A WOMAN was forced to miss her £8,000 family holiday after a simple mistake with her passport – despite it being caused by airport scanners.
Emily Allen had booked a holiday with her husband and two young kids for an all-inclusive break in Corfu.
Flying from London Heathrow last month, she said she ran into problems at the self-service machines to check in.
She told the Telegraph: "Initially, I placed my passport into the machine the wrong way around, so slid it back out carefully and turned it around.
"During this process the photo/observations page, which on my 2016 document is not laminated – just paper covered by a thin film patch – ripped, leaving an inch-long tear across the edge of the passport photo."
Emily said she was told to get some sticking tape from the airport shop to put it back together – only to then be told this wouldn't be enough.
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Instead, she was banned from boarding completely, as the airline staff warned her that Greek authorities would "refuse her entry and send her back to the UK".
And there was no other option – fast-track appointments wouldn't allow a new passport to arrive in time and emergency passports are not available in the UK.
Emily added: "So we took the painful decision to simply cancel and go home."
The family then said they lost out on their entire trip, losing money on their flights and hotel, with their travel insurance not paying out either.
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She said that of the £8,000 they paid, they have been left £4,000 out of pocket.
Despite this, many countries are strict about passengers travelling with a damaged passport.
A number of holidaymakers have been caught out in recent months.
Earlier this year, a woman missed her "dream trip" to Ireland after damaging her passport just minutes before boarding her flight.
And another couple who had a 'small rip' in their passport were banned from their flight to Thailand for a similar reason.
Passengers are often stopped before they board as it is the airline who is fined if they are banned at the border, which can cost them thousands of pounds.
According to The Post Office, HM Passport Office classes a passport as damaged if:
- Details are indecipherable
- The laminate has lifted enough to allow the possibility of photo substitution
- There’s discolouration of the bio-data page
- There’s chemical or ink spillage on any page
- There are missing or detached pages
- The chip or antenna shows through the end paper on the back cover for the new style e-passports
- The chip has been identified as damaged after investigation
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