to be annoyed Premier Inn wants my passport details

[DorothyL]

and my "next destination" because I'm not a UK citizen.
My next destination is home ffs - another town in the UK. I'm a UK resident and taxpayer. Why do they insist on this, other hotels don't?

Hmmm it is a bit odd if you have been here 20 years, and are a permanent resident.

Have you asked them why?

Me and DH went away with a couple 2 years ago with a couple - DH he works with him - she is French and been here 10 years by then, (working here, and no plans to go back,) and they are not married, and we all stayed at a travelodge. No-one asked for her passport.

So I am a bit baffled.

And ignore ana, (on page 1) you have said nothing 'racist!'

And ignore the baiters saying 'go stay somewhere else then!' And 'grow up!'

YANBU and I would be asking them (very loudly) 'WHY do you need my passport details when I am a UK resident?'

If they can't give a good answer, use someone else anyway and slag them off all over twitter for being arseholes.

Oh and travelodge do NOT ask for photo I.D. unless you are paying by cash/paying when you get there. And as the VAST majority of people book in advance, they will not be asked.. So anyone saying that is chatting shit.

Could this be the case for you @DorothyL? Did you turn up and pay cash (and not pre-book?)

Found it, but you'll have to Google as I'm using an ancient iPad and can't paste the link

Immigration Hotel Records Order 1972

Disclaimer, I didn't visit read it thoroughly so someone else may do and pull it to pieces and if that's the case, I will suggest the above has caused some misunderstanding.

Edison- a lawyer on here explained that legality to the OP about 100 posts back, but she still doesn't like it.

I'm a Brit living in Italy and have to take my passport everywhere. Can't pick up a package from the PO without it. As others said, I'm miffed at myself to have missed a humph possibility.

(the list of who is staying and whence they come is also a pretty invaluable piece of info should the place burn to the ground, because Mr and Mrs Smith (oooh, is that why you're humphy OP? were you on a promise with Mr Smith? and wanted to be incognito?) isn't going to narrow it down when it comes to informing the relatives)

I booked 2 rooms the other day through premier inn . Out of 4 people we are staying 3 are non-uk No passport details requested. I’ve stayed multiple times In hotels around the uk and never been requested my passport , I never carry it with me so it’s good :)

Btw I have paid many many taxes as well in the last 10 years I’ve lived in the uk but ... I’m not British , my passport doesn’t say so, so I know despite having spent all this time here , being married to a British citizen and having a British child I’m not going to be treated as a British person. If I want to then I need to apply for the nationality.

And please ignore the posters that are telling you to live with it, so rude.

It's not rude though. It's just facts.

Not the point of the thread but how do you check into a hotel online? Surely check in is where you get given your room key and told where the fire exits are? What is the online bit for? (I have often wondered similar about airport online check in. Surely the airport needs to know that you are physically there at the airport so you get on the plane? I don't get the point of airport online check in if you, I assume, still have to queue up to say "Hello I am here at the airport to board my flight not stuck in a traffic jam miles away from the airport". If you check in online how do they know if you are actually there or not? Not the point of the thread I know!)

And please ignore the posters that are telling you to live with it, so rude.
It's not rude though. It's just facts.

Sorry but these are not just facts.
For one, as it has been said, no one else asks for that sort if information. And they have so little interest in it that your u can out whatever you want. I usually leave it blank or out DH citizenship (as he is british anyway).

But also, IF it was a legal requirement and everyone was asking for it, it might still not be something you ‘just have to live with it’.
Plenty of things that were/are wrong are said to be legal. Saying you just have to accept it regardless is basically saying that anything legal is acceptable even if it goes goes human rights, common decency

Edison

Thank you. here is the link

Op it would appear (as you have previously been told) that having lived in the U.K. for 20 years has no relevance. My dh is now British but was not for many many years. I don’t recall him being asked his passport but we last stayed in a hotel in the U.K. about 15/20 years ago.

However it would appear the hotels not asking are breaking the law rather than you being singled out by PI.

You may not like it. The hotels are not rude, just obeying the law. And if you don’t, you can apply for British citizenship.

