Raging British Airways passenger left £10k out of pocket after airline’s passport cock-up

A British Airways passenger had her dream holiday ruined and her bank balance depleted by a passport blunder that wasn’t even her fault.

Kathleen Matheson, 62 was about to board her plane to Orlando, Florida with her husband, Allan 56 on September, 20 when she was refused by ground staff at the airport gate in Gatwick.

They claimed that Kathleen’s passport, which was due to expire in November 2024, was not valid for travel to America – even though the US requires no minimim validity for Brit passport holders.

They even refused to accept the word of their own customer service staff when Kathleen called the British Airways helpline for clarification.

It left the NHS receptionist in a desperate scramble to make alternative travel arrangements to salvage their long-awaited break.

A mad-dash to London for a new emergency passport and several nights in UK hotels waiting for another flight left them feeling “devastated and exhausted.”

Three days later, British Airways blamed “human error” by a member of staff but by then, Kathleen and Allan’s expenses were mounting up and they lost days of their holiday, which was thrown into disarray.

The couple, from Skye had checked the passport rules in advance of their holiday. They both had the required Esta permits and had successfully checked in for their flight online.

But after arriving in good time for their 10.40am departure from Gatwick’s South Terminal, that’s when their nightmare began.

Speaking to The Independent at the time, Kathleen said: “We went to bag drop where the agent asked if I realised my passport expired soon?

“I replied I was aware and showed him the screenshot from the UK government website on passport validity for the US.

“He then sent for a manager. They both stated that I would not be allowed to board as my passport didn’t have ‘the required six months left’.

“I said that did not apply to US, but they refused to accept this.”

The Foreign Office travel advice for the US makes clear a British passport must simply be valid for the length of the planned stay. In principle a UK citizen could arrive on the day before their passport expired, be legally admitted and then fly back to arrive in the UK on the expiry date.

But while the British Airways customer service line confirmed the rules, they said the decision of the ground staff was final.

Kathleen said: “There was no mention of booking me on to the next day’s flight as the manager stated a new passport would not be through by then.”

So instead, Kathleen and Allan watched their plane leave without them and set about cancelling their car rental and accomodation.

Kathleen managed to get an appointment at the passport office in London the next morning and they checked into a hotel in the meantime.

The replacement passport was issued and Kathleen managed to get a fresh Esta before booking them onto another flight with Virgin after having to fork out for another night in a hotel.

So far, they’ve spent over £10k on the trip which was originally to spend one night in Orlando’s International Drive followed by five nights in Naples, six nights at Disney World and ending with three nights back on International Drive.

But they had to cancel the Naples trip as it was an Airbnb with a five night minimum stay and they’d already lost two days by the time they landed in the US.

Kathleen said: “I am devastated and exhausted with what has happened, and very much out of pocket.

“This honestly has been so stressful.”

Shortly after Kathleen’s ordeal was first published in September, BA admitted it was “human error.”

But this week, she received a lengthy letter from the airline’s lawyer, which left her feeling “angry and insulted.”

It said: “Thank you for providing me with copies of the documents that you say that you presented for travel on the flight. I note your passport appears to have sufficient validity and you have confirmed that you held a valid ESTA.

“The reason why I have undertaken further enquiries with the airport team, to which I have yet to receive their response, is to ascertain from them the basis upon which they denied you boarding and whether there was any other reason, other than passport validity, which prevented you from travelling.

“For example, it is possible that, even appearing to have the correct documentation for travel, boarding clearance from the US can be denied at check in when a passport is scanned and, in the absence of such clearance, BA cannot accept a passenger to travel and does not have the authority to do so.

“In the absence of a response from the airport team, I cannot therefore make a definitive conclusion as to whether you were correctly or incorrectly denied boarding.

“However, assuming that your ESTA was valid and correctly linked to your passport, and that a clear to board message was received when your passport was scanned, it appears to me that you should have been permitted to travel.

“Unfortunately however, I have not been able to definitively conclude my investigation in this regard but on this occasion, I will offer you compensation on the basis that you were incorrectly denied boarding.”

The letter goes on to offer Kathleen just £520 in compensation.

Outraged Kathleen told the Daily Star the response and offer was “absolutely insulting.”

“I’m just so angry with them,” she added.

“The cost of the original holiday and all the costs involved with new flights, accomodation, passport and extra days in London is just short of £10,000.”

Kathleen said she is not prepared to accept BA’s compensation offer and has taken the matter to its CEO.

She added: “It was stressful during the holiday and even now I’m still battling with them to get my money refunded. We lost two days at the beginning and one day at the end of our holiday, It’s been an absolute nightmare.”

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