Martin Lewis 'three crucial alerts' summer holidays warning
'My daughter wasn't allowed to board the plane even though she had 7mths left on her passport' – the two key checks to ensure this doesn't happen to you (while it differs per country, these'll generally keep you safe)
Courtesy of ITV Martin Lewis Money Show, watch the full show… pic.twitter.com/WsKD8M614Z — Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) May 22, 2025
Martin Lewis' three crucial travel checks
"I've got three crucial alerts for you," he said.
"First of all, two checks everybody needs to do on their passport now. These are, very importantly, this is about the day that you will enter the country.
The first check is on the day you enter the country, are there less than six months left on your passport? Or if you're going to the EU less than three months left? If so, that's a big problem. But there's another rule, even if you had seven months, and this is what I think may have happened in Mary's daughter's case, seven months left on your passport. If your passport is over 10 years old, many countries won't let you in. Now, how could it be over 10 years old? Because it used to be that when you renewed, if you had any spare time on your old passport, they could add that on top, so you might have 10 years, 10 months, and that can bar you too.
So you need to do both of those checks.
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"Now, if you have done those checks, if there's yes to either of those, then the safest thing is to renew before you go. It takes three weeks, typically, to get a new passport, and it's cheaper to do it online. But let me be honest, I'm hearing so many cases like this.
"If I was seven, eight or nine months away, and the rule was six months, I'd probably pay safe and get a new passport first anyway, so that I've got more on it, because it's being so tricky, and it's very similar.
"If you're traveling to the USA or passing through the USA, you need to sort your ESTA now there is heightened border security in the States. If you don't have this as your sort of online visa, if you like, without one, People are being denied entry. You need to be careful."
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