Making a list of what you need to pack before going on holiday can save you from leaving any important items behind. Even if you do forget a few essential bits like your toothbrush and swimsuit, these can often be easily replaced, but it might be a bit trickier if you turn up to the airport without your passport.
Besides checking you have your passport with you, a consumer expert has also urged holidaymakers to do one thing before travelling. Appearing on This Morning, Alice Beer said: “If you’re planning on making the most of the school holidays and getting out of here the minute your kids break up, you have got to do one thing and check your passport.”
Before heading off on any travels, Alice explained to viewers that they should be checking their own passports and family members for “some really key things” including any visible damage that could “ruin your holiday”.
The Post Office website states that a passport will be considered damaged if there’s any of the following: details are indecipherable, the laminate on the photo page has lifted, there’s discolouration of the bio-data page, there’s chemical or ink spillage on any page or pages are missing.
Any passport that’s not in a suitable condition might not be considered valid for travel, and could instantly spoil a holiday, and it’s best to get it replaced if any signs of damage have occurred.
Alice warned that travellers also need to pay attention to how much time they have to travel on their passport.
Simply looking up how many months you need on your passport for whichever country you plan on visiting on the government website could save you from any disappointment of being refused entry.
For UK citizens travelling to Europe and Schengen countries, the Post Office advises that passports must have been issued less than 10 years before your departure date, and need to be valid for at least three months after your planned return date.
Many British holidaymakers still get caught out by the change in entry rules to Europe and Schengen countries that don’t recognise the extra nine months that passports issued before 2018 have.
Alice said: “This keeps coming up time and time again.” And she added: “If you renewed your passport and got a carry over of extra months, you might find that your passport is currently more than 10 years old.
“That will not get you entry into some countries and you’ll be simply turned down at the gate.”
So checking for any visible signs of damage, and the time left on your passport, and when it was issued, well in advance of any travel plans can prevent them from being ruined.