AIBU not knowing what to do about holiday debacle (child passport renewal)...

[Flockameanie]

I've been posting about our debacle of trying to renew DS's passport on the Holidays board.

In short, we're due to go on holiday in 8 days. DS's passport renewal may, or may not, arrive on time. We have no way of knowing. Flights are on EasyJet, accommodation is indepenently booked. Up to the end of today, I can change the date on the flights for no fee. From tomorrow onwards it will cost £350 to change them. I can change them up to 2hrs before the flight. We've paid a deposit on the accommodation (Abourt £300) that we'll lose if we change or cancel.

My AIBU is that I don't know what to do and I'm so bloody stressed. Mostly about potentially having to tell the DC, who are so excited about this holiday, that it's cancelled.

Options:

1. Sit tight and hope passport arrives. Do nothing. If by the night before it hasn't arrived, change flights (for £350) for some random date in future. Lose deposit on villa
2. Cut our losses now. Change flights to some random date in the future. Cancel villa. Only loss is villa deposit.

What do I do?? I'm so stressed about it all I can't think straight...

@Flockameanie

Standard online application submitted 4.5 weeks ago. Only update on system is that they’ve received the documents - that was 10 days ago.

Have spent so long on hold on phone over past 3 weeks. When we finally got through they advised to withdraw application and do an in-person fast track. We did that and got to the apt yesterday only for them to tell us we couldn’t withdraw the original application.

Amy childs passport took about two weeks to arrive after they said theyd received the docs My youngest has taken longer. Id cancel

Good luck!

Just a thought, is the application one where identity is likely to need to be verified by whoever you nominated? that could presumably be a reason for a delay compared to other applications.

Why do SO many people on mumsnet book a holiday, pay for it (in full!) and then 'suddenly realise' a few days before they're meant to go, that someone in the family (usually a child) has got an out of date passport?

This thread has come up at LEAST once a week (from various posters) since around the beginning of February!

I have never known of a single person in real life, who has booked a holiday overseas, and then discovered one of their family members passports is out of date! People generally tend to check their family member's passport expiry dates before booking a holiday. (In many cases, people KNOW the expiry dates!)

Yet, on mumsnet, it's commonplace for people to book a holiday, and then just DAYS before they're due to leave... 'oh no my child's passport only has 3 hours left on it! And we're due to travel to Tunisia the day after tomorrow!!!'

Mumsnet is a parallel Universe!

@MurmuratingStarling. it's never happened to me, but several years ago friends of mine got to the airport and the check-in person pointed out that their daughter's passport had expired. So it does happen.

The OP said they booked six weeks ago at which point they obviously checked the passport and thought six weeks gave enough time as the website was saying 4 weeks at the time. I would have done the same.

Many people haven't used their passports in two years and you need extra time on them now... its hardly surprising a few more people than usual have slipped up, especially with child passports being 5 years...

Five years ago I was allowed to fly abroad with my daughter having 3 days left on her passport and no return ticket. You can't do that now!

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Many people haven't used their passports in two years and you need extra time on them now... its hardly surprising a few more people than usual have slipped up, especially with child passports being 5 years...

Five years ago I was allowed to fly abroad with my daughter having 3 days left on her passport and no return ticket. You can't do that now!

But how is this an excuse? People should know that child passports only last 5 years, and more importantly check the passports of the entire family before booking and paying for a bloody holiday! It really isn't that difficult!

I might be too late for this advise (I've only just seen and skimmed the thread) but can you cancel the flights so that you don't look money, don't cancel the villa because it makes no difference and then if (hopefully) the passport arrives just rebook the flights then? Even if it's the day before.

Mine came within a couple of days of them receiving all the documents and including a new photo as the one I initially submitted wasn't suitable. I'm sure it'll arrive on time. I did it all on line and it was really straightforward.

A few years ago I had sent both DPs and DDs passports for renewal. This was in the March and I had still not received them by the third week of may. I contacted my local MP. I don't know what he did but the following day I had an email from him to say the passports would be with me by courier within 48 hours.
They arrived two days before my planned holiday. I would suggest at least trying the same.

@MurmuratingStarling
That isn’t what happened, though. The holiday was booked six weeks ago. Government said passport processing time was three weeks. Plenty of time, in theory. Nothing about only realising in “a few days” anywhere.

I would tell the kid the holidays cancelled now. Waiting until the last minute letting them get excited and doing the packing etc with them is cruel. Tell them it’s cancelled this weekend but that you’ll rearrange it for another time and do something nice at the weekend to make up with it. If you’re still going to get ready on the off-chance it arrives do things like packing discretely. If by some chance the passport does arrive in the next week then it’ll be a positive and exciting last minute change and far easier for them to manage than a last minute cancellation.

Mine turned up 3 days after they acknowledged receipt of the application (which, from post office tracking, they’d had for over a week).
They hand deliver so make sure someone is there to answer the door all the flipping time - I don’t think they can just leave it if you’re out.

(This was 2 weeks ago btw)

@MurmuratingStarling I don’t think criticising the OP is very fair. I’ve had to pay for a fast track passport, to replace what was a perfectly valid passport due to brexit.

I wouldn't cancel. As soon as you do, the passport will arrive

It'll turn up.

I applied for a child passport renewal on 5 March and received it this week on 29 March. It arrived on the day after they said they had printed it and they said they would let me know it was ready for dispatch. Still
Haven’t been told it is ready for dispatch!

Good luck OP! I would have gambled too. I would also phone them every day for updates.

I've just renewed my dd's passport and it's now out for delivery. I started the online process on the 8th of March

Bear in mind that I waited about ten days for TNT to deliver mine. I kept getting notifications that it was out for delivery but it never turned up. Then they stopped and I was beginning to think it had been lost - before it was eventually delivered ONE DAY before I needed to use it (for ID purposes, not travel, thankfully).
In your situation I think I'd move the abroad holiday to the next available slot and book something in the U.K. instead. There's just no knowing if the passport will turn up or not.

I really hope it arrives in time now you've decided to gamble but please make sure the children know in advance the holiday might not happen. It is much kinder to prepare them for the fact they might not get on the plane in advance than to spring it on them the day before if the passport still has not arrived in time.

@Flockameanie everything crossed for you. I would have done the same. Maybe tell the children you are waiting for the passport and if it doesn’t come you will have to reschedule for Christmas - then they are at least prepared…

That's a long time to wait. We have just renewed 3 passports and they all came back within three weeks. All three to different passport places for some reason (did the forms online and sent to where they told us to). I think there is a good chance it will come but tough gamble.

I’ve recently done a child passport application. 4 days after the documents received email I got one saying it was being processed. 5 days after that I got one saying it was done and then it arrived the following day. Hope that helps?