Booking a package holiday with easyJet Holidays soon comes with an unusual perk: the operator will refund the £66.50 cost of a baby's first British passport. The offer applies to children up to 18 months old, and it runs until 26 November at 11pm, with redemptions handled through easyJet.com/firstpassport.
The idea came out of the airline's own research. easyJet surveyed 2,000 parents and found that one in ten had no idea a passport was needed for their baby until they were already planning the trip. That's less surprising than it sounds — 585,000 families welcome a new baby each year in England and Wales, and passports are simply not on most new parents' to-do lists. Meanwhile, 82% of those surveyed called a baby's first holiday a landmark family moment.
The funniest finding: more than a third of parents (36%) said the hardest part was the passport photo, with some taking up to six attempts to capture one that met the rules. Anyone who has tried to get an infant to face forward with a neutral expression, mouth closed, against a plain light background will recognise the struggle.
Stuart Wright, customer director at easyJet Holidays, framed the move as removing a barrier from those early family trips, saying travel brings families together and a baby's first holiday is something parents remember for years.
For context on the paperwork itself: in the UK, a parent or guardian can apply for a first child passport for anyone under 16. Applying online costs £66.50; a paper form from the Post Office costs £80. Child passports are valid for five years — shorter than adult passports because children's appearances change — and HMPO advises allowing around three weeks for processing. So if you want the refund and have a trip on the horizon, the timing matters on both ends: book and apply with enough buffer before your departure date.
Why does a £66.50 giveaway matter? Because first family trips tend to be the expensive, intimidating ones. New parents are often unsure whether to fly at all, what a baby needs to travel, and how the logistics work. A package holiday plus a covered passport knocks out two of the big early hurdles, and for families who welcomed a baby this year, the saving is effectively a free slice of the trip cost. If your baby is under 18 months and an easyJet holiday was already on the cards, there's little reason not to claim it — but the 26 November deadline means waiting for the January sales is likely to cost you the refund.
