Yan Tan Tethera wrote:
And big mistake calling me a pillock. Big mistake.

I'm really scared...look at me - I'm trembling...

Back to the playground with you, sonny...

MKPhoto wrote:
Two months ago I bought myself, from Canada, on expedia.ca a ticket between Munich and Warsaw, and was only asked for the passport country (canadian, so out of EU), but not number; and credit card number. I had to show the passport at the check-in and then at the gate.

I think it depends not only what country you book in, but what ticket booking agent you use. Third-party e-bookers only ask for credit/debit card numbers and billing addresses. Certainly flights within the EU originating here in Germany (which is the OPs experience), while requiring a passport or EU ID card to actually board the aircraft, do not require one to book the ticket, even on someone else's behalf.

Which means his insistence on getting a photocopy/scan of her passport was more than suspect. Which is why we're having this conversation in the first place.

studio36uk wrote:

Joceline wrote:
He also asked for a scan of my passport so he could book the flights.

L Bass wrote:
Stranger things have happened. It sounds like he may have gotten what he came for tho... a scan of your passport. Your references could have verified who you were and that you were real, rather than sending detailed personal information to a total stranger via the net.

WMcK wrote:
You should never give that out. You have been scammed and should inform the passport office immediately that this is a possible case of identity theft. This is a very serious matter and could get you into very deep trouble. You should not have given him this and should have cut off all contact at that point.

For the American readers in particular - you likely don't even realise that in some EU countries you are required to leave you passport with, for example, the front desk at your hotel. And it will stay with them at least for the first day [12 > 24 hours]. It is equally likely they are going to retain a copy to ensure that they get paid for your stay.

Airlines are not much different in that respect as they have a legal duty not to transport someone not legally in the EU. Implicitly in that is that on booking and check-in they have an equal duty in law to verify who you are, and that's before we even get to the anti-terrorism rules, regulations and stuff.

Ditto when renting a car, and other things you encounter in travelling internationally.

Studio36

I've traveled to several countries in Europe, and I've never had to surrender my passport to anyone.  The hotel may make a copy, but they don't keep it.  They make sure they get paid by taking my credit card info.  Last time I checked, my passport doesn't have a payment function.

RKD Photographic wrote:

I'm really scared...look at me - I'm trembling...

Back to the playground with you, sonny...

Man I gotta ask... whats a pillock?

Hugh Alison wrote:
Identity theft doesn't appear to be as big a worry in Europe as the US, probably because it's more difficult.

I went through customs on the car ferry from Ireland to the UK about 20 years ago. No passport needed at the time.

Got out of the car - noticed that my passport foto was displayed on the customs officer's PC monitor - but I hadn't shown anybody my passport. The number plate recognition camera had linked from my car registration to my name and then to the passport data base.

Providing copies of passports used to be common, not so much now.

Yep - I quite often drive through Customs at Dover without needing to show a passport - on this side travelling to the UK I do, both at Calais and Dunkirk, presumably because the system in the UK passport control office there isn't connected to the UK database.

D-Fotograf wrote:
- Secondly, her comments about models shooting in Germany shouldn't be allowed. Its as if she is writing - {that} all Germany photographers are "Flakes."

She did not say anything near to this...

most Germans can speak fluent English.

You're kidding...

Its required in mid schools.

Math, grammar and spelling are required, too. And a lot of people fail with this.

RachelReilly wrote:
Yeah the title is a little offensive to photographers in Germany, and the last bit of the story.

It's just a factual description. Anyway I do not feel offended. ;-)

Joceline wrote:
He also asked for a scan of my passport so he could book the flights.

It's the easiest way to ensure getting accurate data. One would not believe how many people are not capable to give correct names, date of birth etc.pp.

By the way: For booking a flight within the EU you need the passenger's name only. If you want to book and pay a flight and have the ticket (i.e.: the boarding pass, as paper tickets are no longer issued) handed over to somebody somewhere else airlines will at least require a id document and sometimes they require a passport number of the passenger when booking. But: passenger's name of the ticket/reservation and the name in passenger's id card must be identical - otherwise the plane will leave without you... So it's wise to have accurate data.

studio36uk wrote:
For the American readers in particular - you likely don't even realise that in some EU countries you are required to leave you passport with, for example, the front desk at your hotel. And it will stay with them at least for the first day [12 > 24 hours]. It is equally likely they are going to retain a copy to ensure that they get paid for your stay.

By the way...  just for the sake of completeness: under German law it is illegal to photocopy or scan German passports and id cards and it is illegal to require handing over a passport or id card as a "deposit". Only public authorities are entitled to take German passports/id cards into custody.

