Passports and Travel to U.S

[Cleoriff]

Thousands of British tourists heading to the US have been warned that they risk being turned away from flights to the country unless they hold the latest biometric passports. The change to US visa requirements came into force from April 1st 2016.

There are more than a million non-biometric UK passports still in use, and there are fears that the change has had insufficient publicity.

E-passports were brought in on October 2006. Passports last for 10 years so the change is thought to only affect British passports issued between April and October 2006.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/05/britons-flying-to-us-without-biometric-passports-coul...

http://news.sky.com/story/1691172/passport-warning-to-millions-heading-for-us

[MI5]

If I hadn't seen this on the news yesterday, I wouldn't have known anything about it - not that it effects me either way but I'm sure many will be caught out.

[Cleoriff]

There have been a couple of families who have been affected already... One was flying to Florida on April 26th. The father couldn't go as he had the old passport which didn't expire till September of this year. Only found this out when they got to the airport to check in. Even worse... they had booked the holiday with Thomson.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/new-passport-rule-ruins-family-7908416

[MI5]

You would think the tour operators would make passengers aware, at least !

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
You would think the tour operators would make passengers aware, at least !

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Exactly. I thought it would affect those who travelled independently (booking flights and hotels directly)..but you do expect your travel operator to inform you. Even if they have no idea of your passport details they should have contacted customers as soon as the new legislation was introduced..

[PhoneChanger]

My wife & I are off to Florida in September, and if it hadn't have been for this news article we would not have known. We too have booked with Thomson who have told us nothing. Luckily we both have bio-metric passports but the point remains Thomson are not telling their customers.

[Cleoriff]

I bet they will start telling them now @PhoneChanger. This is on every news channel this morning so there is no excuse. Enjoy Florida. I have been 5 times and absolutely love it...(not keen on Orlando International Airport though...#just saying)

[Martin-O2]

It must be a nightmare to get all the way there only to be denied entry  Hopefully the news coverage will keep the number of affected travelers to a minimum. 

[PhoneChanger]

Thanks @Cleoriff been there before but didn't manage to see everything, hoping to do more non-theme park stuff this time (though we are still going to visit them all). We're flying into Sanford this time as Thomson don't seam to fly to Orlando International 🙂

[Cleoriff]

Thankfully that didn't happen to the two families mentioned @Martin-O2. They were told when they got to their respective UK airports when they attempted to check in...