Originally Posted by
Aelx2k
Anyway, I think that overall airlines should be ok with accepting national IDs at check-in as long as they can read it (and yes, Greek national IDs have everything also written in English. Just to make them usable in the rest of europe!). However, of course, airlines may state on their conditions of carraige that the only ID that they recognize outside the EU is a passport.
Within Europe, they will let you fly just fine with your ID card (in my experience). However, they might ask (wrongly) for residence proof. It happened to me once flying back to GVA from LHR. I was asked for my Swiss residence permit. As a European, I'm allowed to be in Switzerland for 3 months with no visa/permit. On top of that, you can leave GVA airport without entering Switzerland if you have no checked luggage (to the French side). But, according to the check-in agent, it was a requirement. Never ever happened since then, even from the US to Switzerland.
Question is now: on the website it says that an ID can also always be used to leave the EU. Does this mean that if I have a flight to Canada from the EU, I'll be able to go thorough passport control with my ID? Wouldn't they look at my BP aand say: "no, you need a passport." I would obviously have to have a passport on me, or else the airline would not let me board. But still, should passport control care?
Passport control doesn't care about your destination. They care about (a) do you have ID and (b) are you flying today. It's the airline that's responsible for ensuring that you have the correct ID for entering the country of your destination (as they have to fly you back if you don't and get fined on top of that).
As for leaving the US, as a Canadian resident, you don't have anything to hand in. If you are on a visa or visa waiver however, you need to hand in the stub from your entry form as you leave, which is typically stapled in your passport ... thus the "need" to show your passport.
Cheers,
GenevaFlyer