Fewer travellers lead to higher passport fee

In yet another burden on travellers, the cost of a passport is to rise from September 3 . An adult passport will increase from £72.50 to £77.50, while the cost of a child passport will jump from £46 to £49.

The reason behind this increase is that fewer of us are renewing or applying for new passports. A spokesperson for the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), quoted by The Guardian, said: "Passport demand for the year ending 31 March 2009 was down by around 350,000 on our estimates, leaving us with a cost deficit of £32.4m."

In a statement on its website, the IPS said: "The decision to increase passport fees follows a decline in passport applications experienced during these difficult economic times."

The IPS also said that the rise was necessary to ensure that it is able to continue to deliver security enhancements to passports.

Frances Tuke, spokesperson for Abta, also quoted by the newspaper, said: "I do think putting up prices again is unhelpful, and a knee-jerk reaction.

"There have been several prices rises in recent years to cover the cost of added security measures and the development of bio-metric passports, but it is extremely unfair for passport holders to bear the cost of inaccurate Home Office forecasts."

Cheapflights tip - to save a fiver, check the expiry date on your passport. If it is due to run out in the next nine months you can renew now and get credit for the unused time.

© Cheapflights Ltd

Comments

[Thomas Cooper]

Why oh why oh why does it become my problem that the IPS can't do its sums? I wish these government bodies - the one in charge of administering the APD too - would just come out and say "Don't travel". It would be more honest than imposing all these stealth charges.

[Judy Ebner]

I feel like I am being priced out of travelling. I'm mindful of the air passenger duty that will kick in in November, higher passport fees, fuel surcharges. On top of that, I find the cheap airlines' websites, like Ryanair and easyJet, very hard to navigate. You've got to be so careful. Do I need priority boarding? How many bags do I need to check-in? Do I need to check-in online? What are the credit-card handling fees? Really, the pendulum has swung the other way now, it's easier and cheaper to stay at home.

[Tom Parish]

Oh no, an extra fiver! I'll have to stay at home now.