So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu.....

[Fantic125]

Unfortunately it's time to say adios to my dearly loved passport..

After 4&1/2 years of faithful service I can't squeeze another visa or stamp in, so it's time for it to retire from travelling and be relegated to a dusty shelf to spend time reflecting on it's days of glory globetrotting around the world.....

This passport has certainly seen a bit more of the world than my previous ones. Adding up all the countries I've visited in this time it comes to;

Country	No of visits
USA	11
Germany	9
China	8
India	7
Korea	6
Taiwan	5
Mexico	4
Thailand	4
Brazil	2
Indonesia	2
Philippines	2
Singapore	2
Fiji	1
Hungary	1
Ireland	1
Italy	1
Japan	1
Total	67

Not a bad effort, but time to put it all behind and move on to a brand new shiny 64 pager this time! Hopefully this one will see out the full 10 years!

 

[lovestotravel]

Great effort

Well done

 

[drron]

Mrsdrron and I have just done the same.We had 4 pages left but are transitting through South africa 3 times in March/April + need a visa to Ghana.
What annoyed us is we applied on line in mid december but couldn't get an appointment at the post Office until 2/1/13 so had to pay the increase in fee that came in on 1/1/13.
Will have to add up all the countries visited in that time.

 

[blackcat20]

Very impressive! Mines about to expire with only three trips in it :shock:

 

[simongr]

I have a pretty full UK passport that only gets used when no visa or stamp is required (I.e. UK and EU mostly) - it is looking a bit full - only I think two clean pages left...

 

[kpc]

My 4 year old passport will "struggle" to get through to the end of this year before it is full. Is the 64 page passport very bulky compared to the standard 32 page one?

 

[JohnK]

My 30 month old passport is at around page 14 and I have not been on a Oneworld award yet. I think it was a good idea to get the 64 page version.

Is the 64 page passport very bulky compared to the standard 32 page one?

Not overly bulky.

 

[Fantic125]

My 4 year old passport will "struggle" to get through to the end of this year before it is full. Is the 64 page passport very bulky compared to the standard 32 page one?

I'm guessing the 64 page passport will most probably be twice as thick as the 32 page passport....... :shock:

of course with only the one ID and chip page and additional information, it shouldn't be that much thicker. When it arrives I'll compare the two and put a photo up.

It certainly won't be as bulky as some of my US colleagues who had extra pages inserted into their passports. They end up looking like a bible!

 

[Simo]

Congrats,

I am looking forward to changing my passport over this year mainly due to the fact that it has some strange travels things in it.

One day trips in and out of countries some times mainly due to transiting.

I also had same date different year I was in NAN and 12 months before to the day I was in SIN. I have had a question about that.

 

[kpc]

I'm guessing the 64 page passport will most probably be twice as thick as the 32 page passport....... :shock:

of course with only the one ID and chip page and additional information, it shouldn't be that much thicker. When it arrives I'll compare the two and put a photo up.

I'll be interested to see a photo of both passports side by side:idea:. Occasionally (in areas I think are a bit dodgy!), I wear a money belt under my shirt, and if I have to stuff 2 x 64 page passports (incl. my +1's) in there as well, I will really look like a bloated pig!:shock:

 

[JohnK]

I'll be interested to see a photo of both passports side by side:idea:.

I do not have a photo but as I posted earlier the 64 page passport is not overly bulky. It easily fits in my shirt pocket along with mobile phone and other junk.

 

[burmans]

Unfortunately it's time to say adios to my dearly loved passport..

After 4&1/2 years of faithful service I can't squeeze another visa or stamp in, so it's time for it to retire from travelling and be relegated to a dusty shelf to spend time reflecting on it's days of glory globetrotting around the world.....

This passport has certainly seen a bit more of the world than my previous ones. Adding up all the countries I've visited in this time it comes to;

Country	No of visits
USA	11
Germany	9
China	8
India	7
Korea	6
Taiwan	5
Mexico	4
Thailand	4
Brazil	2
Indonesia	2
Philippines	2
Singapore	2
Fiji	1
Hungary	1
Ireland	1
Italy	1
Japan	1
Total	67

Not a bad effort, but time to put it all behind and move on to a brand new shiny 64 pager this time! Hopefully this one will see out the full 10 years!

Showoff!

Makes me yearn for the time when I lived in Europe (back when they did use to stamp passports) and had to get two separate sets of extra pages to accept all the stamps. Visited ~ 50 countries (plus a number of repeats) in about 4 1/2 years!

