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About Before You Fly and our sources

Before You Fly is an independent project. It collects official travel rules and shows them word for word, with the link and the date we checked them. We are not affiliated with any government, airport or airline.

Rules we follow

  • Only official sources: the UK government (GOV.UK, FCDO), the Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca), the Australian Government (Smartraveller), the European Commission and EU portals, airport operators, airlines (for their own bag rules), and national aviation security authorities (TSA, CATSA, Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department).
  • Every rule is quoted, not rewritten. Our short summaries are labelled as such and the official text is always on the same page.
  • If we cannot read an official page, or it is unclear, we leave it out and say so.
  • When two official texts disagree, we show both and do not choose.
  • This is information, not legal advice. Airlines, airports and border officials decide.

Passport validity (FCDO)

Source: the “Passport validity requirements” and “Visa requirements” sections of the FCDO foreign travel advice for each destination, read through the GOV.UK Content API (api/content/foreign-travel-advice), last checked on 17 October 2026. The FCDO advice is written for British citizens.

Licence: contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We reproduce the FCDO text unchanged; summaries, the short labels and the date checker are ours.

How the checker works: it applies the FCDO sentence literally. “At least 6 months after the date you arrive” means the expiry date must be on or after the same day of the month 6 months after arrival (if that day does not exist, the last day of that month). “More than” means at least one day later. “Valid for the duration of your stay” means not expiring before the day you leave. The Schengen “date of issue less than 10 years before the date you arrive” means issued after the same day 10 years before arrival.

Visa requirements (FCDO)

Each destination page quotes, word for word, the “Visa requirements” section of the same FCDO entry requirements page, with the page's last updated date and the date we checked it. We add a one-line summary (“In short”) only when the first sentence of that section matches one of a few fixed wordings, for example “You can visit X without a visa for up to 90 days” or “You must have a visa to visit X”, and contains no condition such as “usually”, “unless”, “until” or “if you”; for visa-free summaries the section must also not mention a travel authorisation (ETA, eTA, ESTA), an entry fee or a tourist card. On 17 October 2026 this gave a summary for 135 destinations; the other 90 show only the official text (or say that the FCDO page has no visa section).

Destinations where we do not apply the passport validity rule automatically (12), because the official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation:

  • Afghanistan: No sentence states a validity period we can apply.
  • Azerbaijan: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • Bangladesh: The official sentence does not match a rule pattern we can apply with confidence.
  • Colombia: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue: The official page gives different rules for different territories.
  • Dominican Republic: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • Ireland: The official page has no 'Passport validity requirements' section; it has a 'Passport and ID requirements' section instead.
  • Pakistan: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • Russia: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • Sierra Leone: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands: The official sentence has conditions we do not turn into a calculation.
  • St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha: The official page gives different rules for different territories.

No page published (the official section is empty):

  • Antarctica/British Antarctic Territory: The official page has no text under this heading.

Canadian passport (Government of Canada)

Source: the “Entry and exit requirements” section (“Regular Canadian passport” and “Visas”) of the Government of Canada travel advice and advisories for each destination (travel.gc.ca, Global Affairs Canada), read through the official open data files of the dataset Country Travel Advice and Advisories, last checked on 17 October 2026. Each page shows the date the official page was last updated.

Licence: Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. We reproduce the text unchanged; the summaries and short labels are ours. Before You Fly is not a Government of Canada site and is not endorsed by the Government of Canada.

Summaries: a one-line passport validity summary only when the official sentence matches a fixed wording (for example “Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date you expect to leave …” or “… for the expected duration of your stay”) and names the destination (217 of 229 destinations); a visa summary only when the first line of the “Visas” section is “Tourist visa: not required for stays up to N days”, “Tourist visa: not required” or “Tourist visa: required”, with no time limit or exception, and when nothing in the entry section mentions an electronic travel authorization (eTA/ETA), an e-visa, an arrival card, an online form or registration, a tourist card or a fee (103 destinations). For the Schengen countries whose page says that ETIAS will be required (“You will be required to apply online and pay for an ETIAS before you travel”), the summary says so and adds, in the official words, that “Applications are not yet open”. A “Tourist visa: required” line is not summarised when the official text talks about a visa on arrival or an e-visa. Destinations whose official text has nothing specific on visas or passport validity get no page; the Canadian passport index links them to the official page.

Australian passport (Smartraveller)

Source: the “Travel” section (“Visas and border measures” or “Visas”, “Other formalities”, “European Entry and Exit Systems”, “Passport” and the other entry subsections) of the Smartraveller travel advice for each destination (smartraveller.gov.au, Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), last checked on 17 October 2026. The site blocks simple automated requests, so we read it in a browser. Each page shows the “Updated” and “Still current at” dates of the official page.

Licence: Content from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Smartraveller website - www.smartraveller.gov.au, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (copyright notice). Changes: we quote excerpts unchanged and leave out some general notes; the short summaries are ours. Smartraveller's logos and trademarks are not used. Before You Fly is not an Australian Government site and is not endorsed by DFAT.

Summaries: Smartraveller writes in prose and, for most destinations, gives only its general passport advice (the same on every page), which we quote as general advice and never as a rule of the country. We add a one-line summary only when an official sentence matches a fixed wording and has no condition such as “usually”, “may” or “if you”, and (for visas) when nothing in the section mentions an eVisa, an electronic travel authority, an arrival card, an online form or registration, a visa on arrival, a tourist card or a fee: 6 visa summaries and 2 passport validity summaries for 173 destinations. A destination gets a page only if its Smartraveller text says something specific to it about visas, entry formalities or passport validity; the others (6, where the text is only general advice and contact details) are linked from the Australian passport index straight to Smartraveller.

Italian citizens (Viaggiare Sicuri, in Italian)

Source: the country pages of Viaggiare Sicuri, run by the Crisis Unit of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Farnesina), read through the public data files the site itself uses (223 pages, last checked on 18 October 2026): the “Passaporto” and “Visto di ingresso” fields of the entry requirements section. Each page shows the date of the official page.

Licence: Viaggiare Sicuri states no licence for its texts, so we do not republish them. The Italian section gives the facts in our own words (document required, remaining passport validity, visa, electronic authorisations, length of stay), with short quotes of at most 20 words, the date and the link; a fact is summarised only when the official wording is unambiguous, otherwise the page says to read the official page. Before You Fly is not a site of the Farnesina or of the Italian Government.

Liquids rules

Each airport's official security page, last read by us on 21 October 2026 (the date is shown on each page). Some airport sites block simple automated requests or load their text with JavaScript: we read those in a browser and say so on the page. Spanish airports use the general hand-luggage page of Aena, which runs Spain's public airports (it lists no airport- or lane-specific exceptions, and it does not say that it applies at every airport: each Spanish airport page says so); Hong Kong uses the Civil Aviation Department page; the US and Canada each have one national rule (TSA, CATSA). See the full list and the airports we left out on the liquids page.

Cabin bag sizes

Each airline's official baggage page, last read by us on 18 October 2026 (the date and the link are on each airline page). Most airline sites need JavaScript or block simple automated requests, so we read them in a browser. Every size is quoted word for word; the short labels (“Free with every fare”, “Only with some fares, cabins or as a paid extra”) and the conversions marked “≈” are ours. An airline is included only if its official page shows the sizes; the airlines we left out and why are listed on the cabin bags page. The bag checker compares the sides sorted from longest to shortest; airlines may measure differently, and their rule decides. The EU personal item page quotes Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 (EUR-Lex), the European Parliament's Legislative Observatory and the European Commission.

Apps and services by country

Sources: the providers' own lists of countries, read with a normal web request (no browser) and copied as published:

Rules: a country is “Yes” only if the provider's list names it; “Not on the list” means the list does not name it, which is not the same as a ban. For Starlink we show the statuses of the official availability map (“Available”, “Coming soon” with the note the map gives, no service shown, or “By region” when the map colours a country region by region), as the map's own legend explains them. Names are matched to ISO 3166-1 country codes; regions inside a country are not shown separately. We give no advice on getting around restrictions. A page for a single service and country exists only where people search for it. The lists are facts published by each provider; the trademarks belong to their owners, and Before You Fly is not affiliated with any of them.

Driving abroad: international driving permits

Sources: for UK licences, the GOV.UK guide “Driving abroad” (check if you need an international driving permit, page updated 29 January 2025, 144 rows in the table) and the driving paragraphs of the FCDO travel advice for each country; for Canadian licences, the “Driving” part of the “Laws and culture” section of the Government of Canada travel advice (travel.gc.ca, through the official open data files) and its International Driving Permit page; for Australian licences, the driving paragraphs of the “Local travel” part of the Smartraveller advice for each destination, read in a browser. All read on 28 October 2026, except Smartraveller (17 October 2026). Licences: Open Government Licence v3.0, Open Government Licence – Canada, CC BY 4.0.

Rules: the answer comes only from the official sentence, which we quote on the page. An answer is “IDP needed” only when the official text says you must have one, “No IDP needed” only when it says you can drive with your licence (or that you do not need an IDP), “It depends” when it sets a condition (length of stay, hiring a car, a translation, the region), “Recommended” when it says you should carry one, and “Local permit needed” when it says you need a local licence or permit. When official pages disagree, we give the more cautious answer and quote both. Where the advice is silent we write “Not stated”. Most answers are read with fixed wording rules; the rest were read one by one on 28 October 2026 and are checked again whenever the official text changes. A page for a single country and licence exists only where people search for it. This is information, not legal advice.

