Aer Lingus won't allow you to check in with an Irish Passport Card

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BurloX

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Aer Lingus do not accept Irish Passport Cards. Mega inconvenient to revert to collecting paper boarding passes at airport. They are really useful & compact and function as full Passport for everything Europe in our experience including Ryanair as an example.

Update 2nd March 2026 - Aer Lingus does now allow checking in with passport cards
 
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BurloX said:
Aer Lingus do not accept Irish Passport Cards.
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You mean specifically for online check-in?

https://www.aerlingus.com/prepare/check-in-options/

When online check in is not available​

Online check in is not available in the following situations but don't worry you can still check in at the airport for free.
  • If you don't have a passport or are travelling with an Irish passport card or EU National Identity card.
  • ...
Click to expand...
The thread title is unclear/misleading. It suggests that AL don't accept passport cards at all for booking, check-in, travel etc.
 
BurloX said:
Mega inconvenient to revert to collecting paper boarding passes at airport.
Click to expand...

Do you not have a full passport as well?

I found it annoying being unable to check in with a passport card and not knowing the reason why.
But I discovered that they don't accept cards so I checked in with my full passport.

From memory, I just showed them the card at the gate and they were happy with that. I did have my full passport in my bag, just in case.

Brendan
 
BurloX said:
Aer Lingus do not accept Irish Passport Cards
Click to expand...
They most certainly do accept passport cards as do RyanAir. On my last passport renewal I decided to get a passport card. Tried it out for flights to Glasgow and Manchester and then to Barcelona....didn't have any issues but still got the pesky boarding passes.

Irish passport card

You can use the Irish passport card for travel within the European Union and the European Economic Area.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie

In short haven't had an issue to date.
 
I had the same issue.


The online check-in will not recognise your passport card number as this is not your actual passport number.

Simply use your passport number with the online check-in and use your passport card at the airport.

I had no issues 3 weeks ago doing it that way.
 
Aer Lingus staff member told me at check-in that if I changed the letter on the card to another letter it would work.

Just did not want to admit it was an AL issue.

So much for the warning about ensuring that the number is correct.

Hadn't used AL in 7 years and their customer service is atrocious in trying to resolve a simple issue like this.

Viva RyanAir.
 
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Because it fits comfortably in your wallet. You can stow the full passport in your bag - but don't check it in.

And if you travel Ryanair, you don't need your full passport at all. But you can bring it if you wish.
 
Persia said:
What is the point of this card if you need to also carry a full passport just in case....
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Irish passport card

You can use the Irish passport card for travel within the European Union and the European Economic Area.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
You don't always need to carry the full passport booklet. Just because Aer Lingus don't currently accept it for online check-in doesn't mean that it's useless.
 
GSheehy said:
I'd be pretty confident about getting home without too much inconvenience if one of the passports was stolen/lost.
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Yep, would have saved us once when a passport was accidentally left behind in a hotel.
 
peemac said:
The online check-in will not recognise your passport card number as this is not your actual passport number.
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The passport card IS a passport. The clue is that it says the word “passport” on it!

I’ve encountered confusion in this from immigration officials, airline staff, and even an Irish embassy staff member once.
 
ClubMan said:
One might expect that both would have the same identifying number?
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I assume it is because they are separate documents and the number must be unique to the document.

The passport card is a passport, just only acceptable for travel within the EU and UK. Everyone who is issued with a passport guard must also have a passport book.

I entered the UK once from France and they would not accept it was a passport either.
 
As mentioned earlier, for online check-in, OP can use passport details while carry passport card with them. Passport card is a separate document but linked with the passport.
 
I fly weekly to the UK using preloaded passport card data in the AL app, and check in every time on the app, and have never had an issue. The passport number is the passport card number.
 
Seaniemed said:
I fly weekly to the UK using preloaded passport card data in the AL app, and check in every time on the app, and have never had an issue. The passport number is the passport card number.
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That's encouraging.

Do you know whether, having checked in on the app, you can then use the Express Bag Drop kiosk for your hold baggage?
 
I have just tried checking in on the app with my preloaded passport card number (begins with C).

My check in attempt was rejected: Passport number may only contain letters and numbers. For example P123456 or PB1234567.

My destination is in Spain.
 
All they have to do is to add a note.

"You may use a passport card as a travel document on EU flights, however for online check-in your passport book number is required"
 
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