Will our passports be valid to visit the Sunshine State?

Q My wife is hyper-anxious over the Passport Office strike. We travel to Florida with Virgin Atlantic from 2 to 17 September this year. Our passports were issued in February 2014 and expire in May 2024. Are these good to use, or do we “panic buy” new ones? We have a list of sites and sources that say six months are needed and that the issue date is what counts – not the expiry date.

Charlie B

A I am glad to say your wife and you can look forward to enjoying the Sunshine State in September – a fine time to be there in terms of reduced crowds and costs, though with the prospect of the occasional storms. But I am alarmed at the unnecessary anxiety that has been created by sources that make nonsense claims about passport validity.

Don’t just take my word for your travel documents being in order: the Foreign Office says: “If you are visiting the USA your passport should be valid for the proposed duration of your stay. You don’t need any additional period of validity on your passport beyond this.”

As you know, in a “significant escalation” of a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions, more than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union will walk out at all seven offices in England, Wales and Scotland from 3 April to 5 May. I calculate that as many as 1 million passport applications would normally be made during those five working weeks.

Your wife has been misled, I am sorry to say, by online sources – both from parts of the travel industry and the media – that make two false assertions about the validity of British passports. The first is that the issue date is what counts worldwide and that passports expire after 10 years. This is nonsense. The date of issue is irrelevant in any context except for adult passports to the EU/Schengen Area – where the rule is that you cannot enter the European Union with a passport that was issued more than 10 years ago.

The second falsehood is that the US requires six months’ validity on passports. I have no idea where this claim arose but I can see that if you combine these two pieces of fake news there would be something to feel anxious about. There isn’t, and I hope your Florida trip goes well. Incidentally, if you are later going to the EU, your passports will be valid for entry up to the day before their 10th birthday in February 2024.

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Q We have just had a lovely two-month holiday in New Zealand to visit family. We also wanted to visit other family on the North Island. We booked return tickets from Christchurch to Gisborne via Auckland through our travel agent in the UK.

Unfortunately, due to Cyclone Gabrielle, Air New Zealand cancelled our flights. Our travel agent has contacted Air New Zealand for a refund but they will only issue a credit lasting for 12 months. This is of no use to us as we live in the UK. Any idea on how we could obtain a refund?

Sue N

A How annoying. In the UK, a common sense rule applies; if a company is unable to deliver a product that you have paid for, then the contract is regarded as “frustrated” and you qualify for a full cash refund. In the case of aviation, this obligation is enshrined in the European air passengers’ rights rules, which specify the money must be returned to you within a week.

In New Zealand (and, for that matter, Australia) travellers’ rights are far weaker. On the Air New Zealand website, the answer to the question about whether you can get your money back if a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed is: “You may be eligible for a refund depending on your original fare.”

You could get legalistic with your UK-based travel agent, arguing that your contract for the supply of the flight was with them rather than direct with Air New Zealand, and that therefore you are entitled to a full refund under British law. Cite the Competition and Markets Authority: this body says that if something happens after the contract is entered into which means it can no longer be performed, through no fault of the supplier or the buyer, then both parties revert to their original position. In other words, you get your money back.

I can understand, though, that you might feel awkward about asking if you have a good relationship with the agent – in which case the best bet is to see if the voucher can be transferred to one of your relatives to use instead of you.

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Q My British Airways flight from Zurich to London City airport was diverted to Gatwick. The reason we were told: an indication that the landing gear brakes on the aircraft were stuck, and that the flight could not land at London City due to the short runway. We instead landed at Gatwick without issue but were further delayed by being sent to a remote area and inspected by the fire department. Then there was a long wait for luggage and a taxi journey home of 50 miles instead of seven miles. So we arrived home almost exactly three hours later than planned. Are we entitled to compensation for the extra time we spent because of the diversion? Also, should we be speaking to BA about compensation because of our experience? I’m not the most relaxed flier at the best of times, and the passengers next to me began praying just before landing! We know we can claim back our £115 taxi. But are we entitled to anything else due to the delay and negative experience?

Name supplied

A Your experience sounds stressful and frustrating, though the main thing is that the aircraft landed safely. I am afraid, though, that I can see no grounds for a successful compensation claim. European air passengers’ rights rules specify “unexpected flight safety shortcomings” as a legitimate reason for not paying cash compensation, and your flight sounds like the very definition of the term. (I had a similar diversion on a British Airways flight from Geneva which turned around and landed in Paris, with a fire engine accompaniment; I did not seek compensation.)

I can understand the anxiety you and other passengers experienced. But there is no tradition in the UK for damages being paid out for emotional stress during a journey. Furthermore British Airways has an outstanding safety record, its aircraft are superbly maintained and this unfortunate incident was clearly handled with professionalism.

In earlier times, you might have expected to be offered a few thousand Avios frequent flyer points, but I fear on this occasion you will need to put it down to experience.

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