Is your passport actually valid?

I have recently spoken to several passengers who didn't realise that the expiry date is not always the only date that matters.

Some older British passports were issued with additional months when they were renewed early. For travel to countries within the Schengen area, including Spain, Greece, France, Italy and Portugal, your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you arrive and have an expiry date at least three months after the date you plan to leave.

These are two separate checks. Additional months cannot be used to make a passport less than 10 years old on the date of entry, but they can count towards the three months required after your planned departure date.

Other countries have different requirements, and some do accept the passport’s full printed validity, including additional months. Requirements must therefore be checked for the specific destination. This wording matches the current official UK guidance for Schengen travel.

As an example, here are the entry requirements for France:

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements