Welder told he can’t go on £6k Tui holiday because he has a tear in his passport – The Sun

Welder told he can’t go on £6k Tui holiday because he has a tear in his passport – The Sun

09/01/2019

A WELDER missed out on a £6k luxury getaway to the Caribbean with his family because he had a tear in his passport.

The group had already reached the boarding gate at Gatwick when the tear was spotted, with staff refusing to let him on the plane.

Claire and Richard Adams – and their kids James, 22, Georgia, 19, and Lewis, 16 – were heading to Aruba in the Caribbean with Tui.

It was set to be their last holiday all together as a treat before the kids leave home.

But when a member of staff checked James’s passport, they said he couldn’t fly with the rest of them on the flight.

The couple, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, spent £5,935 on the holiday, which included a week at the five-star Hotel Riu Palace.

Claire, 46, was aware of the rip.

She claimed that she had checked Government guidelines, which confirmed that as long as the photo page was intact, there would be no issues using the damaged ID.

James, a welder, had previously managed to get through passport control with the travel document.

He even went on three recent lads' holidays to Cyprus, Ibiza and Amsterdam with it.

Claire said: “The most obnoxious woman came over, she was shouting from across the airport, ‘He’s not travelling, he won’t get in Aruba. He’s not going.’

“It was awful. My husband went into shock, he can’t remember much about it. My daughter was crying and James was getting agitated.

“I was trying to calm him down because I didn’t want him to get arrested."

She added: “She was putting us under so much pressure to decide if the rest of us were going to get on the plane.

“I have never met a woman as rude as her. There was no compassion, no empathy.

“She told us that he wouldn’t get into Aruba and we would be fined. She was rushing us so much we couldn’t speak to anyone more senior.”


Claire and Richard, 50, then took the agonising decision to travel alone with just their daughter, while the two boys stayed behind and headed home.

To make matters worse, their reserved seats on the plane were being used by another couple, who refused to budge.

She said it took five minutes for a member of the cabin crew to convince them to move.

Claire added: “Not one member of the cabin crew asked us on that nine hour flight if we were okay, even though we were all obviously very distressed.”

Ironically, when the three of them touched down in Aruba, there was a self-scan passport system and James wouldn’t have had a problem getting into the country.

Claire said: “We got to the customs in Aruba and all the machines were self-scan ones where you just need to show the photo page.


“James could have got in after all, we were absolutely devastated.”

Their luxury family break turned into a holiday from hell.

Claire said: “We couldn’t sleep, we were having to take sleeping tablets.

“We couldn’t enjoy the holiday at all, knowing that Lewis and James were stuck at home and should have been out there with us. It was just awful.”

When she got home, Claire wrote a long email to holiday provider Tui explaining what had happened and asking for compensation for their ruined family holiday.

But the email she got back from the holiday reps did nothing but refuse to accept responsibility for what had happened.

Can you travel with a damaged passport?

According to the government, a damaged passport is one that isn’t in a condition to be accepted as proof of identity.

Damage could include:

  • details are indecipherable
  • the laminate has lifted enough to allow the possibility of photo substitution
  • discolouration to the bio-data page
  • chemical or ink spillage on any page
  • 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

However, different countries will have different rules about what will and will not be accepted at their border.

Airlines that allow passengers to travel with damaged passports are usually fined by the destination country with the traveller being sent back on the next flight.

The statement said: “I would like to inform you that every activity at the airport is managed by the airport authorities itself and Tui is unable to have much influence over it.”

A spokesman from Tui said: “We’re sorry to hear Mr Adams was refused travel on this occasion, however, this is due to the fact that a page in his passport had been severely torn.

“Our check in teams have a responsibility to ensure customers have the correct documentation for travel and that there are no signs of damage.

“To prevent any issues occurring we would advise all customers to check their documentation is in good condition before travel.”

Earlier this year, Bali started enforcing their strict passport rules, which means anyone travelling with a damaged passport will not be allowed in.

A former Miss Universe Australia ended up being stranded on the island due to water damage to her passport.

Brits may need to renew their passports before entering European countries after Brexit.

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