The cost of a passport is just stupid

[SoloTripSoloVibes]

That’s it really.

£94.50 for the actual passport, which is alright, I suppose.

£10 for the pictures because you need the fancy digital codes now and can’t just have a picture

£10 for guaranteed postage of the old one back to them, because of course they can’t just have a database that they update to say that one has expired or been replaced.

£115 in total! Bring on the days that it becomes totally digital.

Let's say you're fortunate enough to take a tow week foreign holiday every year. It works out at 67 PENCE per day of your holiday to have that passport. That's about 2 drinks out of your whole holiday budget, that I suspect is many hundreds of pounds a year, or thousands for the period of your passports validity.

I bet you don't pay for travel insurance either op, am I right?

I had no proof of my mother so had to go down the legal route.
Also had no suitable countersigner.

I recently renewed my sons, I took the photo on my iPhone, got him to stand in front of a white wall in my house then uploaded it online.
I desperately need to renew my own but mine is proving complicated as I got married in America and I need to send in my wedding certificate, but I was only given on a copy of a marriage licence.🤯

Such a shame we don’t have ID cards which enable us to travel in Europe without a passport. But we voted for Brexit. The gift that keeps on giving. And yes, for those of you that need British passports you will need a European visa fairly soon. Sorry I don’t know specifics as I am fortunate to have an Irish passport.

If you were born before 1929 you can have a free passport age 96

I just got mine redone and I had to go to the photo-me booth as every at home photo was rejected....

An Aussie passport cost me $412, about 200 quid, so the UK sounds like a bargain to me.

I think it’s good value for money at a tenner a year. However, I do sympathise that £100 upfront is a lot of money for a lot of people, and I don’t understand why people on this thread can’t see that. When I was younger I had family abroad. I could afford the £30 return Ryanair flights but couldn’t afford the passport, so the cost definitely is a barrier for many which is a shame.

Ah ok that sounds complicated and stressful least you got there in the end.

Exactly. Such a scam.

You can do the picture yourself, its not hard.

I dont know why you are bothering to get one if £115 is too much for you, the price of the holiday will be a lot more and it lasts 10 years.

Its a once in a decade cost. Not really a problem

😱!! That is serious $$$!

...what do you need a passport for? Travelling?

A hundred quid is likely to be a very small proportion of the cost of doing that for ten years, even if you only go abroad once a year.

I think it's very reasonable.

It's really not.

You think passports are a "scam" I don't really know what else there is to say to you, i don't know what your agenda is.

Then follow the online guidance for taking a suitable picture.

The British passport is a highly secure document in that it has many security features to help prevent it being counterfeited and thereby not only safeguarding your identity against fraud but the security of the U.K. None of these come cheap. You may also be surprised to know that the cost is heavily subsidised as the true cost would run to about £300 odd pounds.

There’s also the fact that you don’t have to have one if you don’t intend to travel out of the U.K., thereby saving yourself the money.

It’s expensive, yes, but you’re willfulky paying more to go via the paper route and old fashioned photos. Do it online, upload free photos that tell you if they’re good and get the cheapest postage. Still a lot I guess as an initial outlay 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think they should be cheaper. They should include the cost of posting it back in the cost of application.

Yes haha even more tedious for the ones who voted to oppose 😂

I think the visa thing is starting in 2026 at some point

Not a visa but a visa waiver. A moot point as to what difference there is as you have to apply and pay for it, but the visa waiver is considerably cheaper (20€ and children go free, as compared to 90€ for adults/35€ for children for an EU visa).

Why do you think they should be cheaper? Are you suggesting they should be subsidised by taxpayers?

Passports are expensive if you only need them for photo ID and a disability means you can't opt for the cheaper provisional driving licence, though perhaps that's something the proposed digital ID would be useful for.

It might not be much spread over 10yrs but is a lot out of your budget in one go if on a low income.

"it's just a book"
😂

Surely you know your passport is more than just a book.

They should include the cost of posting it back in the cost of application.

Why? You're the one wasting money by spending more than you need to send it back.