A woman has warned other holidaymakers to check their passports after a mistake left her unable to board her flight, and having to fork out an extra £700 to make her holiday.
Amy Grundy was due to fly from Manchester to Thailand, but when she arrived at the airport she was denied boarding because of a rip on her passport. The unhappy traveller took to TikTok to warn others to check their documents, admitting she had been "crying so much" due to the stress.
She explained in the video: "So basically I was supposed to be flying from Manchester to Thailand yesterday, and my passport got denied because of this rip. They told me to go to Liverpool immediately to get a new passport to make a later flight.
"They didn't have any appointments in Liverpool so I had to go to Glasgow. Then 24 hours later, £700 down, I've been crying so much, got my passport. But yeah, don't travel with a ripped passport guys."
Have you had a holiday ruined because of a passport? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
However, when Amy panned the camera to her original passport, she lost the sympathy of plenty of commenters.
That's because the document is looking a little worse for wear, and the rip isn't just a small tear, but rather a whole chunk of the corner of her document that's missing.
One bemused commenter wrote: "At what point did you think you would be able to travel using that! It’s a mess."
Another added: "Why is your passport in that state anyway? It’s a precious document that should be cared for.."
Some people admitted they had also damaged their documents, but Amy's seemed to put their own damage to shame. "I washed my passport and thought mine was bad," quipped one person. "But that is so damaged!"
Another added: "How is your passport possibly in such bad condition?"
If you're heading abroad this summer, there are some key passport checks to make before you even set off for the airport - and Brits are being urged to check documents weeks before they travel, to allow for leeway if you do need to renew your document.
While a tiny bit of wear and tear is unlikely to cause you issues at the airport, bigger rips and tears could leave you unable to board your flight, like Amy,
Officials may stop you from passing through if your personal details or observation page are unreadable, if the laminate is peeling or lifting away from the personal details page or your security details can't be made out.
Missing or detached pages could also be a reason why your passport is no longer considered valid.
If the damage is not on the personal details or observation pages, and all visas, vignettes or immigration stamps are unaffected by the damage, security guards are unlikely to question you about its cause.
