Passport validity

[whensmynexthol1day]

Hi everyone. Just looking for views on best course of action relating to my daughter’s passport. We are squashing quite a bit of travel into the summer period and don’t have an obvious gap to get her passport renewed.
the official rules from what I understand is that a passport must be no older than 10 years from date of issue and if travelling in Europe then it needs 3 months validity from the date of travel. I have seen the many press reports though of people being denied boarding where they have less than 6 months.
her passport expires 15 feb 2027 and we are away may half term, two weeks end July/ beginning of August and then the last two weeks of August returning 30 August . So not much less than the 6 months some people think is the rules.

what would you do? I have a few options I think

1. risk renewing it in the gap between may half term and the start of summer hols (7 weeks)
2. risk that the airlines do indeed know the rules (we are flying jet 2 on the last trip)
3. renew in feb (we are also abroad seeing family in Feb half term) - this gives us a much bigger window but I’m not even sure if you can renew a whole year in advance!

appreciate I’m silly for not having thought about this when we booked but we are where we are!

any advice welcome!

So if I'm following this correctly the risk is your last planned holiday at the end of August. What are the rules of entry for that country? If you must have 6 months left at the date of entry, you are fine. If it's exit, then you need to renew at the latest in the middle of the summer which is a bit high risk.

Airlines know the rules it's in the computer system and they don't have discretion as they have to impose the rules of whatever jurisdiction they are flying into.

The 6 month validity does apply in some countries but not EU. This may be where the airlines are not properly training their staff. Assuming your last trip is to an EU country then just renew 3 months before your next trip after the summer travelling.

Mine took 5 days last October.

I'm not usually paranoid but I don't like my passport to be getting to the end.. Especially as I usually fly to America. My old one was valid to June but that is less than 6 months and I stay awhile and need to get back etc so I got a new one and a new esta and now I don't need to worry. It seems in America, they change the rules on a whim!

What date does her passport start? End date is irrelevant if more than 10 years from start date.

If its a child passport it is only valid for 5 years so the 10 year validity is irrelevant

The USA doesnt require extra validity. Your passport only needs to be valid for the length of your visit

If you are travelling in the EU then no issue to use it in August, if travelling outside of the EU to a country that genuinely requires 6 months validity then renew after you've been away in Feb.

I’m risk adverse.

for my own, I paid to book a same day renewal appointment

would that be an option , or not for a minor?

I know. I fly there all the time. My point was that I want to be covered as much as possible.. as well as the fact that I fly to other places.

If you're only going to the EU forget about renewal until the autumn because it's valid until then. The press reports are outdated, a tiny minority of cases and often scaremongering nonsense from idiots with a political agenda who didn't understand the implications of the Brexit they encouraged people to vote for.

My passport reached ten years old this week, although didn't officialy expire until the summer. I sent the application off on Saturday and its already been printed so its likely it will arrive tomorrow or early next week.

I went to the EU in November and December and had no issues either time.

It might but its a total waste of time and money.

Looking at the wider picture, ragher than when to renew, this clearly explains the passport rules. Unfortunately, as mentioned up thread, some people at airports who should know better appear not to.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/simon-calder-passport-rules-turned-away-airports-b2706790.html

Just renewed mine and it was also a 1 week turnaround.

Just renew in October or so after you return, jet2 know the rules

The Simon Calder article above is almost a year old. 30 million UK citizens made over 60 million visits to the EU in 2024 without any passport problems, but that's not newsworthy.

You can renew passport whenever you want. Just check any bookings you've already made as you may have to pay to change passport details if you renew the passport before the holiday. At the moment passports are only taking 2-3 weeks

As I understand this you have 5.5 months left on the passport from the date of leaving. If you are leaving a country where 3 months is the rule I would not be worried about it. The chances of there being an issue must be tiny now as they all must be used to it by this stage.

But if you cannot stop yourself from worrying just renew it now?