Here's Why Hotels In Europe Will Likely Request To See Your Passport Before Check-In

The powerful United States passport allows American travelers easy access to Europe, but not without some security checks. Veteran travelers will know to have their passport to hand at check-in desks across Europe. But those less acquainted with European practices may be cautious when staff ask for their personal details, especially at smaller, less formal establishments. 

Many concerned travelers go to Reddit for an answer. "I am trying to get a confirmation receipt from this hotel I am staying at in Barcelona but they're asking for my passport number," wrote Reddit user kingaidnx, "Is this normal or a common practice? I don't want to just randomly give my identity to some random stranger." 

You can be rest assured that there is nothing amiss when European hotel staff ask for your passport. They ask for security reasons, administrative reasons, and they are often bound by law to do so.

Before the mainstreaming of credit cards, hotel staff in the United Kingdom would ask to retain passports as a measure against customers fleeing unpaid bills. This practice changed in the 1990s when EMV-chip credit cards swept across Europe and offered a new layer of protection for customers and service providers and became the safest form of payment for travelers ever since. 

The old mindset may persist in some European establishments, but the modern, legal priority for passport details in the 21st century is to check for wanted criminals, missing persons, and identity thieves. There are numerous wanted criminals in the European Union including over 40 "most wanted" crooks, traffickers, and murderers. If any of these people attempt to check into accommodation with their own identity, staff checks will notify the police. 

Passport data is not just important against organized crime. If a crisis struck your accommodation — a fire, for example —- authorities would use staff-collected guest data to understand how many people are staying, who they are, where they are from, and who their contacts are.

Numerous European countries require hotels and other accommodation to record visitor information. In the U.K., the Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972 states, "all hotels must keep a record of the full name and nationality of guests over 16 years of age." Staff are obliged to keep this information for at least 12 months and have it readily available for police officers and other investigators.

Rules are similar on the continent. In France, visitors and hosts must comply with Article R.611-42 of the Code of Entry and Stay of Foreigners and Right of Asylum (CESEDA). Simply put, hosts must have visitors provide passport information and personal details for the purpose of police tracking. That may sound invasive, but the intention is to bolster society against criminal elements.

Once hosts have a record of visitors' information they are legally required to keep it safe and secure. Failure to do so can be costly. In Italy, for example, hosts risk fines of €206 per violation and up to three months in jail. Also, in Spain, a hotel was fined €30,000 for improperly processing scanned passports — an infringement of Article 6 GDPR. Now that you know what to expect in a European hotel, make sure you're packing correctly — here are some common clothing mistakes to avoid on a trip to Europe.