A newlywed couple have had to swap their dream honeymoon for a trip to British safari park after being turned away at the airport due a little-known passport rule.
Heartbroken Cameron Smith, 27, and Shanice Budd-Smith, 29, were looking forward to a romantic, sun-filled honeymoon in Portugal but are now visiting Longleat instead.
The newlyweds - a postman and postwoman - both have unexpired passports but when they checked-in at Gatwick Airport they were told by EasyJet they couldn't fly to the Algarve as planned.
They were shocked to learn Mrs Budd-Smith wouldn't be let into the country as her passport expires on August 10 this year.
It is Portugal's policy that travellers must have at least three months left on their passports to enter the country - meaning Mrs Budd-Smith missed out by just 13 days.
Have you missed a holiday because of passport issues? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
The couple were 'gutted', with 'embarrassed and humiliated' Mrs Budd-Smith left in floods of tears at the check-in desk.
Mr Smith and his wife, from Portsmouth, Hants, married in Hayling Island, Hants, just two days before arriving at Gatwick on Sunday morning.
The postal workers told how they worked extra hours and had not been on holiday for three years to save up for the £500, five-day honeymoon in the Algarve.
Instead the couple have a week of day trips lined up including Brighton in East Sussex, London, and Longleat Safari Park near Warminster, Wilts.
The beautiful Portuguese coastline of the Algarve is famed for its sandy beaches, picturesque fishing towns and luxury resorts and is currently enjoying temperatures of 27C.
Today it was raining in Longleat and temperatures were around 13C. This weekend the park will be showcasing its new fleet of ten plug-in hybrid Mini Countryman vehicles in the main square of its stately home.
Mr Smith said he was shocked to discover his wife's in-date passport would not get her to their dream holiday.
He said: "We had absolutely no idea this was a rule, I asked all my friends and family afterwards and they had no idea either.
"When the woman told us we just couldn't believe it."
The couple were also left angry as they said the EasyJet worker was 'rude' about the stressful ordeal.
Mr Smith said: "The problem was she was also really rude and just said 'you'll be deported if you go' making us feel like criminals.
"She didn't care that we'd just lost our honeymoon at all, she was just trying to move us along."
Mrs Budd-Smith said: "I didn't know what to think when she first said it, I thought 'this can't be happening'.
"It was going to be our first holiday since 2019, we had worked so hard for it.
"It made me feel like the balloon I had throughout the whole wedding popped there and then.
"[The EasyJet worker] was quite loud in how she was speaking to us, all the emotions of embarrassment and humiliation came and I was crying - she just did not seem to care whatsoever."
She added: "If your passport expires in August surely it should work up until then.
"They shouldn't put an expiration date on it if it's going to expire three months before.
"We would warn others to check the rules before flying."
The couple were not able to get a refund.
An EasyJet holidays spokeswoman said: "We're sorry to hear that these customers weren't able to travel.
"It's really important that customers check that their passport is valid for their holiday and meets the criteria for their destination, which is why we remind our customers of this throughout their booking process and in the emails they receive leading up to their departure."
Cameron and Shanice are not the only couple to face holiday disruption due to issues with their passports.
Sophie Fleetwood had been due to jet off to Pegasos Royal in Alanya, Turkey at the start of the pandemic, but had to cancel their family getaway twice due to travel restrictions.
Two years on and the Reading woman is finally poised to head to the sun-drenched resort with her husband, three kids, dad and step-mum at the beginning of June.
However, lengthy waits at the Passport Office means she's without her travel document and unsure if she'll be able to go.
