10 years rule for passport

amanda1024

Ganga said:

I know this is a money saving forum but cannot understand why some people play russian roulette with their holiday via passport validity when it easier to get it renewed and enjoy the next 10 years travel problems free.

Given stories of the passport office taking a long time to issue new passports (while holding onto the old one), there’s a russian roulette in whether there’s enough time to get a new passport too, particularly for people going abroad fairly regularly 

Largs

I was reading BBC news just now and saw the stories about people losing thousands by not being allowed to travel.  It did strike me though, I had every sympathy for them, but then it dawned on me, if any of them voted exit, then my sympathy will be withdrawn.  I wish the BBC had asked them about how they voted.

giraffe69

IMO enough time has passed and there has been enough publicity for travellers to get it right however if a jobsworth attempts to enforce a non existent rule and stops you getting on a flight/ferry etc then the company should have to pay significant compensation if they are wrong. 

katejo

giraffe69 said:

IMO enough time has passed and there has been enough publicity for travellers to get it right however if a jobsworth attempts to enforce a non existent rule and stops you getting on a flight/ferry etc then the company should have to pay significant compensation if they are wrong. 

Yes of course. I did wonder whether an official might try to claim that NO maroon/red passports were valid. I did argue with 1 guy on FB about this a few days ago.

katejo

Largs said:

I was reading BBC news just now and saw the stories about people losing thousands by not being allowed to travel.  It did strike me though, I had every sympathy for them, but then it dawned on me, if any of them voted exit, then my sympathy will be withdrawn.  I wish the BBC had asked them about how they voted.

A wicked part of me has thought that standing in a queue at the airport behind someone with a rejected passport (due to the 10 year requirement) might be quite entertaining if they were clearly a Brexit voter.

strawb_shortcake

We've just booked with Tui and were specifically asked about our passports being in date and the "new rules". I'm not sure what else any third party can do to stop this. 

We renewed all our passports last month and they were all back within a week

Pollycat

giraffe69 said:

IMO enough time has passed and there has been enough publicity for travellers to get it right however if a jobsworth attempts to enforce a non existent rule and stops you getting on a flight/ferry etc then the company should have to pay significant compensation if they are wrong. 

Quite a few years ago, we holidayed in Goa twice a year, we could get 2 visits out of one visa.
They changed the rules and said you couldn't return within 2 months.
Then they rescinded that (for UK citizens and some other nationalities) so we booked our February holiday, to return to Goa in a few days before the 2 months (which was no longer applicable).
These changes were widely discussed on Tripadvisor and HolidayTruths.

Arrived at the airport, Thomas Cook refused to check us in as we 'didn't have the appropriate documentation', we could only fly back to Goa 2 days later to comply with the 2 month rule.
Thomas Cook assistance refused to help us as we'd booked the TC flight with Olympic Holidays.
Olympic Holidays were useless, just a person who was expecting to give out tickets at the airport.
By then, we'd got 3 more couples in the same boat.
Me and OH tried to explain to Olympic that we were right, they got on the phone and said we could fly if we signed a waiver that if we were denied entry to India, we'd pay for the return flight.
My OH said 'if my wife says we have the correct documentation, then yes, I'll sign. Give me the paper to sign' - which was not what the Olympic rep expected.
My OH went back to the Thomas Cook desk and asked to see a manager. He came over to us and showed us a cobbled together message, allegedly from the Indian High Commissioner that mixed up UK citizens with other nationalities.
My husband said 'you had better be twice as sure that you (as a TC representative) are right than my wife is sure that she is right - if you are denying us boarding as it won't just be the flight cost we claim back from TC.
He disappeared, came back 5 minutes later and said 'you can check-in now'.

I'm not sure where we would have stood if he had insisted we would be denied boarding.

Eldi_Dos

katejo said:

Largs said:

I was reading BBC news just now and saw the stories about people losing thousands by not being allowed to travel.  It did strike me though, I had every sympathy for them, but then it dawned on me, if any of them voted exit, then my sympathy will be withdrawn.  I wish the BBC had asked them about how they voted.

A wicked part of me has thought that standing in a queue at the airport behind someone with a rejected passport (due to the 10 year requirement) might be quite entertaining if they were clearly a Brexit voter.

Amazing, do not think even John Curtice can tell how someone votes by looking at them,when behind them do you use phrenology to work it out?

bagand96

Pollycat said:

I'm not sure where we would have stood if he had insisted we would be denied boarding.

Interesting point.  You'd of course be entitled to denied boarding compensation under EC261 as well as a full refund of the flights. For the refund I'd expect a whole load of buck passing between Olympic Holidays and Thomas Cook blaming each other.

I'm not sure if EC261 limits an airline's liability or whether you'd be able to claim further lost costs (ie the rest of the holiday).  You'd likely have to go to court for that though.

Pollycat

AnnikaJuarez said:

Hey @f4phixeruk! You've hit the nail on the head with that reminder to check passport validity! It's such a simple thing, but it's super easy to overlook amidst the hustle and bustle of trip planning. And yeah, it's a real bummer when folks get caught out by the rules and end up pointing fingers at travel operators. It's always a good move to double-check those expiration dates and make sure you're up to speed on the specific entry requirements of your destination.

Speaking of getting things in order, if anyone needs some guidance on getting their documents sorted for travel or other purposes, you might want to check out https://apostillelondon.com/document-legalisation/ . They've got some solid advice that can save you a headache down the line.

This official website is the best source for new passports/passport renewal:
Passports, travel and living abroad - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

It also gives advice on entry requirements for all countries.

I'm not sure how many people who post on here will require an apostille service.
If they do, the same official website gives advice.

Get your document legalised: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)