Airlines are not much different in that respect as they have a legal duty not to transport someone not legally in the EU.

By the way: as a brit Joceline is a EU citizen who is entitled to travel, stay and work self employed anywhere in all EU countries without any restriction.

Apart from that...

It was a bad experience. No more, no less. You turned the corner in the last minute. Luck.

A two weeks assignment of this kind should make anybody... eh... wary. A failed payment for the promised airline ticket should be... eh... an ultra-red flag.

D-Fotograf wrote:
First off, in "Defense of all German or Germany based photographers," I have to say there is a bit of BS in this models reasoning.   {Remember I am not German but an American that lives and works in Germany and I know better!!}

And, frankly I feel somehow insulted that the model although she lives in England can't seem to follow up on two things. England like other countries next to Germany is 45 minutes away flight wise.By train via the tunnel, Germany/England are neighboring countries, and its about 2-3 hours depending on the days you take it. The drive is simple.

- Secondly, her comments about models shooting in Germany shouldn't be allowed. Its as if she is writing - {that} all Germany photographers are "Flakes." Every photographer that is someone, is licensed in Germany, has sometime or another gone to the local "Geminde," or city hall and gets a tax number/license and so on.

A young lady or female model,  that travels from NY to say DC does some due-diligence, and you can bet she checked that a photographer {he/she} is some sort of a professional. She obviously hasn't done her work here.
Every model that goes even across town should have some sort of a reference. {phone numbers, websites/email addresses etc., right}- Otherwise, you open the door for stupid things to happen. She sounds very bitter ? Grow up and quit whining.

Lastly, all I can say is stick with what you have planned to shoot. If there is some sort of misunderstanding remember, most Germans can speak fluent English. If not why not?
Its required in mid schools. If they don't, then its a red flag... b/c either that is one lie that leads to others or someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Remember ladies one word, "DUE DILIGENCE" !! And keep your wool on your sweater!

Not sure what planet you are living on but Germany and England are not neighbouring countries. Flight time between london and stuttgart is minimum 1.5 hours, not 45 minutes.. By speed train it is approximately 7 hours and to drive would take between 9 and 10 hours. And to say most germans are fluent in english is totally wrong. Just because most germans must learn english at school doesn't mean that they remember or retain it. Whilst germans that live in the major cities might speak more english then others it is still by no means "most germans"or that they are fluent. My boyfriend is from Germany and no-one in his family speaks english except for a few basic words. Only 2 of his friends speak english well enough to have small conversations. These people are university educated and have lived in large cities such as Hamburg and Berlin. So before you go jumping down the poor girls throat maybe figure out your facts before you start disputing hers.

Miss Ava Taylor wrote:
Not sure what planet you are living on but Germany and England are not neighbouring countries. Flight time between london and stuttgart is minimum 1.5 hours, not 45 minutes.. By speed train it is approximately 7 hours and to drive would take between 9 and 10 hours. And to say most germans are fluent in english is totally wrong. Just because most germans must learn english at school doesn't mean that they remember or retain it. Whilst germans that live in the major cities might speak more english then others it is still by no means "most germans"or that they are fluent. My boyfriend is from Germany and no-one in his family speaks english except for a few basic words. Only 2 of his friends speak english well enough to have small conversations. These people are university educated and have lived in large cities such as Hamburg and Berlin. So before you go jumping down the poor girls throat maybe figure out your facts before you start disputing hers.

Dortmund - Luton - wheels-up to touchdown: 45 minutes. Did it last week. That much is true. Though by the time you clear customs it's an hour and ten minutes...

However you're right in that most Germans don't speak 'good' English and many speak none whatsoever. I can generally make myself understood in English with a good percentage of young people aged 30 or under, but 35-plus? Forget it - I have to use my bad German instead.
My (German) Wife's best mate's daughter speaks better English than she does, so maybe the next generation of school leavers will have a better command of it than the present one.
Most of the Germans I know who speak good conversational English do so because their jobs require it of them - unlike the French, Germans accept - albeit grudgingly - that English is the international language of commerce and that in order to get ahead they have to speak it and speak it well. My wife was employed by her company (plastics industry - global import-export) for this precise reason and her salary reflects that. She earns as much working part-time as the other people in her department do working full-time at the same job.

Happily she also tells me that the French are the most difficult to do business with as they never ever speak English.

However - there are certain areas of Germany where there are higher percentages of English-speaking Germans - around all the military bases.
If you want to run a bar, restaurant, cafe, car-dealership - or pretty much anything - in a garrison town populated by English or US servicemen, you'd better hire English-speaking staff.