Tolls with a rental car

Sources: the pages of the motorway operators and governments of 13 European countries (ASFINAG, Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), State Fund for Transport Infrastructure (eDalnice.gov.cz), Autopistas (Abertis), ALIAE (A79 motorway concession, APRR group), APRR, Attiki Odos, Hrvatske autoceste (HAC), Crolibertas project site, Hrvatske autoceste (HAC), Narodne novine, Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, National Toll Payment Services (Nemzeti Útdíjfizetési Szolgáltató), eFlow (Transport Infrastructure Ireland), Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Autostrade per l'Italia, AutoPASS (Norwegian Public Roads Administration), Infraestruturas de Portugal, Government of Slovenia (Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy)), 35 pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. Each country page links every page it quotes.

Rules: every sentence shown between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official page, and every price comes with the text that contains it. A price appears only if the official page answered normally on the day we checked it. We write that a rule is about rental cars only when the official text says so; otherwise the page says that the source does not mention rental cars. French and Spanish pages are quoted in the original language with our translation. We do not cover the toll programmes of rental companies, whose prices are commercial terms that we cannot check reliably. This is information, not legal advice.

Winter tyres and snow chains with a rental car

Sources: the pages of ministries, police forces, road safety agencies and government portals of 14 European countries (Government of Andorra, Andorra Department of Mobility, Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure, ch.ch (Swiss Confederation, cantons and communes), Czech Ministry of Transport, German Federal Ministry of Transport, German Federal Ministry of Justice (Gesetze im Internet), Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT), Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), Service-Public.fr (French government), Croatian Police (Zagreb Police Administration), Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Polizia di Stato (Italian State Police), Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen), Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen), Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency (AVP), Slovenian Tourist Board, Slovensko.sk (Slovak government portal)), 19 pages in all, read on 30 October 2026. Each country page links every page it quotes.

Rules: every sentence shown between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official page; pages in other languages are quoted in the original language with our English translation. A country is listed only if its official page answered normally on the day we checked it; where we could not read a source (for example the ANAS website in Italy), the page says so. We write that a rule is about rental cars only when the official text says so; otherwise the page says that the official pages do not say whether rental cars come with winter tyres or chains. We check every source again each October, before the winter season. This is information, not legal advice.

Ticket release dates, closures and free days

Sources: the official websites of 12 major attractions (Anne Frank House, Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, Last Supper Museum (Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano), Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Ghibli Park, Imperial Household Agency, Nintendo Museum (Nintendo Co., Ltd.), Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Basílica de la Sagrada Família, Japan Sumo Association (Nihon Sumo Kyokai), Vatican Museums, National Park Service, Recreation.gov (National Park Service)), 23 pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. Each attraction page links every page it quotes.

Rules: every sentence shown between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official page. We calculate dates only from an exact official rule (a day of the week and a time, “the first Sunday of the month”, “the last Sunday of the month” with the exceptions the page lists, a day of the month, a fixed date, or a set number of days before the visit); the dates cover the next six months from the day we build the page, and the calendar files have the same dates. When the official page says “roughly”, gives no day, or two official texts disagree, we show the text and calculate nothing. We link only the ticket websites that the official pages name; other websites may resell tickets at a higher price. An attraction is included only if its official website answered normally on the day we checked it. This is information, not advice: museums decide.

Driving in Canada, Australia and New Zealand on a foreign licence

Sources: the official pages of the licensing authorities and governments (Government of Alberta, ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia), Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), Government of New Brunswick, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (Motor Registration Division), Government of Nova Scotia, NSW Government, Government of the Northwest Territories (Department of Infrastructure), NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Government of Québec (LegisQuébec), Queensland Government, SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance), Western Australia Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure), 21 pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. Each page links every page it quotes.

Rules: every sentence shown between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official page; the short summaries in the tables are ours. Some official websites answer automated checks with an error or an anti-robot page; we do not try to pass those checks and we do not take their rules from other websites, so we say that the page did not open and give no rule (Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Nunavut, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory). For Québec we quote the Highway Safety Code on LegisQuébec because the SAAQ website did not open. This is information, not legal advice.

Public transport rules by city

Sources: the official pages of the transport companies and transport authorities (OASA (Athens Urban Transport Organisation), TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona), BVG (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe), STIB-MIVB, BKK (Centre for Budapest Transport), Transport for Ireland (National Transport Authority), Edinburgh Trams, tpg (Transports publics genevois), hvv (Hamburger Verkehrsverbund), Metropolitano de Lisboa, Metro de Madrid, ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi), STM (Société de transport de Montréal), MVG (Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft), Ruter, DPP (Prague Public Transit Company), PID (Prague Integrated Transport), TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), TransLink, ZVV (Zürcher Verkehrsverbund)), 40 pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. Each city page links every page it quotes.

