1 In 10 Holidaymakers’ Travel Plans Affected By Expiring Passport

March 7, 2011 - PRLog -- According to a study by a leading online independent travel agency, 8% of British holidaymakers have face passport expiry issues when attempting to travel abroad in the past. A further 24% thought you could travel using your passport right up until the date it expired on, which isn’t always the case.

The poll was conducted by www.sunshine.co.uk, in a bid to discover more about holidaymakers’ understanding of passport regulations and policies. 1,302 people in the UK subsequently took part in the study, each of whom had been on holiday in the past five years. Respondents were asked questions about their own passport knowledge and experiences.

When asked, ‘Has the expiry date on your passport ever affected your travel plans when you tried or planned to go abroad?’ 8% of those polled answered ‘yes.’ Total respondents were then asked to specify whether or not they were aware of how the expiry date on passports could affect travel.

A quarter, 24%, thought you could travel abroad using a passport providing you left before the date on which it expired. However, tourists often need up to 6 months left on their passport to travel to certain destinations.

To gain more of an understanding about holidaymakers’ knowledge of passport policies, sunshine.co.uk questioned respondents further. 13% of those polled thought Britons didn’t need a passport when travelling within Europe, whilst 3% thought it was possible to travel to the US without a passport, providing there was another form of photographic ID present.

Respondents were also asked about their knowledge of passport fees, should they need to renew it. The majority, 53%, of those asked thought a new adult passport or renewal cost ‘around £100’ which is more than the £77.50 it actually costs.

Chris Brown, co-founder of http://www.sunshine.co.uk, commented on the findings;

“Our customer service team often receive enquires about passport regulations and it’s surprising how confused some people are on the matter. If you’re going on holiday, it’s important you do your homework and check that everything is in place to make your trip run smoothly.

“You’d be surprised how common it is for people to turn up at the airport, only to be told they cannot fly because they only have a few months left before their passport expires.  Even if you are due to return to the UK before your passport expires, you often need a few months left on your passport to be able to travel in the first place.”

LINK http://www.sunshine.co.uk

ENDS
For more information, or to arrange interviews with Chris Brown, please contact Shannon Haigh of 10 Yetis PR Agency on 01452 348211 or email shannon@10yetis.co.uk

Editors Notes

sunshine.co.uk is the UK's leading online independent travel agent and was founded by Chris Brown and Chris Clarkson, the same people behind Holiday Watchdog which was bought by TripAdvisor in February 2008 for an undisclosed amount of money.

Chris Brown of sunshine.co.uk was a ‘Secret Millionaire’ in the series on Channel 4 that began in October 2010.

Sunshine.co.uk offers low cost holidays and budget flights to destinations all over the world as well as great deals and discounted hotels.

TravelMole recently voted sunshine.co.uk as the best Travel Agency in the 2010 web awards.