I'd rather have cold or warm water than hot -- having only too-host may be unsafe e.g. for children) but feasible. <S> This is assuming the temperature is only 60C or so (if it approaches boiling I fear even a drop would scald instantly). <S> This graph ... <S> Hot Water Burn and Consumer Safety <S> Chart ... suggests that at 65C it will scald ⚠ <S> after 2 seconds -- however a fraction of a second might be safe. <A> There is sometimes a hand sanitizer dispenser that you can use instead of the taps. <S> I'm not sure I'd claim it's common, but there are enough places that have them that it's worth looking out for. <S> Often, it'll be in some random place on the wall, like by the door. <S> Soap and cold water is just as effective at killing germs as soap and hot water. <A> Carry a small (100-200ml) plastic spray bottle with you. <S> Fill it slowly then spray it on your hands. <S> The spray will be a lot cooler than the water. <S> Of course you'll have to carefully rinse of the outside of the bottle between hands and <S> when you've finished to ensure removal of cross contamination from your hands (because the outside of the bottle will have touched the hand you haven't washed yet). <S> Water has to legally be 'stored' at higher than comfortable temperature to obviate the risk of legionnaires' disease, but cold water is almost always available, perhaps you were unlucky or the facility was broken. <S> If you are unable to properly was your hands in an eating establishment after using the toilet that raises more serious health and safety issues about the establishment. <S> If you didn't you should have left a written comment for the management. <A> You can rapidly cool the water by turning it into a mist. <S> You can do this by putting a spoon under the tap. <S> The reason it works is because you are increasing the surface area of the water which has greater contact with the cooler air around it. <A> There's usually a cold tap right next to the hot tap. <S> My strategy is to cup my hands, fill them with cold water and add just enough hot water for the mix to be at a comfortable temperature.	Alternatively, if there is a cold tap at the sink, you can just wash your hands with that.
French citizen visiting Canada through USA So to explain my situation the best I can. I'm currently residing in the USA (ESTA visa) and I'm planning on moving to Canada for a week or so to do job interviews and whatnot before moving for good. 2 questions: - Can I exit and re-enter Canada as many times as I want during that time limit? Since I'm getting to Canada by car I do not need a visa, however, I want to make sure that my stay can be up to 6 months and not 3 like I have been told. <Q> As a French citizen you can be admitted to Canada without a visa as a visitor for either tourism or business. <S> Going to a job interview is an allowed activity. <S> When you show up at the border the officer decides how long you will be allowed to stay, based in part on your reason for bring there. <S> That can be for up to six months but may be shorter. <S> When you leave Canada and attempt to reenter you have to go through the process again. <S> You explain your reason for being there, and the officer decides how long to admit you for. <S> If you have recently been in Canada it will likely be less than six months. <S> If you do it too frequently or for too much time you may be suspected of trying to live in Canada through repeated visits, in which case you would be denied entry. <S> Which brings us to your reason for being in Canada. <S> Six months is a long time to spend job hunting, <S> so I have to point out that you cannot work in Canada without a permit, for any length of time at all. <S> You or your employer would need to apply for a work permit once you had found a job. <S> Failing to do that can get you deported and banned. <S> Once you have the work permit a six month limit would not be a problem, nor would reentry. <A> There is a somewhat poorly conceived rule that is designed to prevent people from making short trips to Canada to get around the 90-day limit, so if the total time you'll spend in both countries is longer than 90 days then you might indeed run into trouble trying to get into the US. <S> I suppose that would be a reason for someone to say that your stay would be limited to three months. <S> One thing to note about that rule is that it's discretionary. <S> If you're spending more time in Canada then than the US then you might have a good chance of the CBP officer letting you back into the US even if you would run afoul of the rule. <A> Officer at the boarder will decide how long you can stay really. <S> Based on average of 5 entries. <S> 4 <S> out of 5 I have been granted entry for 6 months. <S> The one time I was granted exactly 2 months <S> wasn't that big of a deal really. <S> Since you can always apply for extension online. <S> It was the officer inexperienced with my passport (Officer: <S> First time I see a passport like that). <S> Applying to extend your stay online can take up to 4 months sometimes. <S> But during that time you are considered an implied status. <S> Implied status means you should stay in Canada. <S> If you leave then your extension application will be cancelled. <S> You should have an address that they can mail your visit extension permit to. <S> You should prove having enough funds to support your extended stay. <S> More on how to apply to extend your stay is at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/extend-stay.html	I have entered Canada multiple times and it is totally up to the officer. As a visa waiver program visitor in the US, you are limited to a 90-day stay.
