Harleyman Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 True, but not because it's a legal requirement to have a passport to board; if you get on a flight to a foreign country, land there, stay on board and fly straight back, you'd have broken no laws. They don't allow it because they know damn well that nobody intends to do that. Also a passport is the mosr reliable form of ID. A drivers license or national identity card can easily be forged and could not be checked for authenticity by foreigh immigration authorities since they are unable to be familiar with every variation of those documents whereas all passports can now be electronically scanned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 True, but not because it's a legal requirement to have a passport to board; if you get on a flight to a foreign country, land there, stay on board and fly straight back, you'd have broken no laws. They don't allow it because they know damn well that nobody intends to do that. The airlines won't let you board without a valid passport with a valid visa because if you're not allowed into the country when you arrive then the airline is responsible for the cost of flying you back home. You also need a passport to show to the border police when leaving most countries, though strangely not the UK where you only have to show your passport to the Border Agency when entering the country. I had a problem at Manchester Airport once trying to board a flight to Libya. My visa was entirely in Arabic and no one in the airport could read it. Eventually they found someone of Pakistani descent working there who just about knew enough Arabic to understand it and they let me board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 before we visited China we had to fill out a visa applicarion two pages long. They wanted to know everything short of what color pajamas we wear it seemed When we landed in Beijing we went through passport control with a big sign saying "Foreigners" which although certainly not offensive in any way nevertheless created a slightly negative reaction in me anyway One of the group had a letter missing from his surname on the visa and was taken away for a short while by the immigration police and then appeared again but a bit shaken up by the experience. We also had to fill out a form when leaving the country. Other than that the visit was thoroughly enjoyable and we were treated like royalty at the beautiful modern hotels we stayed in and the guides took very good care of us throughout the whole trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffy Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186605-d212803-Reviews-Best_Western_Premier_Academy_Plaza_Hotel-Dublin_County_Dublin.html We stayed at the Best Western Academy Plaza ... review above .. and ate one night .. here ... http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186605-d696229-Reviews-Gallagher_s_Boxty_House-Dublin_County_Dublin.html Caught the dart into Howth one afternoon for Fish and Chips .. well worth it .. and a fabulous walk around the little seaside town. Hope this link works to my blog .. http://saffy1999.blogspot.com/2008/07/it-was-real-treat-to-arrive-at-east.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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