Passport dilemma for secret holiday

[Demonic Angel]

It's my boyfriends 30th in September and as a surprise I'm booking us a week away abroad.

His Mum and his best mate know but the plan is that he doesn't find out until the day we fly out as in

"Get a back packed babe, we're off to Spain for a week"

One problem - his passport has expired. I can't renew it for him without his knowledge and I don't want him to get suspicious that something is happening... so what can I do to get him to renew it without him realising we're going away?

Nothings been booked yet but I really want to get the flights sorted while they're still cheap, however Easyjet seem to want the passport info when I book the flights...

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get his passport renewed - and pretty soon-ish?

[andy400]

Can't be done without him knowing IIRC, unless you already have passport photos and want to risk forging his signature....

[shoestring7]

Demonic Angel said:

It's my boyfriends 30th in September and as a surprise I'm booking us a week away abroad.

His Mum and his best mate know but the plan is that he doesn't find out until the day we fly out as in

"Get a back packed babe, we're off to Spain for a week"

One problem - his passport has expired. I can't renew it for him without his knowledge and I don't want him to get suspicious that something is happening... so what can I do to get him to renew it without him realising we're going away?

Nothings been booked yet but I really want to get the flights sorted while they're still cheap, however Easyjet seem to want the passport info when I book the flights...

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get his passport renewed - and pretty soon-ish?

Ask the airline? Photo ID (e.g. driving licence) might be enough; Spain is in the EU.

SS7

[Lurking Lawyer]

shoestring7 said:

Ask the airline? Photo ID (e.g. driving licence) might be enough; Spain is in the EU.

Any form of photo ID is acceptable if you're moving around within the EU. However, I suspect that you may find that the airlines are rather more intransigent about it. A friend of mine in the Army was prevented from boarding a Ryanair flight as he was trying to use his military ID card but the check in staff refused to consider anything other than a passport....

[russ_a]

you could always take me instead

[Mr Will]

Create an excuse? e.g. the cost of renewing passports is about to go up/there is going to be a long waiting list over the summer/etc

Then you can convince them to renew their passport without giving the game away completely!

[john_p]

Hi risk approach - pretend to book a holiday beforehand then cancel it due to some reason; get him to sort his passport out for that holiday.

[mrmaggit]

Mr Will said:

Create an excuse? e.g. the cost of renewing passports is about to go up/there is going to be a long waiting list over the summer/etc

Then you can convince them to renew their passport without giving the game away completely!

As above, or...

Tell him you found his passport and did he realise it had expired, and that he really ought to keep it valid and up-to-date, use a booze-cruise type thing as an excuse?

I'm surprised as a woman you're asking us dumb blokes to come up with an excuse for you?

Enjoy the holiday, btw.

Edited by mrmaggit on Tuesday 17th March 13:05

[King Herald]

Lurking Lawyer said:

shoestring7 said:

Ask the airline? Photo ID (e.g. driving licence) might be enough; Spain is in the EU.

Any form of photo ID is acceptable if you're moving around within the EU. However, I suspect that you may find that the airlines are rather more intransigent about it. A friend of mine in the Army was prevented from boarding a Ryanair flight as he was trying to use his military ID card but the check in staff refused to consider anything other than a passport....

So you reckon you can fly into the UK from abroad and not need to show a passport?

[Mr Will]

King Herald said:

Lurking Lawyer said:

shoestring7 said:

Ask the airline? Photo ID (e.g. driving licence) might be enough; Spain is in the EU.

Any form of photo ID is acceptable if you're moving around within the EU. However, I suspect that you may find that the airlines are rather more intransigent about it. A friend of mine in the Army was prevented from boarding a Ryanair flight as he was trying to use his military ID card but the check in staff refused to consider anything other than a passport....

So you reckon you can fly into the UK from abroad and not need to show a passport?

Legally, yes you can. Whether airline policy agrees is another matter...

