Schengen 90/180 Tracking That Actually Works for Frequent Travelers

Most Schengen calculators fail frequent travelers not because of bad math, but because of bad data.

You remember flying to Berlin in March. Was it March 15th or March 18th? Did you clear customs at 11:45 PM or 12:15 AM? Was that Cyprus stop part of Schengen or not?

These details matter. A single midnight flight can shift your count by one day. That one day can be the difference between legal entry and overstay.

DaysAround solves this by starting with evidence you already have: geotagged photos on your phone. It reconstructs your travel timeline on-device, then runs the 90/180 calculation on verified dates. No guesswork. No cloud upload of your movements.

Why frequent travelers get Schengen counts wrong

The math is simple. Count days in any rolling 180-day window. Stay under 90.

The failure modes are predictable:

• Wrong dates: You log the flight date, not the arrival date
• Missing trips: Weekend hops to Amsterdam don't make it into your spreadsheet
• Wrong countries: You count Ireland as Schengen (it's not)
• Timezone drift: Your app stores UTC timestamps and quietly shifts dates
• Missing stamps: eGates don't stamp, so your passport record has gaps

DaysAround fixes the hardest part: getting accurate entry and exit dates from real evidence.

The Schengen 90/180 rule (what you're actually counting)

Maximum 90 days in any rolling 180-day period across the Schengen Area.

Key details:

• Rolling period: Not January-June, July-December. Every day, look back 180 days.
• Any presence counts: If you were in Schengen at any time on that calendar date, it's 1 full day.
• Both days count: Entry day and exit day both count as Schengen days.

Example: Land in Paris at 11:50 PM on June 1st, leave at 12:10 AM on June 3rd. That's 3 Schengen days (June 1, 2, and 3), even though you were there about 24 hours total.

This applies to visa-exempt nationals and most short-stay visa holders. Residence permits and nationality-specific agreements may override these rules.

What accurate tracking actually requires

1. Correct country classification

Schengen ≠ EU ≠ Europe

Common mistakes:

• Ireland: EU but not Schengen
• Cyprus: EU but not Schengen
• UK: Neither EU nor Schengen
• Bulgaria/Romania: Rules changed in 2024. Check current status for your entry method.

DaysAround's country database is built for compliance, not tourism. Your timeline shows days per country so you can verify classifications.

2. Calendar-day precision

Schengen counting uses local calendar days, not flight hours.

Red-eye problem: Flight departs March 15th, lands March 16th at 12:30 AM local time. Your Schengen day is March 16th, not March 15th.

Night train problem: Cross from France to Germany at 11:45 PM. You have both a France day and a Germany day.

DaysAround anchors dates to GPS coordinates and timestamps in your photos. This gives you verifiable local presence, not vague recollections.

3. Rolling window calculation

With multiple short trips, intuition fails. You need to check every possible 180-day window.

Example timeline:

• Trip 1: 25 days in January-February
• Trip 2: 30 days in April-May
• Trip 3: 35 days planned for July-August

Total is 90 days exactly. But when does the rolling window matter? What if Trip 1 was 30 days? Can you still do Trip 3?

DaysAround shows your running balance for any reference date. Plan future trips against your actual history, not rules of thumb.

Common mistakes that create overstays

Mistake 1: "90 days in, 90 days out" thinking

Staying out for 90 days doesn't automatically give you 90 fresh days. It depends what falls inside the rolling 180-day lookback.

Fix: Always calculate from actual rolling windows. DaysAround's timeline view makes this automatic.

Mistake 2: Not counting arrival and departure days

"I was only there for the weekend" often means 3 counted days: Friday arrival, Saturday, Sunday departure.

Fix: Count any calendar day with presence as 1 full day. DaysAround's day-level ledger makes this visible.

Mistake 3: Timezone confusion in logs

Storing events as UTC, then converting to local time later, can shift dates by one day on border crossings.

Fix: Track by local calendar presence. DaysAround processes photo metadata to determine where you actually were on each date.

Mistake 4: Incomplete passport stamp records

eGates often don't stamp. Manual stamping is inconsistent. Your passport may not show every entry/exit.

Fix: Use multiple evidence sources. DaysAround starts with geotagged photos because they're timestamped proof of location you already have.

Mistake 5: Confusing transit with entry

Airside transit usually doesn't count. But if you clear immigration for any reason, it typically does.

