28
votes
Accepted
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
Looking at the tags of your question, I see Denmark, Germany and Poland. IMO, you can live comfortably without cash in Denmark, but not in Germany and Poland. Apart from big cities, it's easy to come ...
- 6,701
17
votes
Accepted
Am I somehow exempt from ETA and EES?
Your interpretation of the rules seems correct. EU citizens definitely do not need an ETIAS or any form of prior authorization to enter the EU and your border crossings should not be tracked in the ...
- 113k
14
votes
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
Obviously this varies a lot by country but here is a summary from my latest trips (10+ countries in Europe)
Amex is useless outside the US. Acceptance is low and even if they take it you may have to ...
- 112k
11
votes
Am I somehow exempt from ETA and EES?
Am I somehow exempt from ETA and EES?
Of course you are.
Systems such as ETA and ETIAS (not EES) are designed to serve as a lightweight pre-screening for visa-exempt travelers -- lightweight in that ...
- 140k
10
votes
I have a Greek seasonal residence permit. Can I go back to my country from Poland instead of Greece without any issue?
In principle yes, you can exit through a different country in the Schengen area, it happens all the time. If you are not on a layover (i.e. you don't have a flight ticket from Greece to a non-Schengen ...
- 113k
10
votes
Are seasonal short term Schengen visas one time entry visas and what counts as entry and exit?
A Schengen short-stay visa gives you the right to whatever is stated on it. There are no special restriction applied to visas issued for business or work. In particular, it's definitely fine to enter ...
- 113k
9
votes
SIS decision letter interpretation
This simply means that there's no information they're going to give you. There may or may not be information they aren't going to give you, information related to law enforcement and exempt from ...
- 5,328
9
votes
Accepted
What do border officials do with my passport when I tell them that I'm entering as the spouse of an EU national?
Currently, in the Schengen Area, the only complete record of your entries or exits are the stamps in your passport (if any). This will change (for some cases) whenever the EES becomes active (...
- 89.7k
8
votes
Traveling to Schengen Area countries which are admited only for air and maritime borders
I think you misunderstand the status of Romania. Romania is in Schengen, but: on air and ferry you get no control for travels "intra-Schengen" (between Schengen territories), but you get ...
- 9,840
7
votes
Transit flights for two Schengen countries
I was thinking I may be doubted of visa shopping next time I apply for Lithuanian visa.
To show that you complied with the itinerary you submitted in your visa application, you can keep your boarding ...
- 140k
7
votes
Non-Schengen flight without any passport control, any repercussion on a non-EU traveller
The situation you are describing is actually foreseen in the Schengen border code. There can be many reasons why an exit control is not conducted, either by mistake or on purpose. The passenger is in ...
- 58.6k
7
votes
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
The situation may vary a lot by country.
Here is the situation in France:
It's probably difficult to go completely cashless
Visa/Mastercard support is widespread but not universal (see below), but ...
- 89.7k
6
votes
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
How is the cashless situation in Schengen, particularly the Northern and Eastern Europe countries, for American visitors using a US credit card? I heard Amex coverage is spotty but Visa/Mastercard ...
- 113k
6
votes
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
Switzerland
I live in Switzerland (Zurich), and take cash out approximately once or twice a year. I use Apple Pay exclusively. I think the last place I saw that only took cash was some tiny restaurant ...
- 3,708
6
votes
SIS decision letter interpretation
There is a bit of a contradiction between privacy laws and law enforcement. The EU likes to think of itself as exemplary when it comes to data protection but law enforcement agencies always seek ...
- 113k
5
votes
Transit flights for two Schengen countries
Yes this is exactly the way the Schengen area is supposed to work. There are some scenarios where questions can arise but I doubt the border guards in Vienna or the Lithuanian consulate will be ...
- 113k
5
votes
Accepted
How is Schengen visa overstaying analyzed?
How is overstaying analyzed?
By examining passport stamps. Once the Electronic Entry-Exit System comes into use, the records in its database will be used instead.
What if on exiting Schengen you do ...
- 140k
5
votes
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
Germany, big cities
Cards, in general
Contrary to other answers, in big cities (Munich, Hamburg, Berlin) I've rarely had to use cash in recent years, almost everywhere takes card. Last time I spent ...
- 1,997
4
votes
International Air Travel: Can I bring several hair care products in check in luggage?
The quantities are not nearly as small as for cabin luggage but there are some limits. Air France's website states that
The net total of all toiletries, non-radioactive medication, and aerosol ...
- 113k
4
votes
Accepted
If someone has dual EU/UK citizenship, is any record made of their travel between the UK and France?
On top of entry checks by the Border Force, the UK government requires transporters to collect and share data on all people entering and leaving the UK (Advanced Passenger Information or API). There ...
- 113k
4
votes
What do border officials do with my passport when I tell them that I'm entering as the spouse of an EU national?
On one occasion, I was entering at Dover and hadn't realised that I was at the French border, until the border official stamped my passport. I explained and showed my marriage certificate. The ...
- 113k
3
votes
Bank statement query for visa applications
See this question with regards to problems with submitting a certificate of balance alone. If the certificate has your full personal details, and the statement has the full listing of transactions - ...
- 22.5k
2
votes
Cashless visit to Schengen countries using USA credit card
Germany
It depends a bit on what you are going to do, but you cannot generally go cashless in Germany if you plan to:
Take a taxi.
Buy take-away food, in particular from small places run by people ...
- 60.1k
1
vote
Can a travel agent abuse personal information they have on me?
Unfortunately, people have very mixed feelings about the VFS. In some countries e.g. where I stay(Norway), they are really professional, nice and helpful. On the contrary, the folks in the UK sit on ...
- 1,152
1
vote
If someone has dual EU/UK citizenship, is any record made of their travel between the UK and France?
Do you have a UK and an EU passport? Which do you use to enter each country? If you use the UK one to enter the UK and the EU one to enter France then successful tracking is unlikely.
I always use ...
- 7,633
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible