Tag: travel

Can I travel domestically within the United States with my USA expired passport?

The TSA explicitly allows people to travel without ID. The following is taken from https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification:

In the event you arrive at the airport without valid identification, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly. The TSA officer may ask you to complete a form to include your name and current address, and may ask additional questions to confirm your identity. If your identity is confirmed, you will be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint. You may be subject to additional screening.

You will not be allowed to fly if your identity cannot be confirmed, you chose to not provide proper identification or you decline to cooperate with the identity verification process.

TSA recommends you to arrive at least two hours in advance of your flight time to allow ample time for security screening and boarding the aircraft.

As I noted in a comment, I once traveled with someone who did this. She is a US resident (non-immigrant) with no official ID issued by any US entity, and she forgot her passport at home. They checked some of her credit/bank cards (and maybe her work ID, if I recall correctly), and let her fly. I think it took about 10 minutes, maybe 15, to get past the ID check. On the way home, it only took a minute or so extra.

I would therefore recommend that you bring everything you can that has your name on it, including your expired passport. They may reject it because it is expired; the page quoted above does say that the ID must be “valid.” The expired passport may nonetheless lend weight to your claim, and it certainly won’t hurt it.

Also bring bank cards, library cards, employee ID, social security card, birth certificate, school records, anything you can readily get your hand on. The worst possible outcome would be to leave something at home only to be told that you would have been allowed to board if you had brought it.

When you approach the ID officer, hand your boarding pass and say something like “I’m afraid I don’t have any valid ID, but I do have this expired passport and these other documents.”

If you are sensitive about being scolded, and worried what they might say, you can bring a printed copy of the TSA page that explains that ID isn’t strictly necessary.

air travel – Does any train or bus company charge a no-show fee, or is that fee specific to some airlines?

Airlines sometimes have a no-show fee in case someone pays for a flight ticket but doesn’t show up to the flight.

I don’t recall seeing such a fee for trains or buses. Does any train or bus company charge a no-show fee, or is that fee specific to airlines?

I’m asking as this would help me identify which potential fees I should be aware of when purchasing train or bus tickets.

Replies to comments:

The whole idea (of charging a no show fee) is absurd. Suppose I buy a bottle of beer but don’t drink it. Will the company surcharge me for not using their product? – Weather Vane 7 mins ago

Some airlines companies do have a no-show fee, e.g. https://www.qatarairways.com/tradepartner/en/bookingnticketing/Penalties-and-Charges.html: “No-Show Charge: The charge made by reason of the failure of a passenger to use reserved accommodation, either through failure to arrive at the airport at the time fixed by the carrier, or through arriving improperly documented or otherwise not ready to travel on flight.”

the airline has been paid for the seat already, and can now re-sell it; that’s much easier (and more significant) money. – DavidSupportsMonica 3 hours ago

No-show fee != cancellation fee.

How would a railway prove you weren’t on the train? And I suspect its probably against EU rules. Afaik they permit a passenger to give up their travel plans at their own discretion. – Krist van Besien 5 mins ago

Some railways check when you enter e.g. high-speed train in China.

air travel – Does Qatar Airways have a no-show fee in case a passenger misses a flight (assuming the passenger only purchased a flight ticket and nothing else)?

https://www.qatarairways.com/tradepartner/en/bookingnticketing/Penalties-and-Charges.html states:

No-Show Charge: The charge made by reason of the failure of a passenger to use reserved accommodation, either through failure to arrive at the airport at the time fixed by the carrier, or through arriving improperly documented or otherwise not ready to travel on flight.

From my understanding, this means that Qatar Airways may charge a no-show fee in case a passenger misses a flight (even if the passenger only purchased a flight ticket and nothing else, i.e. didn’t book any hotel).

However I read some comments that contradict my understanding:

  • To me, it is quite clear that the hotel will want to be paid for accomodation you reserved, but did not pay for, because it could have been used by someone else. The flight has been paid for in advance, but the room was only reserved. So it is no-show as applicable to the accomodation, not the flight. – Weather Vane 10 mins ago 

Does Qatar Airways have a no-show fee in case a passenger misses a flight (assuming the a passenger only purchased a flight ticket and nothing else)?

usa – Can I travel without valid ID if I am registered with TSA precheck?

US domestic flight. I lost my passport and my flight is in 2 weeks. I have IDs like Student ID, but no other government ID. I am registered with TSA Precheck though. Would it be possible to still fly without valid government ID, if they can compare fingerprints/do some other sort of check?

Edit: I also have a photo of the passport.

air travel – KLM 787-9 business seating for family

We are two adults and two 2-year-old toddlers planning to fly a long flight with KLM 787-9. This will be our first flight with the kids, so we are trying to make it as easy on them as possible. We found reasonably priced tickets for business class, but are wondering which seats would work best. We found this layout on KLM page:

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We are considering either the 4 seats in the middle (e.g. 3D, 3G, 4D, 4G) or the 4 seats across the hallway (e.g. 3A, 3D, 4A, 4D). The goal is to have easy access to the toddlers.

I found for example this picture online: https://www.airteamimages.com/boeing-787_PH-BHD_klm—royal-dutch-airlines_247481.html And from that it looks like it is not possible to cross easily between the seats in the middle.

Does anybody have experience with this kind of seating?

europe – Is it common to travel by giving private lessons at host family?

