Irish Credit card passport story

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I was born in and have lived in the UK all my life
As my dad was Irish so around 25yrs ago I got an Irish passport as I wanted to keep a bit of my dads heritage after he passed away
The passport was never used as I had a UK passport
Last year my UK passport lapsed
So for the first time I used my Irish passport - I also have the Irish passport credit card
The wife only has UK passport
On our summer EU Motorhome trip I used Irish credit card passport (with the full passport to hand if I needed it) - border crossing went without issue both in and out of France and I only produced the credit card passport - as we were only going for a month no issue in having the wife's passport stamped

Later in the year I booked a holiday with Jet2 to the Canaries and for ease just took the passport credit card as it worked OK in the summer
On the Jet2 online checkin you have to put in passport number and declare your citizenship - which was my first issue/hurdle - whilst I have an Irish passport I have never lived in Ireland and only visited twice in 60 yrs. So do I click British in this form or Irish ? - I clicked Irish as I was using the Irish credit card passport

I Traveled through UK Stansted passport control (they were stamping and checking passport just before getting on plane) without Issue - at Spanish border control I queued with everyone else - they glanced at my credit card passport and waved me through - I noticed a load of automated machines like the UK ones but they were all roped off and not being used - presumably because the flight had come from UK and most people needed the stamp in the passport

On the way back at checkin the Spanish Jet2 agent was very confused with my card and said I was no longer able to use a EU id card for travel since Brexit - I explained that this was not a residency/ID card and it was a full Irish passport only in credit card form
A Jet2 British agent was called and after a lot of confusion and repeated phone calls up the command chain I was eventually let through
None of the staff had seen a credit card passport and the scanning equipment they were using did not recognise it
Spanish passport control was a huge q but when I got to the end they hardly took any notice of card and waived me through - Again there were a load of roped off automated machines - There was also a video running on how to use and it showed how to use a normal passport and credit card card passport - So if it was open I guess I could have used it

At Stansted I asked just before passport control which q should I use
Again I was dealing with a staff member who had never seen a credit card passport and thought I had a EU ID card and said I should not be travelling on that as it was no longer valid
There was a sign that said EU ID card passport control so I headed there. This was manned
When I got there there was no issue - I asked If I could have gone via the automated route and was told no that the UK machine did not recognise credit card passports and I would only be able to go through manned control

Whilst in the end It all worked out OK it was a fair bit of hassle and there was no benefit crossing borders with an EU passport if flying
Land routes were hassle free

I was hoping using my Irish passport would give me simpler passage through the various controls - As a result of my troubles I will renew my UK passport and use that when flying to save the hassle and leave the credit card passport at home

I wonder if I could leave UK on UK passport but arrive in EU using Irish passport ?
What happen if I leave UK on Irish passport and come back using UK Passport which has not got an exit stamp ?

If using the Irish passport to travel in EU and have issues which need embassy intervention what embassy should I use ?(I will take both passports and have the choice)

On our summer MH trip I will be using my Irish passport, digging out the marriage cert so my wife an I can travel this year over the 90 days in the EU - I see a big thread on this recently- Im sure I will encounter some hassles - Wish me luck

Now to look into EU Dog travel !!!!!!!!!!


:)
 
Last edited:
Interesting. Is the Irish credit card passport referred to definitely not an EU ID card equivalent issued by Ireland? I can remember being surprised years ago, in pre-B word times, when a Polish work colleague travelled by air to/from the UK using an EU ID card. I was totally ignorant to such at the time, but I guess that it made sense back then given the UK were still part of the EU club.

Edit: this addresses my ignorance…

 
Last edited:
I was born in and have lived in the UK all my life
As my dad was Irish so around 25yrs ago I got an Irish passport as I wanted to keep a bit of my dads heritage after he passed away
The passport was never used as I had a UK passport
Last year my UK passport lapsed
So for the first time I used my Irish passport - I also have the Irish passport credit card
The wife only has UK passport
On our summer EU Motorhome trip I used Irish credit card passport (with the full passport to hand if I needed it) - border crossing went without issue both in and out of France and I only produced the credit card passport - as we were only going for a month no issue in having the wife's passport stamped

Later in the year I booked a holiday with Jet2 to the Canaries and for ease just took the passport credit card as it worked OK in the summer
On the Jet2 online checkin you have to put in passport number and declare your citizenship - which was my first issue/hurdle - whilst I have an Irish passport I have never lived in Ireland and only visited twice in 60 yrs. So do I click British in this form or Irish ? - I clicked Irish as I was using the Irish credit card passport

I Traveled through UK Stansted passport control (they were stamping and checking passport just before getting on plane) without Issue - at Spanish border control I queued with everyone else - they glanced at my credit card passport and waved me through - I noticed a load of automated machines like the UK ones but they were all roped off and not being used - presumably because the flight had come from UK and most people needed the stamp in the passport

On the way back at checkin the Spanish Jet2 agent was very confused with my card and said I was no longer able to use a EU id card for travel since Brexit - I explained that this was not a residency/ID card and it was a full Irish passport only in credit card form
A Jet2 British agent was called and after a lot of confusion and repeated phone calls up the command chain I was eventually let through
None of the staff had seen a credit card passport and the scanning equipment they were using did not recognise it
Spanish passport control was a huge q but when I got to the end they hardly took any notice of card and waived me through - Again there were a load of roped off automated machines - There was also a video running on how to use and it showed how to use a normal passport and credit card card passport - So if it was open I guess I could have used it

At Stansted I asked just before passport control which q should I use
Again I was dealing with a staff member who had never seen a credit card passport and thought I had a EU ID card and said I should not be travelling on that as it was no longer valid
There was a sign that said EU ID card passport control so I headed there. This was manned
When I got there there was no issue - I asked If I could have gone via the automated route and was told no that the UK machine did not recognise credit card passports and I would only be able to go through manned control

Whilst in the end It all worked out OK it was a fair bit of hassle and there was no benefit crossing borders with an EU passport if flying
Land routes were hassle free

I was hoping using my Irish passport would give me simpler passage through the various controls - As a result of my troubles I will renew my UK passport and use that when flying to save the hassle and leave the credit card passport at home

I wonder if I could leave UK on UK passport but arrive in EU using Irish passport ?
What happen if I leave UK on Irish passport and come back using UK Passport which has not got an exit stamp ?

If using the Irish passport to travel in EU and have issues which need embassy intervention what embassy should I use ?(I will take both passports and have the choice)

On our summer MH trip I will be using my Irish passport, digging out the marriage cert so my wife an I can travel this year over the 90 days in the EU - I see a big thread on this recently- Im sure I will encounter some hassles - Wish me luck

Now to look into EU Dog travel !!!!!!!!!!


:)
Although they can be used at electronic passport control gates at Dublin Airport,[59] it was not possible, in 2018, to use this card at many electronic border gates/e-gates in continental Europe.
 
Interesting, my wife can get an Irish passport anday do not we want to stay over 90 days
 
I think the "credit card" is actually a citizenship card ( not resident card). Fine for passing EU customs but UK requires a passport.

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I think the "credit card" is actually a citizenship card ( not resident card). Fine for passing EU customs but UK requires a passport.
It is a Passport but in credit card form - U can order it with your normal passport - It worked flawlessly when travelling to and from EU in motorhome by land - only has issues with airline / airport staff - EU and UK passport control accepted no problems
 

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