Fix: Use evidence of actual presence. Photos from inside the country are clearer proof than boarding passes alone.

A reliable system: evidence first, calculation second

Treat Schengen tracking like bookkeeping. You need source documents and a running ledger.

Step 1: Build an evidence-backed travel ledger

Your ledger must answer: Where was I on each calendar day?

Best evidence sources:

• Geotagged photos (GPS + timestamp)
• Boarding passes
• Hotel invoices
• Bank transactions with merchant locations
• Calendar entries

DaysAround reconstructs years of history by scanning photo metadata on your iPhone. This happens entirely on-device. Your location history never leaves your phone.

Step 2: Reconcile after each trip

Short, regular reconciliation prevents small errors from becoming overstays.

Quick checklist:

• Verify entry and exit dates
• Fix timezone shifts on overnight flights
• Confirm whether stops were transit or entry
• Check country classifications

DaysAround lets you review and edit your timeline locally. Keep your calculation trustworthy without starting from scratch.

Step 3: Calculate for the dates that matter

Three key calculations:

• Today: Current compliance status
• Planned entry: Can you enter on this date?
• Planned exit: Can you stay until this date?

DaysAround runs "what if" scenarios using your real travel history. Plan confidently when you have many overlapping trips.

Step 4: Keep a safety buffer

Complex travel patterns have more error risk. Don't aim for exactly 90 days.

Practical policy: Keep 3-7 days buffer under 90, depending on how often you travel and how complete your records are.

How DaysAround makes this automatic

On-device photo scanning

Your iPhone camera already captures GPS coordinates and timestamps. DaysAround reads this metadata to rebuild your travel timeline.

Processing happens entirely on your device:

• No cloud upload of location history
• No analytics tracking
• No central database of your movements

This gives you a private "where have I been" timeline and country-by-country breakdown ready for Schengen calculations.

Compliance-ready views

From your verified ledger, DaysAround computes:

• Schengen days used in rolling 180-day windows
• Days remaining as of any reference date
• Days per country for tax residency awareness
• Exportable summaries for advisors

This is why DaysAround is positioned as a private travel ledger for compliance, not just a countries-visited tracker.

Exportable records

Frequent travelers often need clean summaries for:

• Immigration lawyers
• Tax advisors
• Accountants
• Border officials

DaysAround produces shareable reports while keeping raw personal data on your phone by default.

Manual logs vs. generic calculators vs. DaysAround

Method	Strengths	Frequent Traveler Problems	DaysAround Difference
Spreadsheet	Full control	High effort, missing trips, date errors	Photo-based reconstruction reduces missing data
Online calculator	Simple rolling math	Depends on memory, no audit trail	Uses verified evidence ledger
Location history app	Automated tracking	Creates surveillance dossier	On-device processing, no cloud upload
DaysAround	Evidence + automation	Needs photos with GPS metadata	Private ledger + rolling calculation + exports

Stop guessing, start verifying

If you cross borders frequently, a better calculator won't save you. You need better source data.

The reliable approach:

1. Evidence-backed travel ledger
2. Regular reconciliation of entry/exit dates
3. Rolling 90/180 calculation for today and planned dates
4. Safety buffer under 90 days

DaysAround handles the hard parts: reconstructing accurate timelines from photo metadata and computing rolling windows without uploading your travel history to the cloud.

Visualize your travel patterns across countries. Keep your movements private. Stay compliant with Schengen limits.

FAQ

Do arrival and departure days both count? Yes. Any calendar day with Schengen presence counts as 1 full day.

Is the 180-day period fixed or rolling? Rolling. For any date, look back 180 days and count Schengen days in that window.

Can I reset by staying out 90 days? Not always. Your available days depend on what falls in the rolling 180-day lookback.

Are online calculators accurate? The math is usually correct. The risk is bad inputs: wrong dates, missing trips, misclassified countries.

What if my passport wasn't stamped? Use multiple evidence sources: geotagged photos, boarding passes, receipts. Stamps are often incomplete due to eGates.

Does Ireland count toward Schengen days? No. Ireland is not in the Schengen Area. Neither is Cyprus or the UK.

How much buffer should I keep? Many frequent travelers keep 3-7 days buffer under 90, especially with complex patterns or imperfect records.

Can I track without uploading my location? Yes. DaysAround processes photo metadata entirely on-device. No cloud sync or analytics tracking.