Why checking your passport BEFORE you book matters

It‘s all to easy to get so excited about booking a holiday that we forget to do some of the basic checks. Travelling within Europe isn‘t quite as easy as it used to be thanks to "Brexit". There are certain rules that you need to think about that require a pre-booking passport check.

Wherever your passport is first thing to do is actually find it....we often think we know where it is and go take it out ready for the trip the day before and find it isn't where we thought it would be!

For Europe most countries follow the rules that apply to the Schengen area: -

A) Your passport must have a ‘date of issue’ less than 10 years before the date you arrive – if you renewed your passport before 1 October 2018, it may have a date of issue that is more than 10 years ago.

B) Your passport must have an ‘expiry date’ at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area (the expiry date does not need to be within 10 years of the date of issue).

C) Always check your passport to make sure there is NO damage of any kind - even a lose page will be an issue so check carefully.....

D) Some countries require a specified number of "clean" passport pages - always check with your travel professional to check specific requirements.

If at this stage your passport check confirms you can comply with the above then you should be good to go and you can get your holiday all booked with your Designer Travel Professional Travel Expert who will check the details for each destination you are visiting.

One final message, most European Border entry points will stamp your passport on the way in. It is crucial that they also stamp your passport on the way out on the way out otherwise you may put future travel in jeopardy as you may be registered as having outstayed your welcome.

Of course that's the beauty of dealing with one of the team here at Designer, we will check it all for you. Please give us a call if we can help with any questions you may have....