Rules: every sentence shown between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official page (German and Italian with our translation); the short summaries in the table are ours. A city gets a page only when its official page states a current fine for travelling without a valid ticket. Some official websites answer automated checks with an error or an anti-robot page, or do not state the fine; we do not try to pass those checks and we do not take rules from other websites, so these cities have no page and the table says why: Amsterdam, Bologna, Copenhagen, Florence, Helsinki, Kraków, London, Lyon, Naples, New York, Paris, Porto, Riga, Rome, Stockholm, Sydney, Turin, Valencia, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw. This is information, not legal advice.

Luggage rules on trains and Eurostar check-in times

Sources: the official pages of the train companies (Avanti West Coast, Renfe, Deutsche Bahn, Eurostar, Italo (Italo – Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori), Lumo, TGV Lyria, ÖBB Nightjet, NS International, ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways), OUIGO España, OUIGO (SNCF Voyageurs), SNCF Connect (SNCF), Trenitalia), 20 pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. Each company page links every page it quotes. The Eurostar check-in page copies the numbers of Eurostar’s own table of recommended arrival times, and quotes Eurostar, the European Commission and GOV.UK on EES.

Rules: every sentence shown between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official page (Spanish with our translation); the short summaries in the tables are ours. A company gets a page only when its official page states how many bags or how large they can be. Some official websites answer automated checks with an error or an anti-robot page, or do not state a rule; we do not try to pass those checks and we do not take rules from other websites, so these companies have no page and the table says why: Iryo, Trenitalia France, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), LNER.

Pets: from the UK to the EU

Sources: GOV.UK guides of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (“Taking your pet dog, cat or ferret abroad”, “Bringing your pet dog, cat or ferret to Great Britain”), the Defra page on the UK–EU SPS agreement for the veterinary sector, the GOV.UK lists of approved air, sea and rail carriers and routes, read through the GOV.UK Content API, and three pages of the European Commission (DG Health and Food Safety) on bringing pets into the EU, the travellers' points of entry and each country's information, 9 pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. GOV.UK text is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Rules: every sentence between quotation marks is copied word for word; the tables of approved routes are copied row by row; the summaries and the date calculator are ours. The European Commission's page says that the EU rules are now in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131; EUR-Lex does not answer our automated checks, so we quote the Commission's own summary of the rules rather than the regulation itself. We give no veterinary advice: every page says to check with your vet and the official page. A country gets a page only when people search for taking a pet there from the UK. This is information, not legal advice.

India e-Visa fee, visa on arrival and e-Arrival card

Sources: the Government of India’s two official fee tables in PDF on indianvisaonline.gov.in (“Country/Territory Wise e-Tourist Visa Fee (in US $)”, dated 8 September 2026, and “Country/Territory Wise e-Visa Fee (e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant and e-Conference Visa)”, dated 15 April 2026), the e-Visa, visa on arrival and home pages of the same website, and two pages of the Bureau of Immigration (Ministry of Home Affairs) on boi.gov.in, 7 sources in all, read on 31 October 2026.

Rules: every fee is copied from the official PDF tables by our script, which checks that it has read every row and stops if anything changes; a second reading of the same files with a different method must give the same countries and figures. The Bureau of Immigration says that any use of its material beyond downloading needs its approval, so we publish the figures as facts and quote its texts only in short extracts, with the link and the date. We link only to the official website for applying and paying, never to visa agencies. A nationality gets its own page only when people search for the fee for it; the German and French pages exist because people search for the fee in those languages. This is information, not legal advice.

Scooter rental: which licence?

Sources: German Federal Ministry of Justice (gesetze-im-internet.de); Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (GOV.UK); Boletín Oficial del Estado (Spanish government); Service-Public.fr (French government, Direction de l'information légale et administrative); 9 official pages in all, read on 31 October 2026. Each country page links every text it quotes. UK government travel advice: Open Government Licence v3.0.

Rules: every sentence between quotation marks is copied word for word from the official text, in its own language, with our English translation. We publish a country only when an official text says which licence you need for a moped or a scooter; the countries we tried and could not read are listed with the reason. “Not stated” means the text says nothing about that case: we never fill a gap with what rental companies or forums say. This is information, not legal advice: check with the rental company and the official page before you ride.

EES and ETIAS

European Commission (DG Migration and Home Affairs) pages and GOV.UK travel advice, last checked on 17 October 2026. See the EES and ETIAS page.

Corrections

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