That might not be the best forum to ask this question, but in case some people would know :
I might go to Spain during the next two weeks. Unfortunately, I just realized my passport isn’t valid any longer. And I lost my I.D. card years ago. So, I don’t have any valid ID.
If I was driving there, the risk of a border check would be neglectible and on the other hand, I couldn’t fly without an ID. But I will go there either by train or by coach (preferably by train). Is it likely that there will be a border check on either?
Quite easily during the last 8 months or so. Until I picked up a certified letter at the post office a week ago, and was told my passport had expired in January (they still gave me the letter). I hadn’t noticed it myself.
Aren’t France and Spain both Schengen countries? I know that, when I was in Europe, I crossed several Schengen borders on the train… asleep. Wasn’t disturbed; the train did not stop.
Now, what sorts of ID you need nowadays to get on the train or plane within Europe, I don’t know.
This evening I’ll be driving through Austria, Germany, Belgium and France on the way to the UK and the only time I’ll need my passport is when I board the Channel Tunnel Train for the UK.
There will be no checks so don’t worry.
And I recently travelled from Prague (Czech Republic) through Germany and Luxembourg to France. Only needed my passport at CDG on the way home to the UK.
Novelty Bobble - It is Eurostar. I am always correcting Americans who call it the Chunnel.
If you have a driver’s license, it’s valid ID for Spain. If anybody argues, tell them “it’s valid ID to vote!”
Hotels usually ask to see ID but it isn’t so much to check ID as because they are required to fill a “registry of guests” and it’s faster to copy info from an ID than ask the guest to fill up paperwork or to spell everything. ID will also often be requested when paying by CC, specially if it’s one of those that require a signature rather than a PIN.
So, you’re driving - is a driver’s license not needed, not considered ID, and need not be current for things like vehicle insurance?
I’ll concede that it’s possible to skate along without ID if you are well-established and not trying to open new accounts, rent vehicles or new property, etc. But trying to travel in today’s world, especially across national borders (even within the EU) without a valid and current ID or passport seems like a setup for a possible nightmare scenario.
Actually, isn’t it Eurostar for the passenger trains but Eurotunnel for the “ride with your vehicle” trains? It isn’t Chunnel but does have “unnel” in it.
That’s true. There are no regular checks on the internal borders and that is pretty much universally known in continental Europe. However there are still occasional spot checks at or near the border. It is most likely that nobody will bother you, but the probability is certainly somewhat elevated. And while not having ID at home would cause moderate annoyance at worst, it can really throw a spanner in the works if you are traveling and someone decides to make an issue out of it.
For me it would depend on how easily I could get a (provisional) new ID card. Here in Germany it is painless enough that I would do it, but playing dumb and using the expired passport doesn’t seem out of the question.
Interesting. In one post, I ask whether he has a license. In the next one, you state he drives. Is that an assumption based on how would things be where you live, or do you recall information about clairobscur’s driving habits that I do not?
I think this correction is misplaced. Eurostar is only one of the services that uses the tunnel. Novelty Bobble referred to the Channel Tunnel, which seems to be the correct name for this piece of infrastructure. For example, Eurotunnel describe themselves as the operators of the Channel Tunnel.
Thanks. You need a currently valid ID, which I don’t have right now.
Driving, sure. But my question is about trains (or buses if train seems like a bad idea).
Did you ride the train or drive?
Good question. Do I?
Although I gues that even if they want to see a passport, they aren’t going to report me if it’s expired.
I don’t have one. And in theory at least, a driver’s license isn’t sufficient to cross borders.
Over here you always use a PIN. Do you frequently need to sign a slip when using a CC in Spain?
I don’t drive. And a driving license isn’t considered a valid ID for travel purpose.
What kind of nightmare scenario do you envision? (serious question. I don’t perceive going to Spain as being much different from going to, say, Provence. Except that in this case, lacking an ID, I’m in theory not supposed to cross a border. I’m not sure what I should think of it)
I can’t get an ID in quick order. I can’t get an appointment to simply fill the forms before a dozen days or so, and I guess it will take another couple of weeks to get the documents.
I do intend to play dumb if asked. But I’d rather not ride the train, for instance, if nowadays they check passports on a regular basis onboard. Last time I crossed the Spanish border was 15 years ago or so (hence before 9/11), so I have no clue.
Also, I now wonder whether I might get in troubles if for some reason I need to show an ID while being in Spain. It’s unlikely I would need to do so, but I guess I could be victim of a theft, become ill or whatever…
Another thought: Spain is a transit country for illegal immigrants, particularly Algerians travelling to France. Your ID may not be checked on the way there, but it’s much more likely to be checked on the way back.
I don’t know about France, but here in the U.K., you can get one done in a day if you’re prepared to go to one of the main passport offices and pay a premium.
I don’t think you quite get this. Within the schengen countries there are no border checks at all unless you have made yourself suspicious. It is no different really than moving across a state line in the US of A. This applies to train, busses and cars but NOT to air travel.
No one gets on a plane these days without a valid passport - This is the only acceptable form of ID unless, in some cases, you are a local citizen travelling within your own country. In my trip across four countries by road and river, one in schengen but not the Eurozone, I was not asked for ID at any time.
Now that I think about it, I have a vague memory of them taking our ID when we boarded the train (a Hannover-to-Paris night train), and returning it when we arrived at our destination. But I may be making that up. Or maybe night trains are different.
I’ve twice had the experience in Spain that a supermarket (Carrefour, as it happens) will refuse to accept a foreign-issued chip-and-pin VISA card at the checkout, and will send you to a central information desk to have your card validated with ID before returning to the checkout. Very annoying and possibly in breach of the card provider’s merchant agreement.
I know there aren’t border checks on roads and that on the other hand you can’t fly without a proper ID. What I don’t know is whether or not they often check train passengers or stop buses.
