Passport expiry dates when entering EU countries

I'm in two minds about this one. It sounds ok but.......
I can't comment on the airline's stance and having a return ticket is no guarantee that you'll actually leave on that date. Anyone can change their airline ticket. Things can happen to delay you in one or other of the countries.The travel agent may be being over cautious but I'd agree with #4. Why not get a new passport now and save any anxiety?
I also agree with #9: waving the regulations in front of a border official here in Italy is likely to get you invited into an interview room for a little chat :) minimum!

Agree with #9, #10

Having copies of 'regulations' will not accomplish much other than prolong a delay. Immigration officers are not there to take legal advice from people they are evaluating. In fact, there is no regulation that takes immediate priority over an immigration officer's concerns. HIs/her first obligation is to satisfy his/her own doubts, if any exist. When in doubt, the superior officer will be consulted.

Just repeating what #11 said: It may seem anachronistic in the 21st century but even with valid passport, visa, medical papers and so on all in order it is no-one's God-given right to enter another country. It is always at the discretion of the immigration officials.
P.S. I assume your copy of the regulations would be in English. If so, more delays. For all the immigration officer knows it could be your Mum's recipe for shepherd's pie ;-)

Good grief, I was truly joking about waving regulations around. Having traveled the globe for the past 55 years, Lonely Planet in hand, we know better than that. And with all our grey hair, we forget our logins sometimes, too. Cheers.

Hello, Old Joe. Are YOU as old as us?!? In my previous response to Ben, I was truly just joking about waving regulations (or shepherd's pie recipes!) under the nose of an immigration officer. We have been backpacking around the globe, carry on only, for 55 years now and have always found that keeping a low, friendly profile is the best policy. For those wondering why we don't just bite the bullet and get new passports, if any of you are pushing 80 and have a few health issues surfacing, being in a rush to spend $300 bucks on passport expenses might give you pause. Unless of course, they start requiring documents at the Pearly Gates, where I doubt they will care much about passport expiry dates. Thanks for your interest, Joe; hope you can keep on travel' until they carry you out in a pine box.

See replies to Old Joe and Ben, re: potential encounters with immigration officers. Signed, the 79-year-old Barkhouse Duo who have been around the world a time or two. Clearly, in our advancing dementia, we overlooked the obvious, as per your initial advice........get new passports, you idiots!

I was truly just joking about waving regulations

OK. It's not always easy to know what someone's intentions are.

Unfortunately, the problem for us regulars on this forum is that we have, over the years, read many similar things from people who are not joking. Half the questions about visa-related issues on this forum are from people asking about tricks and other ways around the regulations, people wondering what the probability is that their overstay will be discovered, etc. Add to that list the posters who are genuinely ignorant of even the simplest immigration protocols because they have never traveled anywhere in their lives.

<< I think we will be sticking with the "official" stance of 3 months and take a copy of the regulations with us!!!>>
As #16 says, it's not always easy to spot a written joke on the internet. That sentence certainly didn't look like a joke to me. Those three exclamations gave me the impression that you thought it such an obvious thing to do. As in "doesn't everyone?".

For those wondering why we don't just bite the bullet and get new passports, if any of you are pushing 80 and have a few health issues surfacing, being in a rush to spend $300 bucks on passport expenses might give you pause. Unless of course, they start requiring documents at the Pearly Gates, where I doubt they will care much about passport expiry dates.

But on the other hand you'll also not have much use of your money when you reach the "Pearly Gate".

re; #14

For those wondering why we don't just bite the bullet and get new passports, if any of you are pushing 80 and have a few health issues surfacing ...

Again, this is all follow-up information. In my first post when I suggested getting a new passport, that suggestion was made in the context of the information in your original post. I realize it is not possible for someone to provide every detail that is potentially relevant to a situation. But at the same time I am not a mind-reader .. I can only go with the information that people provide. The details of your situation may be obvious to you, but they are not to others.

And, as is often the case with questions on this forum, the 'details' end up being the most important, shooting down any attempts at one-size-fits-all advice that the original questions sometimes as for.