Exploring the impact of passport privilege on vacation plans
The day I had been waiting for finally arrived. 25th December 2022. While many view this day as the day Christ was born, this day to me was just a Sunday though, not like any other Sunday. It was the day I would travel out of New Zealand.
Today, you all will be going with me on a trip. We’re going on a vacation but through the lens of global mobility. The purpose is to explore passport privilege and its influence on holiday expenses and experience. Basically, I want to give you a glimpse of how Henley Passport Index plays out in real time using my December vacation.
For those who don’t know, Henley Passport Index is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom enjoyed by the holders of that country’s ordinary passport for its citizens. In simple terms, Passport Privilege. Being a Nigerian, I can only travel to 46 visa-free destinations technically 26, if you remove visa on arrival and eTAs. Whereas, a New Zealand Passport holder can visit 187 visa-free destination. That’s the power of ranking 5th in the 2023 global rankings compared to the 90th position currently held by Nigeria. But, to be fair this position is a massive improvement from last year where we ranked 100 on the 2022 global scale.
So why was I so excited?
Well, I hadn’t travelled to another country nor seen my family since the pandemic. So, my plan for last December’s holiday was to have my family come over to New Zealand but Henley Index. Plus, INZ doing what they know how to do best, which is take forever to process visas, so that plan was shelved.
As a result, my plan B which was to travel out of NZ was activated. As strange as it sounds, I longed to be asked “tea or coffee, please” by an air hostess or “can I see your passport” by a border officer. I was so excited by the idea of travelling again but, too busy trying to round things up for the year, and just zonked to plan. I packed my bags exactly two days to the trip which is very unlike me. Usually a week to the trip, I’m all set to go!
Now, this behaviour wasn’t wholly for the packing. Recall I mentioned that I was looking forward to travelling. That’s right!
I’d wished to travel out but skipped the part that I will require a visa to enter that country. Again, Henley Index. I asked myself, “how do you intend to enter your travel destination without a visa? Remember you’re Nigerian.” I’d forgotten that part which means I couldn’t do a spontaneous trip meanwhile, my travel buddy was all set to go since he’s an NZ passport holder.
The trip was for December, this reminder came in mid-September and so my friends, that was when the rush began. The intended country was Australia so, I applied for Aussie visa. Mind you, each time one applies for an Australian visitor visa, a biometric submission is required for every instance. It took approx 2 weeks waiting to get a slot for biometric submission. But once I completed the biometric step, my visa was out the next day (<24 hours).
By then ticket prices had quadrupled,. But, I was a woman on a mission. My desire to experience this feeling was stronger and higher than the air fare. So, what did I do? I paid for the flights and looked forward to it like a dog waiting for it’s treat.
I bought the flight ticket notwithstanding the criminally high price airlines had placed on flights to Australia. The only “good” thing I can say about the cost of tickets is that it would be one of the few times that traveling to Australia was actually more expensive than traveling to anywhere else in New Zealand. As should be!!!
If you’re wondering why I’m making a fuss about this topic. It is because it is not uncommon to find that flying to Aussie is cheaper than flying to Queenstown, for instance.
Once flight was settled, I needed a place to stay. My options were either splash on a nice hotel or stay with my friend who recently moved from Auckland to Melbourne.
I’d just spent way more than I’d first imagined on tickets so, I wasn’t going to let my ego have a say in this decision. Hence, I decided to stay with my friend. Perks: great company, good food, access to cars, internet connection, freedom-to-operate. The key aspects of the trip, ticket and accommodation, was settled.
Travel day arrived. On reaching airport security, my friend and I got separated. I had to walk through a maze to a long queue then have my passport flipped in many ways just to be sure I am me and amongst other reasons. He.. he just breezed through because passport privilege.
The difference in treatment was more obvious when we arrived in Australia. All my friend did was to get a tag, then walk through security via the smart gate. His queue had a sign that said e-Passport with a symbol. My passport had that symbol and for a few minutes I was convinced I could use his route. To confirm my convictions, I went to the officer there and asked, “my passport has this e passport symbol, can I join the queue?” He looked at me and replied, “if you see your country on the list then you can but if you don’t, join the “all other passports queue?” It was a very long queue. So long, my friend called me twice to be sure everything was okay.
As you can see, the strength of your passport impacts how you plan for your trip, cost of travelling as well as your airport experience. When your ranking is high, you can go on spontaneous international adventures, save on visa application fees, have a generic hassle-free airport experience, heck you could life as a digital nomad. However, when it is low you find yourself searching for the sassy engineer on YouTube to learn “How to travel better with your current passport”. If I didn’t have the strong zeal to travel, I probably would have given up on going to Australia.
To wrap this up, Passport privilege is a thing that’s why you see people do the most unthinkable just to secure one of the world’s powerful passports.
