Flying from England to Dublin without a passport... help!

[parchedjanuary]

I know if I try harder I can find this information out...but so far I have got myself confused....so if anyone can give me an answer I will appreciate it.

I need to fly from England to Dublin next weekend. It's for my dad's funeral. Mum and dad are Irish but lived in England. I was born in England and have a UK passport, but it expired in 2018. I have not bothered about getting a new passport because of covid and the lack of opportunities to travel. It was on my list of things to do... but not urgent.

My dad became serious ill and rapidly deteriorated over the last few weeks. At this point a passport was the last thing on my mind.

My dad has now passed away. We are arranging the funeral. He will be buried in Ireland. We are hoping his funeral and burial will be in 8 days from today.

There are many of us coming over from England for the funeral and many of our Irish loved ones who will be there.

We were making the plans this evening and I mentioned that I don't have an In date passport, but it's okay because I have a driving license photo card. There is an area , regardless of brexit that there is free movement.

I thought it would be fine for me to turn up at the Airport with my drivers license but my family say otherwise!

Please please please any advice???

Ryanair definitely won't accept a driving licence or expired passport. I know people who've been refused flights with them for both.

If the important thing is travelling on the same flight as family, then I agree with calling Ryanair to see if your expired passport and drivers license will be enough.

Otherwise, I would just book with an airline whose website says they accept your drivers license. It sounds like Aer Lingus or British Airways definitely do and it saves you the hassle of calling up.

I travelled pre covid to Dublin via Heathrow with British airways just on my driving license.
Somehow managed to bring my sons passport with me rather then my own and they let me travel on it. Got through passport control at Dublin with no issue!

@parchedjanuary bumpertobumper ???? Please expand on your very considerate advice the poster said just don’t fly with Ryan air.

Remember the ferry possibility as mentioned earlier. We travelled to Larne in December and weren't asked for ID but if you are, then photo id will suffice.

Don't bother contacting Ryan Air to see if they will take a driving licence/ expired passport they 100% will not. Airlingus will take a valid driving licence, my brother came home using his driving licence with them at Christmas. But maybe for your own comfort check their guidelines.
Def fine on the ferry but that seems like a long way around it. It might be possible to get flights very close to the Ryanair flight your family are getting so ye can wait together and then meet back up in Ireland.

Sorry for your loss x

Sorry for your loss OP

Try calling the helpline, this is suggested if you need to travel urgently for illness or death of a family member

www.gov.uk/passport-advice-line

But you know you can get to Dublin on your drivers licence, just probably not with Ryanair x

@MyDcAreMarvel thank you

Sorry for your loss OP.

For peace of mind I would probably fork out for a new passport. I'm sure they can do emergency ones and you get them on the same day? Or like within 48hrs or something. Especially if it's a renewal and not a first time application.

Nope all goes ok x

@WhatsitWiggle @SukiToast Thank you

Easyjet will let you fly to Belfast on a passport that expired up to five years ago. My friend has done it several times.

I've just checked their website and confirmed that is still correct. The train down to Dublin is more comfortable than the bus, but a bit more expensive.

You could also get a rail and sail ticket to Dublin via Holyhead. Its about £50 to £60 each way and covers the train fare from your local station and the foot passenger crossing. I've never had my ID checked. You don't need to give a passport number to book either.

@Spartak thank e

Thank you everyone who has given me advice here.So much helpful information. I'm sure that I will make it to Ireland 🇮🇪.

Air lingus sounds like a good option.

Possibly also easy jet to Belfast and then travel down.

The ferry is a very good option but I am not a confident driver and I don't have a car (I could hire a car....but still I'm not a confident driver!)

I can get in touch with my local passport office, and possibly show them my dad's death certificate etc 😥

I will update and let you know what happens,

Currently I'm hoping to get air lingus to Dublin and meet my family at the airport.

Or else easy jet to Belfast and travel down.

This has certainly been a lesson for me

A family member lost her passport in December just before she was due to travel from London to Dublin. She was due to fly Ryanair but they would not accept a driving licence. She ended up flying with her licence on Aer Lingus - it was absolutely fine, no questions asked.

Air lingus definitely do take most of, they accepted university of cards (exh had his around his neck, passport in his bag and they said he didn't need to both to get it out.)

Thank you very much to everyone who responded with advice. I'm flying to Belfast and then travelling south with my family who live in the north. I'm doing similar to get back to England, travelling up to Belfast, part of the way with family and then public transport from Dublin to Belfast. It is a longer journey, than if I could have taken the Ryanair flight to Dublin , and has taken a bit more planning.... but it's all sorted. I'm really glad that my dad will be going home where he would want to be, and I'm glad my travel arrangements are sorted so I can concentrate this time on remembering him and saying goodbye.

If anyone was wondering what happened.... I flew to Belfast on EasyJet with my driving license. And travelled to our destination on the west coast of Ireland with some family from Northern Ireland. I'm so glad that I got there despite my initial panic. My dad's wake and funeral were wonderful. I'm so glad that my dad choose to be buried back home in Ireland. As well as the sadness, it was a true celebration of my dad and his life. It was so comforting to see so many of my family and my dads old friends there...many of them in Ireland we had not seen for many. I felt like my family were enveloped in love, and the amount of love, respect and hope that was shown towards my dad was quite overwhelming.

Aw, I'm so glad it worked out for you @parchedjanuary, and glad you had family to travel down with rather than having to go the whole way by yourself.

Thank goodness you thought to ask, it would have been very distressing if you'd turned up to a Ryanair flight and weren't allowed to board.

Sounds like a lovely funeral. I do like a good funeral (everyone Irish will get what I mean!), as you say a celebration of a life.

So sorry for your loss and I’m glad it all worked out so smoothly. I often chuckle and think the deceased throw these curveballs at us around the time of the funeral to make us have a different outlook and approach to things, or maybe to figure these things out without them.
And you’ve now had an Irish road trip which I’m sure your dad would have loved you to have and connected with people along the way. It was meant to be

I'm glad it all went well and you made the funeral. It sounds like it was a good celebration.

@parchedjanuary I am now in the same predicament as you. I wondered if you had managed to fly on your drivers license?

She did....

Easyjet to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Then she travelled by road to wherever she needed to go.

Her update is a few posts up.