British Passport Query

moonrakerz

mac5543 wrote: »

The US have more stringent rules

The US does not have more stringent rules than the EU for UK passport holders when it comes to passport validity, although they do have much stricter rules concerning the individuals character/history.
If your passport is valid for a week when you try and enter the States, they will let you enter - for a week !

luci

Regardless of any individual country's entry requirements, some airlines and tour operators stipulate that the passport should be valid for 6 months from the return date.

I would advise you to check the T&C's of the airline/tour operator you are travelling with to ascertain their own rules as you could be denied boarding it you do not comply.

dzug

luci wrote: »

Regardless of any individual country's entry requirements, some airlines and tour operators stipulate that the passport should be valid for 6 months from the return date.

I would advise you to check the T&C's of the airline/tour operator you are travelling with to ascertain their own rules as you could be denied boarding it you do not comply.

Tour operators, yes, I've seen some with this rule. But in general you check in with the airline, not the tour operator.

But airlines?? Are there actually any that stipulate it where it is, legally, unnecessary? I've never come across one - but am prepared to be surprised.

judderman62

luci wrote: »

Regardless of any individual country's entry requirements, some airlines and tour operators stipulate that the passport should be valid for 6 months from the return date.

I would advise you to check the T&C's of the airline/tour operator you are travelling with to ascertain their own rules as you could be denied boarding it you do not comply.

That is exactly what happened to one of our passengers, who decided not to heed our advice, when he was due to fly to Amsterdam. Sadly he was denied boarding - meeting missed and non refundable ticket value also lost.

Of course I'm sure he would have found it of great comfort to be advised, by some of the oh so knowledgeable oracles on MSE , that the airline was in the wrong - I'm confident he would have slept better at night :rolleyes:

moonrakerz

judderman62 wrote: »

Of course I'm sure he would have found it of great comfort to be advised, by some of the oh so knowledgeable oracles on MSE t

What the "so knowledgeable oracles on MSE" are stating is the FACT.

Why should travel companies/airlines etc impose rules which have no basis whatsoever. Perhaps it needs someone like your passenger to take legal action against the ill informed people who kept him from his flight.

If I was being really sarcastic perhaps I could say that it is a last desperate attempt by the travel industry to impose their outdated ways on the public ! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Voyager2002

luci wrote: »

Regardless of any individual country's entry requirements, some airlines and tour operators stipulate that the passport should be valid for 6 months from the return date.

I would advise you to check the T&C's of the airline/tour operator you are travelling with to ascertain their own rules as you could be denied boarding it you do not comply.

One of my colleagues was wrongly denied boarding at Amsterdam (in transit there for a flight to the USA). So mistakes do happen, and the consequences can be serious.

In general, if you are doing anything unusual but know that you are in the right, it is a good idea to carry a print-out of the relevant page from the country's embassy's website. I did this for a trip to Switzerland, when I knew that my documentation was what was needed (I had checked with the Embassy) but BA had told me by telephone that my papers were invalid. (In the event, the people at check-in knew the rules and did not question the documents, although they did have a very close look at them.)

However, I cannot imagine that anyone working for an airline would believe that an EU passport needed to be valid for longer than the length of the trip for a journey within the EU. This is such a basic piece of information that even an airport cleaner who didn't know it should lose their job!

seftonsun

travellite wrote: »

Thank you very much VampGirl. :T

I tried the UK Passport website first and all queries are via a premium rate (0907) line :eek:

I think you have been conned by one of the web sites that tries to immitate the UK IPS web site and then directs you to a premium rate phone line.

There was an item on the news about this deceitful practice within the last week. As stated above the UK PIS operate an 0870 number at 8p per minute. So everyone be aware. ICTIS(?) are I believe invetigating this as in one instance a chap set up a web site, directed people to an 090 number and then basically played a recorded message where he just read out the information contained upon the official UK PIS site.