[maser_spyder]

Good excuse - A passport 'can take up to three months to process' (though probably not....), so drop in if you fancy a holiday it's best to get one sooner rather than later just to be sure you can go.

My last one took three days, but might be a reasonable excuse to get one sorted 'just in case' you decided to go away?

[AlexKP]

Demonic Angel said:

It's my boyfriends 30th in September and as a surprise I'm booking us a week away abroad.

His Mum and his best mate know but the plan is that he doesn't find out until the day we fly out as in

"Get a back packed babe, we're off to Spain for a week"

One problem - his passport has expired. I can't renew it for him without his knowledge and I don't want him to get suspicious that something is happening... so what can I do to get him to renew it without him realising we're going away?

Nothings been booked yet but I really want to get the flights sorted while they're still cheap, however Easyjet seem to want the passport info when I book the flights...

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get his passport renewed - and pretty soon-ish?

Does it have to be abroad?

Why not go somewhere really nice in the UK?

[hugo a gogo]

Lurking Lawyer said:

shoestring7 said:

Ask the airline? Photo ID (e.g. driving licence) might be enough; Spain is in the EU.

Any form of photo ID is acceptable if you're moving around within the EU. However, I suspect that you may find that the airlines are rather more intransigent about it. A friend of mine in the Army was prevented from boarding a Ryanair flight as he was trying to use his military ID card but the check in staff refused to consider anything other than a passport....

Any form of photo ID is acceptable if you're moving around within the countries in the Schengen Agreement, but Britain isn't one of them
Britain has a treaty with RoI, that's all

Edited by hugo a gogo on Tuesday 17th March 13:20

[stuttgartmetal]

How about

" Im going on a day trip to France in September with the girls, and have to renew my passport.
Oh look, yours is out of date, I'll do them both at once."

Jobs a good 'un

[loafer123]

Mr Will said:

King Herald said:

Lurking Lawyer said:

shoestring7 said:

Ask the airline? Photo ID (e.g. driving licence) might be enough; Spain is in the EU.

Any form of photo ID is acceptable if you're moving around within the EU. However, I suspect that you may find that the airlines are rather more intransigent about it. A friend of mine in the Army was prevented from boarding a Ryanair flight as he was trying to use his military ID card but the check in staff refused to consider anything other than a passport....

So you reckon you can fly into the UK from abroad and not need to show a passport?

Legally, yes you can. Whether airline policy agrees is another matter...

I don't think that is right. We opted out of the Schengen (sp?) agreement, so we still have to have passports when travelling in the EU.

[ninja-lewis]

Any other reason he might need proof of ID/residence? Might be worth asking his boss if they could make up a reason to ask him for it to force him to get it sorted?

[HiRich]

mrmaggit said:

Mr Will said:

Create an excuse?

As above, or...

Tell him you found his passport and did he realise it had expired, and that he really ought to keep it valid and up-to-date, use a booze-cruise type thing as an excuse?

As above, any good excuse (say you're thinking of going away for a summer holiday/booze cruise/anything), and a bit of chutzpah - don't ask, just tell him you're doing the passports, and hand him the form to fill in.

You can always "change your plans" later when the new passport is in your hands. And if he baulks at this pro-active bit, odds are he won't be around come September anyway.

[rescynic]

My Gf pulled the "Btw did you know they are changing the passport laws later in the year and as a result you'll have to go for an interview and the likes if you want a new passport. I've already sent mine away as a i cba with all the pallava. heres a form for you."

Worked like a treat as at the time they were looking into all that milarky. Then a month or so after the passports apepared i got the "Pack a bag we're off"

Try that, or alternatively "Have you heard its gonna cost over XX to get a passport from end of the year"

[Fidgits]

as i told you when you asked me about it months ago...


your not going to get anywhere without him having a valid passport... and theres no way to do it without him knowing...

Edited by Fidgits on Tuesday 17th March 15:00

[s2art]

What about this new law coming in where you have to inform the authorities about any trip abroad? Can you inform on someone elses behalf without them knowing?