ID for day trip

[smiley]

B)
Hello all.

Can anyone tell me about ID for day trip to calais
Last time when I went on the tunnel I noticed on booking page Driving license .

Question Can we use a Driving License for ID for a day trip?

thanks

 

[Craigyoung]

Wouldnt off thought so . I woukd say passport as ID

 

[emmerson]

Might be OK to go out, but in the present security climate, you might not get back!

 

[Hutch]

Hi Smiley, the following is from the Gov.uk website, so I don't think travel on a driving licence would be any good either.
Using your identity card as proof of identity, age or as a travel document
It will not be illegal to use your identity card as proof of identity after 21 January 2011. While the identity card is no longer valid for official purposes some organisations may still be willing to accept them as proof of identity without the ability to check against the national identity register.

Identity cards have ceased to be valid travel documents. If you have made travel plans and don’t currently have a passport we would advise you to apply for a passport now.

 

[otherclive]

The only formal identication would be your passport. After all you are going to another country.

 

[Jaydug]

One of my daughters books day trips on Eurotunnel a couple of times a year for the four of us. Each time she books she's got to submit our passport numbers on the booking. Maybe the ferries do likewise - I don't know,

 

[Jaydug]

Might be OK to go out, but in the present security climate, you might not get back!

It would certainly have been like that a few years ago but now border control is as rigorous going out as it is coming back. It's the French Police at Fokestone who are not too bothered.

 

[RayS]

If you are taking your car I suggest you take a full house of documentation as if for a longer trip. V5C MoT if applicable Driving licence insurance and passport..
Should you happen to be stopped at the roadside you may need all these to avoid spending what is supposed to be a holiday 'talking' with the police or gendarmes some of whom are not particularly well disposed to UK at the moment.

 

[VicMallows]

Smiley,
Could you perhaps be thinking of the long-gone "British Visitors Passport". This existed in various forms up until 1995 and was a simplified document available over the counter at the Post Office and valid for 1yr to most European destinations. I could never really see the point of it, but it was very popular at the time for cheap daytrips/package holidays.

In the true 'Duty Free' days, there were also so-called 'booze-cruises' where you never got off the ship, and therefore didn't need a passport of any kind, but could pick up your allowance on each leg of the journey.

I also know of quite a few people who (because there were no departure checks) found themselves abroad without their passport ..... and had little difficulty getting back into UK on the basis of a works photo-ID card! I wouldn't want to try that today!.

 

[Woodentop]

Actually you will need your Passport to get out of the UK. Since - unlike many EU countries - we don't have identity cards it is the only accepted formal identification. You driving licence will not do as not everyone has a photocard licence yet. Anyway, for most EU countries the ID card is just a copy of the identity page of a passport anyway.

I flew to Jersey a couple of years ago - for the jobsworth at Doncaster Sheffield Robin Hood AIrport (beat that!) I could have been going to Russia or China, we were all treated the same way. Coming back the girl on the desk at Jersey airport saw my Co ID card hanging round my neck and said that was all I needed.

 

[Mel]

I believe ( but I might be wrong) that even flying within the UK requires a passport, or at least some approved photo id.
Mel

 

[otherclive]

I believe ( but I might be wrong) that even flying within the UK requires a passport, or at least some approved photo id.
Mel

You are correct but that was introduced by the budget airlines quite a few years ago. It was not a legislative requirement.