Furious household watch aircraft take off with out them after little recognized passport rule confusion
The heartbroken family watched the plane jet off to the summer destination without them after they were denied entry, despite their passports still being well within date.
The family watched the plane go without them(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
A family who were set to jet off for some guaranteed sunshine in Portugal were left stranded at the airport gates after being turned away at the last moment thanks to a little known passport rule.
The heartbroken family watched the plane jet off to the summer destination without them after they were denied entry, despite their passports still being well within date.
Dan Sharples, 41, and his wife and two sons were due to fly from Liverpool John Lennon Airport on June 23, but were left disappointed due to a frequently overlooked rule which renders a passport invalid – even if it is not expired yet. The family booked the week-long holiday at his local Hays Travel at the beginning of the year, and that his family’s passports were handed over to the travel agent as they were organising the trip for them.
The family were refused boarding
He said: “We booked with Hays Travel and they took all our passports. It was all entered and nothing was ever flagged up. At bag drop they examined our passports and never said anything. But when we went to board the plane, they refused us boarding. We were right at the gate and had to wait until everyone else had boarded while we were taken back out.
“We were just gutted. I was quite angry to be honest. I was asking how we managed to get that far through the process and through the airport without anyone alerting us to the problem.”
While Dan, his wife, and three-year-old son were cleared to travel, it emerged there was an issue with the passport belonging to nine-year-old Spencer. Though the document was not expired, it was within three months of going out of date, making it invalid. Since the UK left the EU in 2020, UK passport holders are now seen as “third-country nationals” by EU countries, meaning the entry rules have changed.
To travel to EU countries, passports must be valid for at least three months after your planned return date. Hayes Travel said it advises customers to check the most up-to-date guidance for travel documents via the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website to avoid any issues.
The rules have changed(Image: Getty)
Dan said: “Hays Travel had our passports. They checked us in three weeks before we travelled. If they had highlighted the issue at the time, we could have sorted it out. But because it’s a child’s passport, the quickest you can get a replacement was five days. We lost our holiday basically, so I was annoyed and frustrated.”
The family had planned to visit Portugal as part of an annual trip with a group of 24 other people from Dan’s former rugby club. He said: “We had booked it earlier in the year, probably around February. We had it planned for a while. We missed the group trip last year so we decided to go this year, only to end up missing it again.
“Hays Travel had issued us boarding passes with those travel documents and nobody told us anything at all or flagged any concerns.
“I was annoyed, the kids were upset watching everyone board the plane without us. They walked us back through customs, we collected our bags, and that was early in the morning.”
A spokesperson for Hays Travel said: “While we empathise with Mr Sharples, our agents explain to customers at the time of booking that they are responsible for ensuring their travel documents are valid for the destination they are visiting.
“For this booking, Mr Sharples was advised to check the most up-to-date guidance via the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) website to avoid any issues.”
However, Dan said they did not receive this advice.
The family were jetting off to Portugal(Image: Getty Images)
He said he contacted Hays Travel in Widnes and explained what had happened, and staff “were very apologetic”. But when he received a call back later that day, he said they were refused a refund on their missed trip.
He said: “One of the girls from the shop rang us back saying they wouldn’t offer us anything, saying it was our fault because we were responsible for the documents.
“We don’t get a refund, nothing. My argument is we paid Hays Travel for the service, they offered to check us in so they should have let us know if there was a problem.
“It’s not only that (the passport) was in date. They issued us with boarding passes – you just assume everything is OK. We were even checked in three and a half weeks before the holiday. If they had flagged it up at that point, everything would have been all right.
“I feel very angry. Normally I book these things myself, and I feel if I had done it myself I would have noticed it. But we’ve been left without a holiday or any form of compensation.”
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