Not long ago, IATA made available a great tool that could show you at a glance what was required of you to travel to various countries. It was very helpful and IATA finally decided to monetize that “helpfulness”. Now, you get 3 free searches and then you need to pay $199 for one year of access. Yeah, noooo.
Alternative to the IATA Tool for International Travel
There are currently a number of tools online that will give you information about which countries you can travel to, based on where you are coming from and the passport you are using. But, the information changes so quickly that all the other sources may not be always up to-date.
Only 3 Searches for free on IATA now
The IATA tool is based on a system called Timatic which is what airlines use to see if you are allowed to travel to a certain country when you check in. That is what happens when they take your passport and scan it – it checks your document against the Timatic system to see if you are cleared to go to the country.
If you have an electronic visa, that is tied to your passport and you would be fine to continue. If you have a resident card/ID card for some country, the agent may ask about that if you are not able to enter that country otherwise.
Head for the Airlines
The airlines’ interface is not as clean but definitely can get you the Information you need
So, even though the IATA decided that their side of it will now cost you, you can still get to Timatic by using the airlines themselves for that information. The information may not be exactly up-to-the-moment up to date but it is better than paying $199 and can give you an idea of what to expect.
Here are the websites to try to access this information. Note that you will need to enter more information than the IATA site required to get a full picture:
Again, these are not optimal but if you need the information and have used up your 3 tries on IATA, this is what to try!
Ti kaneis Charlie, I was just commenting this morning on that website as it used to be free. We didn’t make it to Greece this year (as we talked about it earlier this year), but I do have tickets for next March. Hopefully, we will make it. Are you still there in Greece? I saw you left for awhile. Anyway take care filo and we will talk again.
Είμαι καλά, εσύ? Sorry you didn’t make it this year but completely understandable! Glad you have your tickets for next year! I have to think things will be different and moving better by then! Yes, still here! I made a quick trip to the US in June and now we are planning on heading back to the US for a bit soon – if our airline doesn’t keep canceling our reservations. 🙂 How is everything is for you? All healthy?