25

I went to Germany for a one week holiday and unfortunately my wallet with my passport inside was stolen in Berlin. I went to my embassy and they provided me with an emergency travel document so I can go back to the UK. Also I have a police report.

However my flight is on Tuesday from Hamburg and it is time to check in and there are not any options apart from passport or ID when you do check in, therefore I spoke to Ryanair Customer Service and they have told me that I am not able to check in or board a plane without valid ID/PASSPORT.

Does anyone know if I can check in and board a plane with an authorised emergency travel document?

Improve this question
8
  • 3
    I've been looking on the Ryanair website for you but not found anything yet. The question is, will Ryanair accept an emergency travel document as equivalent to a passport or as a valid form of national ID? I'd suggest getting the embassy to ask them on your behalf, what with Ryanair being famously unhelpful and all.
    – A E
    Dec 18, 2016 at 18:53
  • Yes, I am worried that they will not let me board a plane without a valid ID or Passport. I tried to contact their company using provided phone numbers on their website, but none of them is working. therefore there is no answer on my question and I start to panic because my flight is just 2 nights away.
    – Anastasija
    Dec 18, 2016 at 19:00
  • 4
    This question was ultimately resolved by them being allowed to board, so I expect the real question here is "how does one check in". I'd suggest just trying turning up at the airport and trying to get them to waive the fee because you were unable to online, or putting in the details from your lost passport if you have them.
    – gsnedders
    Dec 18, 2016 at 19:16
  • 1
    "The question is, will Ryanair accept an emergency travel document as equivalent to a passport or as a valid form of national ID?" -> what would emergency documents be good for if they weren't accepted anywhere? I'd assume that if a regular passport is enough for the given destination (think no additional visas required etc) then an emergency replacement should be as well.
    – Robus
    Dec 19, 2016 at 5:49
  • 1
    Ryanair can be very unhelpful I suggest you keep on trying or use their on line chat service good luck !
    – Phillip Geraghty
    Dec 19, 2016 at 10:22

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
28

I can't find anything about emergency travel documents in their Ts&Cs, but I've found this relevant exchange from Ryanair's official twitter account:

Ann ‏@ann_nguyen1 16 Jul 2015
@Ryanair I only have my emergency travel document and I'm flying on Sat from Manch home to Norway. Can I still board the flight?Pls say YES

Ryanair ‏@Ryanair 16 Jul 2015
@ann_nguyen1 Hi, Can you advise who issued the document? TB

Ann ‏@ann_nguyen1 16 Jul 2015
@Ryanair I just need to get home on Saturday! I have all the valid IDs with me. Emergency Travel Documents and my Norwegian ID.

RyanairVerified account @Ryanair
@ann_nguyen1 Emergency Travel Document issued by the Embassy is a valid travel document. GK
3:10 AM - 16 Jul 2015

Ann ‏@ann_nguyen1 16 Jul 2015
@Ryanair thanks so much for the prompt reply!!! <3

Ann ‏@ann_nguyen1 16 Jul 2015
@Ryanair one last Q. How do I check-in online when I don't have my passport?

Ryanair ‏@Ryanair 16 Jul 2015
@ann_nguyen1 If there's a number on the travel document, put it as passport or check in at the airport (free of charge in this case). GK

Ann ‏@ann_nguyen1 16 Jul 2015
@Ryanair also, would you be able to email me a confirmation of this? That I am OK to travel with an ETD.

Ryanair ‏@Ryanair 16 Jul 2015
@ann_nguyen1 Emergency Travel Document is clasified as passport replacement and therefore no need for additional written confirmations. GK

https://twitter.com/ryanair/status/621622832888442880?lang=en

I'd suggest you contact Ryanair Customer Services again and explain that you have an Emergency Travel Document which is classified by Ryanair as a passport replacement and you'd like them to put a note on your account confirming for the airport staff that this is a valid document for travel.

Improve this answer
5

Not an answer from laws, but from experience:

My Spanish ID expired while in Germany and travelling with Ryanair.

The embassy made a safe-conduct for my trip and Ryanair did have no problem letting me in the flight with that.

I read somewhere that under EU law you need a valid ID, not a non-expired ID to flight, however most of low-cost companies love to have an excuse to not let you in, because they get your money (its your fault). However, anecdotally also, I have used my expired ID to get into flights within the Star alliance without any problem but a "you are a mess, travelling with an expired ID" look.

Rules about expired IDs flying to and from Germany. Also, there is a button here to choose any other EU county.

Note again, this is the country's law. Any airline reserves the right to not let you in.

Improve this answer
4
  • Valid=non-expired, unless the destination country has provisions for expired documents (most commonly for their own citizens)
    – Crazydre
    Dec 19, 2016 at 13:26
  • @Crazydre I will try to find the source of this, but I did read it in some legal stuff. : Valid=issued legally by a government, but not necessarily non-expired.
    – Ander Biguri
    Dec 19, 2016 at 13:29
  • @Crazydre It is nationality dependent, but for Spanish: europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/…
    – Ander Biguri
    Dec 19, 2016 at 13:37
  • Yep, the European Agreement on Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe. It lets nationals of most member states to travel between the states (which even includes Turkey) on a passport expired by no more than 5 years. Such a passport is not technically valid though; rather it's expired but nonetheless accepted
    – Crazydre
    Dec 19, 2016 at 13:38

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .