Travel with Katie Butler: Cost of UK passport set to rise again

Katie Butler, Total Travel, writes: The proposals, which are subject to approval by Parliament, will include the following:

• the fee for a standard online application made from within the UK will rise from £88.50 to £94.50 for adults and £57.50 to £61.50 for children
• postal applications will increase from £100 to £107 for adults and £69 to £74 for children
• the fee for a Premium Service (1 day) application made from within in the UK will rise from £207.50 to £222 for adults and £176.50 to £189 for children
• the fee for a standard online application when applying from overseas for a UK passport will rise from £101 to £108 for adults and £65.50 to £70 for children
• overseas standard paper applications will increase from £112.50 to £120.50 for adults and £77 to £82.50 for children

Visible on the https://www.gov.uk/ website both the Home Office and HM Passport Office released a statement that said: “The new fees will help the Home Office to continue to move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation. “The government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications. “The fees contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders.”

They also said: “Customers are advised that they should apply in good time before travelling. In 2024, where no further information was required, 99.7 per cent of standard applications from the UK were processed within three weeks.”

Thankfully due to the physical location of our three branches we were extremely lucky to avoid the huge disruption caused by the closure of Heathrow Airport on March 21. The blaze at the North Hyde Electricity Substation in Hayes, which supplies electricity to Heathrow about 1.5 miles away, caused a power outage which meant Europe's biggest airport had "no choice but to close", a statement that has since being questioned.

I do however, understand the nature and complications that a closure of a major airport can cause, having dealt with the temporary closure at Manchester in June of last year, and our thoughts went out to our colleagues in the South.

When an event such as this does happen, many tend to only think about those due to leave the UK and forget that when the planes don’t manage to depart it results in thousands stranded overseas. Once again, the value of booking with a trusted travel agent comes into play. If you have booked everything separately, and for example miss your cruise due to a flight cancellation, you may not be covered for the cruise element and stand to risk losing your money. In addition, it is a lot easier to get hold of us on the phone.

We have some fantastic independent travel agents in our area. Book local and support a local business – knowing that we will support you.