A British couple were left frustrated and hundreds of pounds out of pocket at the airport, after being refused entry onto their flight to Benidorm. Penny Priestly, 59, and husband Dug have in-turn sworn that they will never attempt to fly via TUI again through the commotion, which saw them turned away at check-in.
The couple headed to East Midlands Airport May 16, set for a ten-day sizzling spring holiday in the Spanish hotspot, spending £1,800 on a package holiday through the travel company. But upon arrival, they were told by the airline that they wouldn't be allowed to fly, as they had less than a year left on their passports.
A shocked Penny, said: "We just turned up and were waiting an hour in the queue, I think we were about fourth from last and the girl on the checkout said to the other girl, can you check those dates. She checked and said no they can't fly.
Nottinghamshire Live reports that she added: "Then a bloke came over, a supervisor or something, and he said our only alternative is to go to Jet2 and ask them if we can fly." Penny explained that while the pair have flown with TUI in the past, they had never come across a policy that a passenger must have a minimum of a year left on their passports to travel.
She also said that the duo were still allowed to fly with other airlines. Both of the passports are set to expire in February next year, meaning that they would have had over nine months left on their travel documents at the time of the holiday.
After being turned away at the desk by TUI, Penny and her hubby headed to Jet2, who suggested that they could fly out with them and return on their original TUI flights. However, the couple claim that TUI would not allow this to happen. They also alleged that TUI staff at the airport told them if they had gone days earlier it would have been fine.
Penny added: "They said if we had gone on Saturday we would have been alright." The Saturday would have been May 13, and on the ten-year mark since the pair had their passports issued.
Penny continued: "We paid another £860 and Jet2 looked into it and said we could go back with them and just fly one way with them, but then a supervisor came over. He also said we would lose the hotel if my husband didn't ring up, so we had to ring the hotel up and tell them we were coming a day later."
Flying the next day also meant that Penny and her husband lost all of their original transfers from airport to hotel. The couple returned home, with her husband going to their local TUI store and expressing his frustration at the situation.
"They said if we had gone on Saturday we would have been alright," the duo claim. They also admit that they didn't know about TUI's policy, and that they were in no way informed of it, nor was it made clear to them at any stage - with most other airlines allowing punters to travel with at least six months left on their passports.
Penny sworn that the duo would 'never ever' fly with TUI again, adding: "We will always use Jet 2 now or Ryanair, or even easyJet - they could fly us as well." The couple managed to get on their holiday at a later date with Jet2 for £860, but they couldn't have their TUI flights or transfers refunded due to it being a package deal.
A spokesperson for TUI, said: "We’re sorry that Mr Priestly was unable to fly with TUI as planned as his passport did not meet the required government passport guidelines. We strongly advise that our customers check their passports are up to date before booking any flights.
"Details of passport validity guidelines can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice."
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