So, a while back I had this idea, to make travelling a bit less expensive, by giving private lessons and tutoring in target country.

In summary, I travel to a target country, stay with some family, they provide food and place to sleep and in exchange I give private lessons, probably to the kids, probably in some school subject.

My question is this.
Is such a thing even heard of, and if yes, how to begin?

Did You hear of someone who did something like this, how did it turn out?

Maybe there is some website that will help or people use Couchsurfing website to do it?

Note: I’m asking mostly about Central Europe, but feel free to say anything You know.

dnd 5e – Does the Elk option for the Totem Warrior barbarian’s Aspect of the Beast feature affect travel pace for land vehicles?

There is no definitive answer

As written there is nothing to say whether or not land vehicles should be included (or excluded) in the effect of Elk totem option for the 6th-level Aspect of the Beast from the Barbarians Path of the Totem Warrior. (SCAG p. 122)

Elk. Whether mounted or on foot, your travel pace is doubled, as is
the travel pace of up to 10 companions while they’re within 60 feet of
you and you’re not incapacitated (see chapter 8 in the Player’s
Handbook for more information about travel pace). The elk spirit helps
you roam far and fast.

My personal interpretation of the RAW would be to allow basic land vehicles (Carts, Wagons, Carriages) to be included in the effect as long as all passengers in said vehicle are included in the effect, are within range and don’t exceed the companion limit. This could be interpreted as a form of mounted travel.

Part of this interpretation comes from the fact that in 5e, there is only a single table for travel pace that applies to all modes of travel. The only benefits to mounted travel are the ability to gallop (a short speed boost that exhausts the mount after an hour of travelling at double speed) and increased carrying capacity. A vehicle only further increases the carrying capacity of the mount.

The reason I would limit it to basic land vehicles is that both water and magic vehicles are not pulled by mounts (in most cases). If you are Captain Jack Sparrow riding on the back of a sea turtle an exception could be made.

An explicit ruling may be needed for the case where part of the conditions are not met, no one benefits from the effect when passengers are involved.

air travel – Direct contact for oneworld

Oneworld doesn’t provide a public contact, and even if they did, this is nothing to do with them. I am afraid you are talking with someone at Qatar who is either completely clueless or being deliberately obstructive.

If you have flown any part of the ticket, then control of the ticket can pass to the next airline on the ticket. Some airlines (AA, BA, CX, QF at least) will be willing to take over the ticket and re-issue it for you on their stock. (However, if they do they may do a tax/fee/surcharge recalculation on the existing segments (even before changes are made). BA is quite famous for collecting fuel surcharges that other validating carriers omit. Therefore you may wish to keep trying with Qatar.) Otherwise, Qatar retains control of the ticket.

Unlike most tickets, the oneworld Explorer fares cannot be issued automatically and must be manually priced and issued by hand. This is a rare skill that is only possessed by a few people nowadays. Therefore the front line agents are powerless to help you. You need to talk to a ticket desk. How did you book this in the first place? Do you have a contact for them? I suggest you start with that contact.

Your eticket receipt should include the issuing office and their contact information. If you did not get an eticket receipt, you may use a tool like the MyFlights app to find the issuing office information in the PNR.

There is no penalty for changing the dates within the ticket validity period, but a local service fee may apply. However if you are making changes before the departure of the first flight and the fare has increased since you bought the ticket, the difference will be payable.

Is it a good idea to go to Japan without a travel guide?

@Itai’s answer is great, but I just want to note that it does depend on where you go. Japan is not a country where many people can speak English; not that people don’t like foreign tourists (surely there’s quite a bit of xenophobic sentiment in Japan, but that’s not what I’m talking about here), but many people just can’t express themselves in English at all, an unfortunate consequence of the failure of English language education in the country.

If you just want to go to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, etc., and all the touristy places, then you’ll do fine. You can count on at least one or two people who can speak basic English.

But if you want to go to the countryside, the “off the beaten path” destinations, I’m not sure if you can count on that anymore. While there are some solutions (e.g. Google Translate), you will run into a language barrier. So, when Japan reopens for tourism, I guess you’d want to try the most touristy destinations first. If you decide that you do like the country, you can return and explore the rest of the country, hopefully after having learned a bit of the language (just a bit will suffice).

P.S. Nowadays Wikivoyage is a great alternative for travel guides. It is free and easily accessible, but it still lacks in terms of details and depth. However, for me, it has worked pretty well, at least for Japan.

P.P.S. I have never heard of anyone having trouble with their phones when coming to Japan in the 4G age. Unlike 3G, for which competing standards were a huge pain when people moved across borders, there is virtually only one standard for 4G (LTE), so the vast majority of phones should be usable. Most devices can operate in most LTE bands, so that would hardly be a problem. Voice may not work if you don’t have VoLTE, but (1) most carriers support it nowadays and (2) there’s little chance you’d need to do traditional voice calls. 3G network will be shut down in Japan soon, so you’d better have 4G/LTE service!11

I have unlimited permesso di soggiorno. Can I travel to Larnaca airport (North Cyprus) for medical purposes?

I want some information , I am an Indian passport holder but I have unlimited permesso di soggiorno. Can I travel to Larnaca airport (North Cyprus) for medical purposes please reply .
Thank you.