 

[Fantic125]

I'll be interested to see a photo of both passports side by side:idea:. Occasionally (in areas I think are a bit dodgy!), I wear a money belt under my shirt, and if I have to stuff 2 x 64 page passports (incl. my +1's) in there as well, I will really look like a bloated pig!:shock:

New passport arrived today.
As JohnK noted there's not a significant difference as can be seen in the photo below. The standard passport is 4mm thick, and the 64 page passport is 6mm thick.

Now I just need to memorise my new number and expiry date......

 

[LadyC]

Very jealous! I am thinking about how much fun it would be planning to fill the new one

 

[Fantic125]

Well, my new baby now has 3 pages sullied by stamps and visa's.

IIRC, a post 12 or 18 months ago queried the longevity of the new passports compared to the one's issued 4~5 years ago. Even after 1 outing to China (and most of it being in a Victorinox travel wallet thingy) I'm wondering if it will last the distance.

Being involved in Quality Assurance/Quality Control for an international manufacturing company, I must admit I've never given a thought as to what qualification and validation testing Passport manufacturers are required to complete.

So, I'll throw the question(s) out there for Australian Passports;

• Which company makes the basic passport (the product without the personal details)?
• What durability testing is required and how was this determined?
• Is there a 10 year guarantee on the chip centre page?
• If my Passport photo looks excruciatingly ugly, can I change it for a different one?

 

[Hvr]

<snip>

• If my Passport photo looks excruciatingly ugly, can I change it for a different one?

You've got two choice here:
1) complain to the manufacturer (i.e. your parents! ), or
2) engage in extensive plastic surgery and hope for the best.

The previous two options assume the photographer was making the best of an 'interesting' face to begin with.

On the other hand if you scare children at 30 paces and/or are being asked to participate in horror movies sans make up then you may be stuck with the excruciatingly ugly passport photo.

 

[seanpodge]

Well, my new baby now has 3 pages sullied by stamps and visa's.

IIRC, a post 12 or 18 months ago queried the longevity of the new passports compared to the one's issued 4~5 years ago. Even after 1 outing to China (and most of it being in a Victorinox travel wallet thingy) I'm wondering if it will last the distance.

Being involved in Quality Assurance/Quality Control for an international manufacturing company, I must admit I've never given a thought as to what qualification and validation testing Passport manufacturers are required to complete.

So, I'll throw the question(s) out there for Australian Passports;

• Which company makes the basic passport (the product without the personal details)?
• What durability testing is required and how was this determined?
• Is there a 10 year guarantee on the chip centre page?
• If my Passport photo looks excruciatingly ugly, can I change it for a different one?

I might add the question of why are Australian passports so much more expensive that those of other countries?

 

[Skyring]

I might add the question of why are Australian passports so much more expensive that those of other countries?

I got a new - thicker - one. Not *that* thicker, though if I start stuffing visas inside it might be a hefty package after a few years. What bothers me is the sinking fund I've established to pay for a replacement. At this rate in 2023 it's going to cost an enormous amount - I think the government is looking for me to balance the budget on my ownsome.

 

[drewbles]

Unfortunately it's time to say adios to my dearly loved passport..

After 4&1/2 years of faithful service I can't squeeze another visa or stamp in, so it's time for it to retire from travelling and be relegated to a dusty shelf to spend time reflecting on it's days of glory globetrotting around the world.....

This passport has certainly seen a bit more of the world than my previous ones. Adding up all the countries I've visited in this time it comes to;

Country	No of visits
USA	11
Germany	9
China	8
India	7
Korea	6
Taiwan	5
Mexico	4
Thailand	4
Brazil	2
Indonesia	2
Philippines	2
Singapore	2
Fiji	1
Hungary	1
Ireland	1
Italy	1
Japan	1
Total	67

Not a bad effort, but time to put it all behind and move on to a brand new shiny 64 pager this time! Hopefully this one will see out the full 10 years!

I have some 30 stamps in mine, and still have around 28 pages available in mine. Did you get stamps in/out of AUS too? That's about the only way I could see a 37 page one being filled with 67 stamps (unless there's lots of full page visas I guess?).

 

[Simo]

I have some 30 stamps in mine, and still have around 28 pages available in mine. Did you get stamps in/out of AUS too? That's about the only way I could see a 37 page one being filled with 67 stamps (unless there's lots of full page visas I guess?).

I generally don't get stamped coming and going from Aust but Miss 4.5's passport has stamps even when departing from Aust and coming back in.