And please ignore the posters that are telling you to live with it, so rude.

Not rude at all, it is a fact.

How are hotel staff meant to know you've been a British resident for 20 years. Stop causing a fuss for no reason like pp's have said it is standard procedure especially when abroad.

The only place I'm being asked for ID at the moment is an office in London where I have to attend regular meetings. I have no idea if it's normal in London now, but the last time I was asked for ID to enter business premises was in Italy, back in about 2005.

OP do you have a UK driving licence you can use as ID instead if asked? Then you don't need to say you are not British and I think a pp is right - you are from the UK, because that's where you live. If someone asked me where I had come from today I would say the county I live in, not the one I was born in.

Is this for the on-line booking or at the desk?

If you have a UK address I would just lie about nationality.

You only need ID if paying by cash or cheque, and a driving licence should be fine.

There is no requirement to carry photo ID in the UK.

@buttermilkwaffles yes the agent at the airline check-in did. It was totally bizarre. I couldn’t believe I was getting grilled at check-in when leaving the country I live in to go to the country of my birth.

OK so now I've RTFT lol.

Just lie about nationality when making the booking. They do not check. I've never had to show my passport at any Premier Inn and I stay with them all the time for work (and I sometimes given them a French address). My French passport-holding children stay at premier inn sometimes and have never had to show a passport.

I don't know why they do this - with suspect it's nothing to do with "border control" or any such guff and more to do with marketing / market research. They also want to know the reason for your trip, which is none of their business. When businesses want my data I tend to lie about everything on principle ;)

It shouldn’t be about nationality it should be about your permanent residence. You should be ok with a drivers licence to prove that.

If we had ID cards then we’d all have proof of residence. I never really understood why people are so against ID cards. If you already have a passport it’s simple and if you don’t it’s easier than getting one.

We have a space for passport details on the check in form. If a guest refuses to give card details (up them ultimately) then we need some sort of ID. I'm honestly not sure if it's a legal requirement or not. We also take the registration number for all cars parked on the premises.
The reason we take ID or card details is 2 fold 1) so any damages can be persued by the hotel and when you sign in at check in you agree to this and 2) to pass on to the police should something untoward happen to the guest, so they can be identified and so nok can be contacted. We obviously can't trace someone through card or passport details but the police can. And yes, people have accidents, get sick and even die staying in hotels. Not to mention the criminal activity that a hotel and the anonymity it offers, can attract. It's to protect the guest, the hotel, the staff and the other guests.

Cancel the hotel then and stay at home. Or give them your passport up to you.

It shouldn’t be about nationality it should be about your permanent residence.

Should it? That's just your personal opinion though. I am sure a lot more thought goes into the check in requirements than just the opinion of one individual.

The problem with it being about permanent residence is that the way to prove that... is your passport.

@NonaGrey erm how? No mention of my address on my passport

Passport does not prove residency, it proves nationality.

I've always given passport details every time I've stayed in a hotel abroad.

I mean you are German (or from whichever country) not British. Yes you have lived here for X years but you’re not British.

It’s just a simple fact - it’s nothing to be offended over. I wouldn’t become a German citizen by moving there, I’d still be British. I wouldn’t be offended if I had to show my passport to book a hotel room at a different country. I don’t think they’re singling you out or being xenophobic at all. It’s just how the website is programmed based upon options selected on the web form, not Premier Inn telling you that they don’t want your custom.

You’re overthinking this and getting offended for no reason. And frankly, chances are that you’ll rock up to the hotel and they’d assume you’re British anyway or not treat you any differently as opposed to a non white/non British person who actually experience racism/xenophobia

The OP's not staying "abroad" though. She's paying for a UK hotel using a UK card registered to a UK address. The hotel has no need to know her nationality (except for market research purposes).

I have a UK passport and frequently stay in French hotels using a French card registered to a French address and am rarely asked for my passport, even though (unlike in the UK) it is a legal requirement to carry photo ID.

In the UK if asked for a passport you can perfectly reasonably claim to have left it at home.