Travel Question: How will Brexit affect travel?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

UK passports will be valid until their expiry date, but there are many unknowns about what will happen from 29 March 2019 (Getty)

Q I love my holidays but I wonder in what way Brexit will alter travel – by which I mean airport processes, customs, passports and costs? I spoke to a travel agent and they think there is nothing to worry about, and a frequent traveller acquaintance agrees. Yet I see occasional remarks within Facebook conversations saying “we’d best get a holiday in before Brexit”. I’m concerned. Is it unfounded?

Joanna S

A Almost 30 months after the referendum in which the UK voted to leave the European Union, anyone who says that there is no need to fret about post-Brexit travel is, frankly, deluded. I have closely followed everything that has been said on both sides – the EU and the UK – and can say that we have a few certainties, some very strong likelihoods and many unknowns.

We know that every current British passport, and all those issued up to the day the UK leaves, will remain valid as British travel documents until their expiry date. Travel to European Union destinations (and other Schengen area countries) will become more difficult, with travellers having to apply for ETIAS – the EU equivalent of a US ESTA or Canadian ETA.

We think we know that the European Health Insurance Card or something which has the same effect will continue to provide medical care for British holidaymakers. And it is likely that duty-free rules will apply for journeys between the UK and the European Union. But conversely the current generous allowances for duty-paid goods, particularly alcohol and tobacco, will vanish.

We don’t know the basis for flights to continue between the UK and the European Union, whether British driving licences will be valid in Europe, or whether mobile phones registered in the UK will continue to have free roaming in the EU.

Having said all of that, UK airlines and tour operators are fully expecting to continue to operate next summer, and bookings are way ahead of 2018. If you book a package holiday, you will either get the trip you wanted, or will be entitled to a full refund.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder