Professional Traveler

sss, then that mystery is explained. As you were going on a cruise ship out of Florida the customs officer was referring to the entry requirements of the ports you would be visiting or to your return to the US.

One nice thing about those Caribbean ports is that a passport is not required, nor is one required for reentry to the US (although I am not sure if the latter is only for passengers returning from cruises to the Caribbean).

Stephanie

I asked 3 different Ryanair personnel if other ID could be used and they said no, so their posting about a Driver's License is false.

kkj

Their website has a complete paragraph saying it is up to YOU to have proper documentation. They aren't responsible.

bobo

Stephanie-
Your use of the word "discriminate" is way off base. Webster's defines it as "to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit." Ryanair's actions towards you and your family is the exact opposite. They treated you exactly as they treat every other American, serviceman/woman or not. However, as a private company they have every right to set their own policies, regardless of what other companies do. Adopting a company-wide policy that is uniformly enforced is not discrimination (a word that in my opinion is thrown around a bit too much in U.S. society these days), but rather the beauty of free enterprise. Stop laying blame and shouting about discrimination and start accepting some responsibility for yourself.

ian

I think that you are being just a tad arrogant to assume that US Military ID is acceptable. I think is is very reasonable for all airlines to insist on a passport, notwithstanding if they are a Nato member country. Passport ID is much easier to check on the airport security system and has been the standard method of ID for international travel for many decades.

dana g

As a former international airline worker, who helped clear passengers arriving in the U.S., I learned something very early on.

1. Customs officials are in charge of
THINGS, and the laws regarding their import into the U.S. and export from the U.S.

2. Immigration officers are concerned with PEOPLE and I.D.

They work together, but the ultimate authority on people, passports, and I.D.
is Immigration, not Customs.

jms

Stephanie, I'm flying on Ryanair soon and I plan on asking them questions about the ID's they require on UK flights. I'll keep you posted.

ryan

Ryanair's website states that it accepts a driver's license as ID for domestic flights within the U.K. or btw. the U.K. and Ireland. FYI, jms, Germany to London is an international flight, and the website gives no guidelines concerning identification for an international flight. Instead for international travellers, it provides a link to the Home Office website. Therefore Ryanair did provide exactly the information needed re. the requirements to enter the U.K. from Germany. They are not at fault.

kkj

Stephanie when Ryanair refers to having a drivers license as a valid id it is the same as needing a valid photo id in the US to take a domestic flight. It is the id that Brits need to travel. It is like United Airlines saying you need a photo ID to travel. They want to check the id to the ticket. Well if you aren't American you may need a passport as well. These are two separate issues. You are forgeting that none of you are citizens of Great Britain and a U.S. drivers license means squat to them. You are a citizen of another country and as such need passports.

I do not know where you got your incorrect information about military id's being okay, but I don't think it was from Ryanair. You yourself said your kids heard from others. So how did Ryanair change its policy? All Ryanair did was change the policy that some third party thought they had.

As for not be seasoned travelers what does that have to do with this? You were willing to arrange travel yourself without help from someone and you goofed up. Too bad you don't have a travel agent to blame.

Stephanie

It was Ryanair personnel at the airport that told us Ryanair had changed their policy 3 weeks before. They also told us we would get a refund if we wrote to the head office. The head office refused to refund our money even though the personnel at the airport wrote a note stating we had correct military ID.

John

Stephanie

Ryanair clearly discriminates against people who try to compromise their security - I don't see what problem you could have with this

I really wish US airlines showed half as much attention to security (thousands of lives could have been saved in the last 12 months)

Martha

As US military ID is worthless here in Europe - maybe your case is with the US military for misleading you.

g

I followed this thread on the Frommers website (Stephanie used the same exact phrasing on her original post there, as well as a later post about the responses being from seasoned travelers). I am glad to see that the responses to her were pretty much the same. I think the responses would not have been worded quite so sharply if she didn't use such an inflammatory word ("discriminates"). I also find it interesting that her original post mentioned nothing about being promised a refund if they wrote the home office, but she mentions it later on after probably not getting the response from fodors.com readers she expected. My father was in the Air Force and we lived in Germany on the economy (i.e., not on base) for almost 3 years. We traveled frequently and my father always used his passport since we were on leisure travel. Any other family with whom we traveled was the same way. I have spoken with families I know that live there now and it is the same way today.

xxx

Actually, if I were in the military in Germany, I would want to be traveling with a passport through Europe and WITHOUT a military ID. With terrorism threats, the goal for most Americans is to keep a low profile--which includes traveling on an American tourist passport instead of your military ID or diplomatic passport. Not everybody in Europe likes the US military and you don't want to be a target. Remeber Robert Stetham, the Navy SEAL traveling on a hijacked airliner who was killed several years ago. Stephanie, tell your kids to go and get themselves passports.

xxx

Russ, you are the typical example of an arrogant American. The US military presence in Europe is not there to protect Europeans, it is just for America to keep control over the region and its interests. The cold war is OVER! Why would you assume that Europe needs the protection of the overzealous US army corps? If anything, American presence in Europe has made it a hotbed for terrorist activity because your presence is hated around the world. Get it! WE DON'T NEED OR WANT YOU!

Maeve

Ryanair successfully foiled an attempted hijacking in stockholm last night.

Yet Russ and Stephanie complain about their security arrangements(they don't want to carry passports).

If Russ and Stephanie have a decent bone in their body they should apologise on this forum for their nasty comments against this brave airline and it's great staff.

Andre

Well Maeve...

While I totally agree that Russ and Stephanie's post was inane, yours ties for first prize in that department!

The potential hijacker was stopped by AIRPORT SECURITY, NOT RYANAIR! In fact, in order for the guy to even reach security, Ryanair must have already checked him in - so much for their great security!!

Get your facts straight - by heading to Ryanair's own web site for example.

Andre

John

Well done Ryanair !!!!

Hope the other airlines watch and learn

John

I would far rather travel on an airline like Ryanair which takes security seriously rather than some of the care free American carriers who really don't seem to care about safety at all.

Andre

Hello???!!!

Ryanair didn't catch the guy - it was AIRPORT SECURITY!!!

Anybody listening???

Andre