Can you travel to the UK with a drivers licence on RyanAir?

Nephew

My aul lad is going to England tomorrow and he is such a contrary old bollox that he insists on bringing his Irish drivers licence as his only form of id. According to the Ryanair small print 'a drivers licence is only valid for domestic flights within the UK and domestic flights within Ireland' I take this to mean that an Irish drivers licence is not a valid form of id for travelling between Ireland and the Uk, and a passport is required to travel between the two countries. Am I wrong?

Thanks

lasno

Travelling with Ryanair to the UK a passport is only needed if you use the online check in facility.

9th

Legally you can travel anywhere within the EU without a passport. Drivers license, National ID etc are acceptable. It is normal practice however for airline to insist that a passport is the only ID they will accept.

mathias

I have had nasty experiences with Ryanair over exactly this , They refused My Mother on a flight to Manchester from Dublin( all she had was a drivers license ) to the UK. And were pretty bloody nasty about it as well to the point where they had her in tears.

They will only accept passports , regardless of the law or what it says on any website including their own.

I for one , will never do business with them again , not for the passport rule , but for their savagely ignorant attitude.

BuffyBot

9th wrote:

Legally you can travel anywhere within the EU without a passport. Drivers license, National ID etc are acceptable. It is normal practice however for airline to insist that a passport is the only ID they will accept.

Actually, not quite. To enter the Schengen area (pretty much anywhere in the EU that isn't UK & Ireland) you need your passport or National ID card. As we don't have a national ID card, you're going to need your passport.

Drivers licences are accepted between the UK and Ireland as we have our own little mini-Schengen called the Common Travel Area. However, airlines can insist on whatever form of ID they like over and above that.

Tom Dunne

mathias wrote:

They will only accept passports , regardless of the law or what it says on any website including their own.

I travelled to the UK in April with nothing more than my drivers licence. And I plan on doing the same next month.

Benedict XVI

Nephew wrote:

According to the Ryanair small print 'a drivers licence is only valid for domestic flights within the UK and domestic flights within Ireland' I take this to mean that an Irish drivers licence is not a valid form of id for travelling between Ireland and the Uk, and a passport is required to travel between the two countries. Am I wrong?

Thanks

Keep reading the small printhttp://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/conditions.php?pos=MYFLIGHT

According to it

# All passengers must present valid photo identification at check-in for all flights. The only acceptable forms of photo-ID on Ryanair flights are:

* A valid passport.
* A valid Government issued National Identity Card issued by a European Economic Area (EEA) country. Only the following countries from the EEA issue National Identity Cards which are acceptable for carriage: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden (for travel within the Schengen area only) and Switzerland.
* National Identity Cards issued by the Government of Gibraltar.
* A valid driving licence with photo is ONLY acceptable photo ID for travel on domestic flights within the UK and domestic flights within the Republic of Ireland.
* A valid Italian issued driving licence with photo is only acceptable photo ID for travel on domestic flights within Italy ONLY
* For British and Irish citizens only, who are travelling on flights to/from the United Kingdom to/from the Republic of Ireland, a valid driving licence with photo is acceptable photo ID
* In accordance with Article 28(1) of the 1951 UN Convention, a valid UN Refugee Convention Travel Document issued by a Government in place of a valid passport is acceptable.
* N.B. Children under 16 years (including infants) travelling with an adult are required to have photo-ID when travelling on flights between European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Acceptable photo-ID for children under 16 is either a valid passport or a valid National Identity Card issued by an EEA country.
Photo-ID for children under 16 years is not required in the following circumstances:
o Children travelling with an adult on UK domestic flights and UK-Republic of Ireland-UK routes.
o Children included on the passport of the parent with whom they are travelling.
o German children under 10 in possession of a valid German Government Kinderausweis travel document.
o Italian children in possession of a valid Certificato Di Nascita which has been endorsed as "VALIDO PER L'ESPATRIO" valid for travel and signed by "IL QUESTORE" subject to acceptance for entry to your destination.

# Residence cards, family books or military id cards will not be accepted for travel in place of the required valid photo-ID detailed above.
# Expired or damaged forms of photo-ID will not be accepted for any flight.
# Failure to present valid photo-ID matching the names on your reservation will result in your being refused check-in.

opa01_2000

As long as it has a photo and is valid (i.e. correct dates) it will be accepted. There is no legal requirement to provide photo ID but the cheapie airlines use it as a money making scam i.e. if you decide not to go you can't give the ticket to a mate without paying the €35 "administration" charge.

littlesurfer

I've travelled to the uk with only a drivers licence on more than one occasion....never been a problem for me

egan007

9th wrote:

Legally you can travel anywhere within the EU without a passport. Drivers license, National ID etc are acceptable. It is normal practice however for airline to insist that a passport is the only ID they will accept.

Ireland did not sign up to this agreement as BuffyBot put it....

HelterSkelter

A valid driving licence with photo is ONLY acceptable photo ID for travel on domestic flights within the UK and domestic flights within the Republic of Ireland.

Does this mean if you are travelling Dublin to Cork that your passport is not a valid form of ID? You can only use your driver licence? Bizzare!

caraza

I want to travel from Dublin to England....unfortunately my passport is out of date....Can I use a Drivers License? the info I'm getting from websites is very confusing....Can anyone help me? thank you.

Atlantic Dawn

caraza wrote: »

I want to travel from Dublin to England....unfortunately my passport is out of date....Can I use a Drivers License? the info I'm getting from websites is very confusing....Can anyone help me? thank you.

With Ryanair no. With Aer Lingus yes.

mansize

No, they won't accept anything except a Passport (or new passport card)

Cant even check in without one.

coylemj

mansize wrote: »

No, they won't accept anything except a Passport (or new passport card)

Cant even check in without one.

+1 but for the benefit of the last poster (caraza) to ask, you can't apply for the new passport card unless you already have a current old-fashioned passport.