Should I say hello to the passport control officers, or just quietly give them my passport? What is the etiquette? What do the passport control officers expect? I’m asking from the point of politeness and efficiency. <Q> I’m a former Immigration Officer myself (in the UK). <S> Saying “hello” (or “good morning/evening” etc) is entirely appropriate, just like any other encounter in the English-speaking world. <S> It distinguishes us from machines, acknowledging the human interaction. <S> In other words, if you did not greet the officer then you may as well be using one of the automated passport gates. <S> You will frequently find the officer initiating the contact anyway. <S> If the officer greets you, make sure to greet them back - otherwise you will appear rude. <S> It’s just like any other human encounter. <S> I agree with what others have said though: beyond the initial greeting, don’t bother to engage in small talk (“how are you today?”), when the queue is long. <S> Just say hello while handing over your passport, and thereafter answer any questions. <S> We also appreciate it if the passport is passed already open at the bio-data (photo) page for EEA/Swiss nationals; or if you’re a visa national, with the relevant visa page already open. <A> If they say hello (good morning / good evening / etc.) <S> when you walk up, say hello back. <S> If they say "Hi, how are you today?" then answer them. <S> If they just say "passport please", just hand over your passport. <S> If they don't say anything, just quietly hand over your passport. <S> but I'm sure if you do <S> n't they won't be particularly put out by it. <S> From the point of view of efficiency, make sure you know what documentation they will require at that particular point and have anything they might need to see from you to hand. <S> It may just be passport, it may also be a landing card that you have to fill out before you get to the desk, they may want to know your flight number, details of your return itinerary, or ask about where you are staying. <S> You don't need to offer any of this documentation until it is asked for, but if you have all your travel related documentation in one easily-accessible location in your hand luggage, you will save yourself and them time if they need to ask you for anything else. <S> From the point of view of somebody who is sitting there for however many hours <S> one of their shifts is, I'm sure what they mainly want is for you to hand them what they need with minimal fuss and go on your way once they've ticked whatever boxes need ticking. <A> Saying hello indicates you speak at least some English, which avoids the need for the immigration officer to ask. <S> They may be interested in your accent - if you have a characteristic accent from some part of the country you're visiting, but have not lived in that country, they may be suspicious. <S> The same could apply if you try to speak a little of the local language that is not normally learned by tourists. <S> In the pre-Schengen days, a German friend who had taught himself some Danish was treated with suspicion at the Danish border as they suspected him of living there without being documented. <S> As a Scot, I find it useful to exaggerate my Scottish accent at US immigration. <A> I'll often try to use the local version if I know it. <S> Once finished, usually a thank you and/or goodbye. <S> Beyond that, it's up to them. <S> I wouldn't go into any "how are you today" or anything like that unless they initiate it. <S> They see hundreds or thousands of people, they're often not really in the mood for a chat, though this depends a bit on the culture, a bit like when you're greeted in a store: in the US for instance, you will annoyingly be asked how you are today by every single person within 10 feet, and some (but not all) <S> US CBP officers will do the same. <A> There's no particular etiquette. <S> I usually say "Hello" or "Hi" when when I hand over my passport: it's a friendly thing to do and, <S> in non-English-speaking countries, it hints that I'd like them to speak English to me. <S> (Though they'd probably guess that from my British passport.) <A> Depends on the country. <S> In the UK and US, for example, the officers greet me (and/or me them) whereas in former Yugoslavia, Albania, Moldova, Turkey and Georgia, they never say a word to me. <S> The same is true IME when entering/exiting Singapore at Woodlands. <S> In the Schengen Area it varies. <S> (for what it's worth, I'm on a Swedish passport/ID card) <A> The last time I faced a passport control officer was at Barajas Airport <S> (Madrid/Spain).It was my second time there <S> and I felt SO happy that my smile was covering my whole face as I got off the plane and walked thru the customs hall. <S> When the agent noded me to walk five steps towards him and present him my passport <S> I greet him smiling and he smiled me back with sympathy as he asked me the purpose of my trip. <S> We are all human. <S> They have an awful job: looking for delinquent and terrorist among tons of happy tourists or angry business travelers. <S> I can understand that they do not smile a lot at work, but you can show them a nice smile and say "Hi, good morning". <S> It will not harm anyone. <S> ;)	I personally (nearly) always say hello (just hello) while handing over my passport, even if they don't say anything. In most other places it won't go further than hello (if that) unless they have questions. There's no strict rule. I usually say thank you when they hand everything back at the end
If I can get a US emergency passport in the UK, can I use it to travel to Poland and Spain? I'm in London, would like to travel on to Poland and Spain, however my passport expires in slightly less than 3 months, which is a problem. I think I may be able to get something called an 'emergency passport' (emergency travel document?) from the US Embassy, but don't know if that will allow me to travel on into Poland and Spain. Any advice is appreciated, thanks. <Q> Update: I received an emergency passport from the US Embassy in London - <S> the process was very efficient and took slightly more than an hour. <S> Passport control entering Poland took maybe 5 extra minutes scrutinizing my passport and asked why it was different, but then let me enter the country with no problems. <S> Also no problems traveling on to Spain. <S> Coming home to the states the automated passport scanner at the global entry kiosk in PHL wouldn't scan a passport without a chip, but it allowed me to manually enter the data. <A> According to Timatic (the system most airlines use to verify visa/passport requirements), both countries do allow the use of emergency passports : <S> Passport : Passport required. <S> Passport Exemptions: Nationals of USA with an emergency passport. <S> From a validity perspective, all documents must have a validity of 3 months beyond your period of stay. <S> Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be valid for a minimum of 3 months beyond the period of intended stay. <S> Keep in mind that if you intend to enter the Schengen region via another country then you will also need to check their requirements as they could potentially be different (although in general most of the Schengen countries have very similar requirements) <A> Poland and Spain both require passport validities of 3 months beyond the period of stay. <S> Emergency passports are issued for varying validity periods, usually up to six months and occasionally more . <S> If you get an emergency passport with validity three or more months beyond your planned stay then you are fine.	Many countries do not allow emergency passports for entry, however it appears that both Poland and Spain do.
