Dual EU/US passport holders, US-only Spouse, airlines and the EES

I can't answer your second question, but I am curious to know the answer as my spouse is an EU citizen and we are visiting an EU country next week for the first time since EES was instituted. I didn't realise you could mark yourself as a spouse in this system (for those who don't know, EU citizens have a "right to family life" which means their freedom of movement essentially extends to their spouse if they plan to both settle in an EU country).

For your first question, just travel out on your Irish passport and travel back on your US passport. I am a dual UK/US citizen and I always do this when travelling to/from the US. It doesn't matter which passport you make the booking on, tho I would use your Irish one. However when you check in (either online or in person) for your EU-bound flight use your Irish passport and when you check in for your US-bound flight use your US passport. That's all you need to do- I do this all the time and it's never been an issue. FYI, this even works with flights with multiple legs- in 2024 I flew to Lima via Miami and had to keep switching which passport I was using as I only us the US passport to enter the US, but it was absolutely fine. Good luck!

Thanks for the info Cat. Do you put your US passport number in your reservation or UK passport? When checking in online, you need to use the passport that is in your reservation and I haven't ever been able to change the passport number between departure or return--it makes me pick one and use the one passport for the whole of the reservation. I use my EU passport when entering/leaving the EU through passport control but use my US passport when leaving/entering the US. I have only ever used my US passport in my airline reservations.... Would love to know if there's a way to change passport info mid-reservation.

Good questions- when I'm booking roundtrip travel to the US, I use my US passport to make the booking, use that to check in, and then when I'm checking in for my flight back to the UK (using the online check-in for Virgin, BA, or American) it lets me change it. However, if the online system is not letting you (perhaps this may differ by airline), you can definitely do this at the airport. For example, when we went to China last year, we booked the flights on our UK passports, but then later found out Irish citizens can enter China visa-free. Since my husband has an Irish passport he just turned up at the airport with that one and they updated all the info in the system at the check-in desk. Before we did this I did some Googling and found that it's something which is allowed and happens all the time (across airlines). So, to summarise, if it won't let you change it in the system, you should be able to change it at the check-in desk at the airport. I hope that's helpful, and hope you enjoy your trip!

For the most part, it does not matter what passport you use to book airline tickets. Very likely, since your round-trip ticket is for a period greater than 90 days, you will be flagged for document check (See a similar thread within the last few days) Basically they will want to see proof of ability to stay before you board. Your passport should be sufficient (You do not mention what country). Your husband will want to have copies of tickets showing him leaving the Schengen area in under 90 days.

When you enter at BOD, you will need to use your EU member passport. Same for entering and leaving each time when you hop to Ireland I would not worry too much about EES, it should not take much more time than usual, and flagging him as a spouse may not help him much anyway, but just check the box yes if prompted.

Entering the US again, you need your US passport.