A devastated mum has recounted the moment she “fell to the floor” in tears at Manchester Airport. TUI staff informed her that a minor tear on her passport prevented her from joining her family on a dream trip to Lapland.
Claire Page, 37, from Bolton, was left in utter despair in the queue as she was told she couldn’t board the plane with her husband and two children.
Despite having used the passport numerous times before without issue, this time it thwarted her plans.
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(Image: Manchester Evening Nwws US)
The beautician had booked the magical three-night stay in Finland a year in advance as a special surprise for her car salesman hubby Justin, 39, and their sons Ashton, 11, and Grayson, 7.
Their holiday package included a stay at the Snowflake Hotel, a reindeer sleigh ride, a snowmobile adventure with huskies, and a visit to Santa Claus himself. “It was quite simply my dream trip,” Claire expressed.
She had been saving for this once-in-a-lifetime experience since Ashton was a baby, determined to give her family this gift despite her husband’s concerns about the cost.
They revealed the surprise to their kids on Ashton’s birthday, just one day before their scheduled departure on Sunday, December 1, for the 6am flight to Ivalo, leaving the children “amazed.”
(Image: Manchester Evening Nwws US)
However, their excitement quickly turned to disappointment due to the unexpected passport issue.
Claire was left in tears at the check-in desk, surrounded by staff in elf costumes, when she was informed of a problem with her passport. Despite having travelled with it multiple times before, the rip on the photo page close to the spine became an issue.
She told Manchester Evening News: “By this point I was crying, my kids were crying,” and “I fell to the floor. Two other ladies from TUI came over and picked me up and took me to the side. The kids just kept asking ‘are we not going? ‘. Then when we got to the other desk, TUI said ‘there’s nothing we can do, there’s no other flights, we can’t change your holiday’.”
(Image: Manchester Evening Nwws US)
In a heart-wrenching moment, Claire had to convince her husband to take their children on the flight without her, saying: “My husband said he couldn’t do it, as he knew it was my dream. But I told him we had to think of the kids. I said ‘you have to get on that plane, or I will never forgive you.’ We’d only told them the night before so there was no way they weren’t going.
“If they had let me through, I am certain nothing would have been said as it hasn’t any of the other times,” she added. “The person who flagged it can’t have been a mother, as no mother would do that. They told me I could be turned back or held in immigration and I said that’s fine. I was happy to take the risk. I was having to watch all the other families checking-in and doing what I should have been, it was heartbreaking.”
The UK government website clearly states that if your passport is damaged ‘you must replace it’ and ‘may not be able to travel with it. ‘ It further explains that the passport office will consider it damaged if ‘holes, cuts or rips in the cover’ or ‘any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing.’
TUI sent a picture of Claire’s passport to Finnish immigration to see if they would accept it, but they said no, according to the airline. Claire recounted: “They said to me, someone has gone to tell your husband, I will show you the way out’. And that was that.”
(Image: Manchester Evening Nwws US)
She was collected by her mum and they hurriedly made their way to Liverpool to try and get the passport office to issue a new one immediately. “You couldn’t write it, but all the streets were closed because of a Santa dash,” she said.
“We had to abandon the car and were literally running across the city.”
She booked an appointment to get it sorted, but was told it would take a week, by which time her family would be back from their trip.
“I will never get this opportunity again, because my oldest goes to high school next year so it will likely be his last year of believing,” she added. “So even if we could afford to go again it wouldn’t have that full, magical Christmas feeling. It’s just heartbreaking. I am gutted. It still doesn’t feel real.”
TUI expressed regret over the situation, stating: “We were very sorry to hear that Mrs Page was not able to travel with the rest of her family earlier this month. Government regulations do not allow passengers to travel with damaged passports, and after our teams spoke with the relevant authorities her passport was unfortunately denied. We encourage all customers to check their documents are valid and not damaged before they travel.”
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