How would the airline carrier compensate if the change in flight schedule breaks my entire itinerary? I planned a trip to Europe this December and booked the flights quite in advance. A few days ago they sent an email informing me that a flight has been cancelled and they offered a different flight or refund of the booking amount. However there are several other booked flights (with different carriers) and hotel bookings which would suffer because of this change. Here's my itinerary:- Delhi (DEL) to Milan (MXP), Air Italy, dep. Sunday, 6am India time Milan (MXP) to Rome (FCO), Air Italy, dep. Sunday 12.45pm Italy time Rome (CIA) to Athens (ATH), Ryanair, dep. Monday, 10am Italy time Return: Athens (ATH) to Rome(CIA), Ryanair, Thursday Rome (FCO) to Milan (MXP), Air Italy, dep Friday, 9.40am Italy time Milan (MXP) to Delhi (DEL), Air Italy, dep Friday, 4pm Italy time Delhi (DEL) to Hyderabad (HYD), Indigo, dep Sunday Of course the onward and return journey is separated by a few weeks. Not mentioning the dates due to privacy reasons. They informed about two cancellations:Delhi to Milan (onward - Sunday)and Milan to Delhi (return Friday) However they offer these flights on different days which totally break my itinerary which might cause me missing the connections of good amount of money to get other flights rescheduled. I tried to communicate with them but Sent messages on whatsapp but I'm not receiving response after one reply Sent a couple of email on separate days but didn't get a reply Couldn't get connected on Phone. It is causing a lot of stress. What can I do about it? I'd like to know what are my rights regarding how airlines is bound to (1) attend to customer communications, (2) offer multiple alternatives which do not break the itinerary, and (3) offer additional compensation for additional costs involved (hotels, other flights re-schdeuled). <Q> I'm afraid that, because you booked your Air Italy and Ryanair flights separately, your connections are not the airline's concern . <S> Air Italy is obliged to offer you a choice between alternative transport to your destination (which does not have to be on the same days etc) or a full refund. <S> That's it. <S> You can try to negotiate for better flights than the ones they're offering you, maybe even an alternative connection straight to Athens, but at the end of the day you can't force them. <S> You are not entitled to any compensation. <A> Your only option is to pick an earlier flight so your itinerary is not messed up. <S> In Europe we have usually a very good compensation system for denied boarding and cancelled flights. <S> You can check up on the rules if you search for passenger rights. <S> SADLY, it does not apply to you , since you have booked each flight on their own and also the airline informed you well ahead of time (> 14 days) <S> The General rules for refunds in Europe are as follows ( <S> Any flight leaving Europe and any European Airline flying to Europe): <S> Cancelation < 14 days of flight / denied boarding (even with alternate flights, but refunds may be reduced if you get there in time) <S> / Flight Delayed > <S> 3 H : <S> full refund AND compensation based on distance traveled between 250 and 650 € (Cash, not vouchers) <S> Hotel in case of needed overnight food/phone calls in case of delay <S> > <S> 3h <S> Claiming these benefits you need to contact the executing airline. <S> I suggest you do not use any 3rd party website in order to claim, since they take a cut of the refunds and its only 2 emails or so to get the compensation. <S> Unforseen events may void this. <S> Plane breakdowns are not unforseens/unexpected since they happen all the time. <A> Assuming you paid 'Air Italy' just once, the good news is that your contract with 'Air Italy' is to get you from Delhi to Rome and back again. <S> If they cancelled the DEL-MXP legs, they should be offering you an alternative. <S> They have NO responsibility for the Ryanair flights or the Indigo flight to Hyderabad, assuming you paid separately for these. <S> To echo some of the other replies and comments: Why would you want to fly such a complex routing, when many airlines seem to offer Delhi to Athens with just a single stop? <S> A complex routing like this is big a chance for something to go wrong: delays, cancellations, lost luggage, endless hanging around in foreign airports, and perhaps the need for a transit visa as well. <S> An added complication is that once in Rome, you would need to collect your luggage, transfer to another airport and check in your luggage again. <S> Also, if you are a non-EU passport holder, flying Ryanair has the added difficulty of needing to visit their special desk so your visa can be 'validated' before they will let you board.	If 'Air Italy' can reschedule you to arrive in Rome before the Ryanair flight to Athens (and also reschedule your departure from Rome after your Ryanair flight arrives), you might be able to keep the other flights.

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