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Schengen area visits will enact online ETIAS registration starting at the end of 2026
(travel-europe.europa.eu)
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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[removed by mod]
~20 dollars for 90 days traveling to 30 countries is a very reasonable administrative fee.
That's fine if you're staying -- but ~20 bucks for a layover? Really?
Edit: Why did you delete my post?
There are still about 9 months for them to finalize policies before ETIAS registration becomes active, so we'll have to see what the actual policy is once it's enacted. Entry/exit policies change constantly, and this one hasn't even begun yet.
It would be pretty ridiculous to pay for a layover.
Your post was removed for rule 1, misinformation. There is no evidence of extortion in ETIAS registration and information provided in this community must be accurate.
[removed by mod]
The terms shakedown and extortion don't apply to the proposed ETIAS system any more than they apply to a library card fee. Pay the fee, use the infrastructure.
Your original comment was arguing against the charge at all, not the layover charge specifically.
No, my original comment about the charge was directly after the quotation of "Required Even for Transit: If you have a layover in an ETIAS country, approval is mandatory.", which I copied verbatim from your original link to etias.com.
My comment is still publicly listed in the modlog for everyone -- including you -- to check if you don't believe me.
Perhaps I should've put 🙄️ after my statement to clarify tone, but still, I think you're being ridiculous about how you're handling my comments.
Frankly, I'm offended and will not be participating here further.
Alright, Europe Direct has answered:
"You will not need an ETIAS travel authorisation if you only remain in the international transit area of a Schengen airport. However, you must have a valid travel authorisation if you leave this area and enter the territory of any of the European countries requiring ETIAS."
So if your layover keeps you in the transit area of a Schengen airport, you don't have to register with ETIAS, but if you have to exit the transit area, cross border patrol and check in again, which does happen sometimes with separately booked flights, you will have to register with ETIAS.
That is how every country I've ever been to does transit.
If you go through border control, you have to register, but if you don't then you don't.
I checked, thanks, you did mention layovers in your first comment.
There's a lot of fearmongering about travel based on ignorance, and I am careful about allowing harmful inaccuracies or hypotheses into the community.
Since ETIAS has not yet been enacted, relevant details aren't provided, and similar travel authorization programs don't charge for transit without entry through border control, I've contacted the EU to ask for a more specific policy breakdown concerning layovers and will let you know what they say.
I know it's frustrating to find out you broke community rules(I've done it), but I do have them in place for good reasons.
Thank you for your comments.
Seems a bit abusive, he was not spreading misinformation but sharing how he felt about the news, which led you to confirm the information around transit. (Thanks btw!)
Sure, I was glad to find out contacting the EU was so simple and quick!
I believe the earlier misinformation was unintentional. Questions and discussions are very welcome here and I love every productive comment, but a non-constructive dismissal and blanket epithet of a standard travel policy based on misunderstanding cherry-picked issues isn't going to help anyone and is misinforming readers on what the policy says and how common and sensible travel registration fees are.
People are already often misinformed or uninformed about travel, which has a lot of detail-specific information to parse, so I'm careful about what statements people spread here, especially if they are negative, without evidence or misrepresent a topic.
Passports and library cards are not extortion, they are documents providing services that incur a fee. This ETIAS fee is similar to the visitation policies of every other country and group of territories(cross through border control, pay the visitation fee), not required for transit, and about 97% less expensive per country than a standard visa, at 60c per Schengen country rather than a typical visa at ~$20 per country.
I want to add that it's totally okay they made a mistake and I make mistakes all the time, but regardless of the intention, incorrect or harmful information will still be removed from this community. I leave many of my mistakes public, like misremembering their comment above, but if I state the wrong information, I will definitely remove or edit my comment so that the information in this community is accurate and helpful to readers.
While I agree with you on most points (and thank you for taking the time to answer so well and moderate subs), I think that giving a counter point like you did was enough and did not require to censor the comment.
I totally understand; I hate it when my comments are removed too, even if I break a rule, haha.
I do have high standards and hopes for the content of this community and incorrect information simply doesn't serve community members and interested travelers in any way.
Negative opinions are generally acceptable and I leave many dissenting opinions up in this community, but not at the expense of accurate, helpful information.
I appreciate you discussing this with me and I'll keep your opinion in mind regarding comment removal in the future.