Condition of passport
 

Hi guys

So last time i flew to America (florida) from the UK with Virgin, at the check in desk Virgin made me sweat for about 20 minutes whether they would let me fly or not, they were making a big deal about the state of my passport (bit worn) had to take it to senior management to get it approved, were saying if i flew i could be declined entry once there.

Now i live in a place where i cross a border everyday so i have to use my passport everyday, naturally it's bit more worn then the average person. I've since got a new one, but even this has some of the tips of the inside pages folded up, the front of the passport (gold UK symbol) bit discolored, the edge of the photo page is ever so slightly peeled (just a mm etc)

Is that fine? Is there anyway i can get it checked? I'm flying to Vegas in 2 months from Gatwick.

Thanks

If you search FT, you find a number of threads started by people who have passports which they believed suffered from minor problems and who were denied boarding by various air carriers.

Like it or not, nobody here can tell you how much fraying and of what is too much because those decisions are made by individual agents at individual locations.

You apparently hold a UK passport, but don't reside in the UK, so it is impossible for anybody here to direct you to a proper place. But, the smart move would be to obtain a clean passport and a good stiff case which preserves the passport in its original form. While I don't use my passport every day to cross a passport, I do carry it when I travel, even within the US. It is in a stiff case where nothing can get bent and nothing can be damaged.

Thanks i'll consider getting a new one, is there a charge as I've already got numerous flight booked with my current one?

Also you got links to the exisiting threads struggling to find any.

Thanks,

The gold crest on the front of my passport has been worn out for years, however the inside if fine.

Never had any issues with that on air (Everywhere), land (US, Canada, Israel, Egypt, Cyprus) or water crossings (France)


Is your data page the bad part of it?

and Welcome alexnk1229 to FT!! :)

what you went thru with va was typical POME over reaction

my passport (non us) is in decrepit condition, you can barely see the coat of arms/wording on the front cover. threads starting tear at corners, 1st page starting to come away from the threads/seams, couple dog eared visa pages, massive/obvious 3cm dog ear at corner of the photo/id page

never had an issue in anywhere. well, except canada but cbsa agents have hissy fits over anything. previous us imm agent actually laughed at how worn out it was, lamented that his wasn't as traveled.

One of my US passports has had almost nothing visible on the cover for some years now; and yet I've used it for well over a million miles of international travel. On the other hand, my much newer, and less normal wear and tear US passport has led to more issues with passport control authorities than my older, much, much worn down cover/used passport. Can't say I'm surprised that the older, faded print on cover passport has given me less issues since most reasonable people would assume that a passport good enough for very recent use at three or more passport control desks within each and every 7 day period would likely be good enough again.