Is the new passport card any use?

September last year I used it to travel to Estonia and it wasn't working at any of the auto gates. In Estonia I wasn't allowed to try the auto gates and in Dublin I could try the auto gate but the card didn't work, the E Gate was only configured for the book at the time.

Waste of money if you still can't use the E Gate.

Bear in mind that you can't check in online with Aer Lingus with the passport card (or couldn't up until last year anyway, I haven't travelled this year yet but I assume it hasn't changed).

I nearly got caught rotten abroad with a two leg flight home, with a very tight connection, I had no idea that you couldn't check in online with it. AL when they eventually answered a phone just said "oh yeah, you can't check in online, you'll have to go out and check in at the desk" 😱

Having said that, the card is fierce handy, and I wouldn't be without it.

I use my passport card as an extra to my passport when travelling, in that i lock up my passport in the hotel safe and carry my passport card around with me as my ID.

It does replace the book within the EU and UK

Any need for such an inappropriate comment?

Im not saying You are right or wrong, but please furnish information to back up your ‘one word’ response.

You don't.

Why would it even exist if it was just an accompaniment?

I need to renew my passport and this is the first I've heard of a card.

Does the card automatically come with passport or must I order one separately?

I travelled to Paris last year using my passport card and when I got to passport control at the airport in Paris the gentleman there asked me what my passport card was and when I explained it to him he looked at me like I had three heads, he had never seen or heard of one before. The automatic scanner thing at the gates wouldn't pick up my card at all so I had to use the book, which I had luckily brought with me just in case there was an issue. Similar thing coming back into Dublin, but only at the scanner, again I couldn't get the scanner to detect the card at all so had to use my book again.

That's the only travelling I've done since I got it, so it's only a sample size of one trip, but that was my own personal experience anyway.

If renewing online you'll be given the option to add the card, you can order it separately if you already have a passport, it's good for 5 years or the expiry of the passport, whichever comes first.

🤡 The fool is the one using Vladimir Putin, in Russian, as his username. Childish.

Place it in the top right corner of the automated reader and take your hand away,place your feet on foot sign and look straight at the camera.Away you go.no queues to speak of.Also,saves poking around for your hardcopy passport.

It was advertised on the site as an option when ordering a new passport

It was at Charles de Gaulle airport.

The passport card should work in the eGates at dublin airport

The passport card can also be used to the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein & Norway) and Switzerland. I've also used it in Gibraltar.

The only time I've had a slight issue with the passport card was from Madrid to London this year. Most EU citizens cannot use national ID cards to enter the UK anymore. The passport card does look like a national ID card. A gate agent asked me if I had a passport and I just said it was an Irish passport card and she was satisfied (and impressed!) with that.

It's worth having this page handy just in case if flying to the UK from Europe: https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control/before-you-leave-for-the-uk It explicitly mentions the Irish passport card.

I do it the other way, have the card as the primary ID at checkin/ manned border points/ final ID check at the gate but have the book passport in the rucksack should I need it for one of those automatic gates for Schengen <-> non schengen journeys.

The card is also useful to have just as an ID if youre in a country where 100% of local adults have an actual ID so its built into their day to day life, for instance picking up a parcel or using rail tickets requires a passport or ID - and a drivers licence, gun licence or any other random card you may have with your name on it is simply not "an ID" so liable to be not accepted.

Worked in Las Palmas airport last October

You have to put the card photo side up at the rear left corner of the reader.

The security thing is the reason I usually still bring both - one can stay in the hotel "safe" (they are far from safe, but often just enough to stop a light-fingered cleaner. Anyone who wants in to them can get in to them. Most have a pathetically insecure backup key slot behind the logo sticker, for instance) in case I'm mugged; meaning I can still get back to Ireland on my original flight.

Quick night away somewhere and I'll just use the card. Have a thing of making sure to use my driving licence when going to the UK on proper airlines (I don't want that to suddenly be disallowed with a dodgy stat claiming everyone is using passports), but considering its in the same wallet as the passport card it doesn't actually reduce complexity.

The passport cards do work in the eGates at Dub.

I don't understand why you would travel in Europe with both a card and passport, defeats the purpose. You should take a picture of your main passport and email it to yourself should you ever lose your card or passport, least you have that for the authorities also.