UK passports...
Discussion
Time for a good rant about something that doesn’t really matter, but bloody annoys me for no particular reason!
Why are the new UK passports such poor quality?
Thin flimsy cover, thin single ply military toilet paper pages. The old EU passports were a BOOK. We’ve replaced them with a pamphlet.
The more you look, the worse it gets, before each page had an illustration that depicted an area of the UK or something of our culture, now each page has the same generic image. All of the little details are gone. Zero effort stuff.
A new passport is £95! Why is there seemingly nothing budgeted to produce a quality product?
Oh and it’s black not blue!
Why are the new UK passports such poor quality?
Thin flimsy cover, thin single ply military toilet paper pages. The old EU passports were a BOOK. We’ve replaced them with a pamphlet.
The more you look, the worse it gets, before each page had an illustration that depicted an area of the UK or something of our culture, now each page has the same generic image. All of the little details are gone. Zero effort stuff.
A new passport is £95! Why is there seemingly nothing budgeted to produce a quality product?
Oh and it’s black not blue!
ttification of everything. It's ridiculous how poor quality they are and at such expense. I never had a cover for my old burgundy passport and it was pristine, but everyone I know who tried to do the same with the 'new' ones ended up damaging theirs.That's Britain though, isn't it? Someone in Government, elected or Civil Service, Blue or Red, doesn't matter gives the contract to an old mate who buys the from the lowest bidder.
A bit like the Royal Mail really, in 2013 it made about £200m profit, a £100m lost the year before. Stamps cost 62p most stuff turned up when it was supposed to. We sold it off at about 50% of its value. Complaints are up tenfold, stamps cost £1.65 and they're desperately trying to slash staff numbers, and services to turn a profit.
A bit like the Royal Mail really, in 2013 it made about £200m profit, a £100m lost the year before. Stamps cost 62p most stuff turned up when it was supposed to. We sold it off at about 50% of its value. Complaints are up tenfold, stamps cost £1.65 and they're desperately trying to slash staff numbers, and services to turn a profit.
vikingaero said:
They are made in France/Poland.
Yes, the first Brexit bonus was to end the contract with a firm in Wales to give a contract for Great British Blue Passports to a firm on the continent. You could barely make it up.
And as an added bonus of the Great British Blue Passports it now takes ages to get through passport control if you're going to Europe because in most places we can't use the e-Gates.
Condi said:
vikingaero said:
They are made in France/Poland.
Yes, the first Brexit bonus was to end the contract with a firm in Wales to give a contract for Great British Blue Passports to a firm on the continent. You could barely make it up.
And as an added bonus of the Great British Blue Passports it now takes ages to get through passport control if you're going to Europe because in most places we can't use the e-Gates.
Condi said:
vikingaero said:
They are made in France/Poland.
Yes, the first Brexit bonus was to end the contract with a firm in Wales to give a contract for Great British Blue Passports to a firm on the continent. You could barely make it up.
And as an added bonus of the Great British Blue Passports it now takes ages to get through passport control if you're going to Europe because in most places we can't use the e-Gates.
eGates still function nicely for all people coming from the EU to the UK I note.
Mine doesn't work in UK eGates anyway and hasn't for years. Even when I got my new passport, it still doesn't work. Always have to step out and go see the man/woman in person. I always attempt to use the eGate though because even though I know it will reject me, I at least get to skip ahead of the tailback in the regular line. I reckon my name or face is on a list...
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Thursday 14th November 14:44
Otispunkmeyer said:
AIUI the eGates thing is almost purely spite for Brexit... We could use the eGates, they've just turned if off for British Passports I think. But its not everywhere so its clearly an active decision by certain members. I am fairly sure last time we went to Majorca people in our party were using the eGates at Palma airport (we had a kid so we had to use the normal line, but everyone else waved at us as they strolled through the eGates). And when we went to Venice earlier this year the eGates worked for us just fine at Venice airport.
I think it's because we also need our passports stamping and many/most place don't have desks past the e-Gates to stamp passports, so it's not that we can't use them as such, just the practicalities are easier if passport is checked and stamped at the same time. Otispunkmeyer said:
AIUI the eGates thing is almost purely spite for Brexit... We could use the eGates, they've just turned if off for British Passports I think. But its not everywhere so its clearly an active decision by certain members. I am fairly sure last time we went to Majorca people in our party were using the eGates at Palma airport (we had a kid so we had to use the normal line, but everyone else waved at us as they strolled through the eGates). And when we went to Venice earlier this year the eGates worked for us just fine at Venice airport.
eGates still function nicely for all people coming from the EU to the UK I note.
Mine doesn't work in UK eGates anyway and hasn't for years. Even when I got my new passport, it still doesn't work. Always have to step out and go see the man/woman in person. I always attempt to use the eGate though because even though I know it will reject me, I at least get to skip ahead of the tailback in the regular line. I reckon my name or face is on a list...
pretty certain there is an EU law/regulation stipulating that EU citizens should have the their own/faster queue thus even though the e-gates would work for UK passports (they are e-passports), it is intentionally turned off so that we have to queue separately.eGates still function nicely for all people coming from the EU to the UK I note.
Mine doesn't work in UK eGates anyway and hasn't for years. Even when I got my new passport, it still doesn't work. Always have to step out and go see the man/woman in person. I always attempt to use the eGate though because even though I know it will reject me, I at least get to skip ahead of the tailback in the regular line. I reckon my name or face is on a list...
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Thursday 14th November 14:44
coming into the UK it amazes me that we dont force EU citizens into the same crappy slow queue people from other countries (like my wife!) have to use that has sometimes taken up to 4 hours at Heathrow.
bloomen said:
Should've ordered the one with more pages. Those stamps sure add up.
I’m the same. I don’t even travel a huge amount but seem to be using 2 pages per year. I do like seeing the different modes of transport on the stamps though. I have car, boat, and plane at the moment. UK E Gates and the whole airport process here are far worse then the passports to my mind. I flew to Barbados last month and from exiting the plane to being outside the airport in Barbados with my luggage took less than 15 minutes. On arriving back at LHR it took well over an hour with the E gates rejecting my passport as they always do. I've got a couple of years left on my old red passport, so can't comment on the quality issues, but ultimately it's a paper record book and identity document with the cost being more for the data checks etc than the document itself.
Zaichik said:
Otispunkmeyer said:
AIUI the eGates thing is almost purely spite for Brexit... We could use the eGates, they've just turned if off for British Passports I think. But its not everywhere so its clearly an active decision by certain members. I am fairly sure last time we went to Majorca people in our party were using the eGates at Palma airport (we had a kid so we had to use the normal line, but everyone else waved at us as they strolled through the eGates). And when we went to Venice earlier this year the eGates worked for us just fine at Venice airport.
eGates still function nicely for all people coming from the EU to the UK I note.
Mine doesn't work in UK eGates anyway and hasn't for years. Even when I got my new passport, it still doesn't work. Always have to step out and go see the man/woman in person. I always attempt to use the eGate though because even though I know it will reject me, I at least get to skip ahead of the tailback in the regular line. I reckon my name or face is on a list...
pretty certain there is an EU law/regulation stipulating that EU citizens should have the their own/faster queue thus even though the e-gates would work for UK passports (they are e-passports), it is intentionally turned off so that we have to queue separately.eGates still function nicely for all people coming from the EU to the UK I note.
Mine doesn't work in UK eGates anyway and hasn't for years. Even when I got my new passport, it still doesn't work. Always have to step out and go see the man/woman in person. I always attempt to use the eGate though because even though I know it will reject me, I at least get to skip ahead of the tailback in the regular line. I reckon my name or face is on a list...
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Thursday 14th November 14:44
coming into the UK it amazes me that we dont force EU citizens into the same crappy slow queue people from other countries (like my wife!) have to use that has sometimes taken up to 4 hours at Heathrow.
Zaichik said:
Pretty certain there is an EU law/regulation stipulating that EU citizens should have the their own/faster queue thus even though the e-gates would work for UK passports (they are e-passports), it is intentionally turned off so that we have to queue separately.
Nothing to do with that, just that UK Passport holders need their passports stamped on arrival, and the eGates as they were set up were for schengen zone arrivals (inc UK), without a passport stamping desk. Some airports now allow UK citizens to go through separate eGates and then have a desk where passports can be quickly stamped. Condi said:
I think it's because we also need our passports stamping and many/most place don't have desks past the e-Gates to stamp passports, so it's not that we can't use them as such, just the practicalities are easier if passport is checked and stamped at the same time.
I came through Alicante this week and there were -2 egates open and 2 desks to stamp passports. Was through in about 4 mins.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff