A British holidaymaker was caught out by a common passport blunder and turned away at the airport, leaving his travel plans in complete disarray.
Terry Winter, 56, from Oxford, had booked a two-week holiday to Tenerife with his wife, Molly Winter, 62, well in advance, and was keen to ensure everything was perfectly in order as it was his first trip abroad since 2018. Their passports were valid, they had pre-arranged an airport hotel the evening before their early morning flight, and had even selected a restaurant for dinner — everything appeared to be sorted. Or so they believed.
On the morning of Friday, 12 June, the couple arrived at Birmingham Airport and proceeded to check in their luggage with easyJet, having already downloaded their boarding passes online. However, when Terry scanned his passport, an error message appeared on the screen.
"I put my suitcase on the check-in to get my tag, and that's when the warning sign came up through easyJet", Terry told the Mirror. He waited for a member of staff to assist him and was informed, 'Your passport is not valid.'
Although Terry's passport had not expired, it had been issued more than 10 years earlier, meaning it did not meet EU entry requirements. "I didn't know about this rule. I was shocked."
Under post-Brexit travel regulations, all UK passports must have been issued less than 10 years prior to the date of arrival when visiting most European countries. Terry added: "There was nothing in my knowledge about this rule. There were two other people at the airport, and this was happening exactly at the same time. So this isn't just a one-off thing."
Just last week, a mother of three was left unable to board her easyJet flight to Greece with her family due to the very same passport error. She too only discovered at the airport that her passport was invalid, and was forced to fork out almost £700 in additional charges, while claiming that another traveller had also been turned away for identical reasons.
Terry revealed he was taken aback that he hadn't been alerted to the passport rule prior to arriving at the airport, having booked the holiday in January this year and entered his passport details on the easyJet website.
"They accepted the booking, didn't tell me there wasn't anything wrong at the time, and then three weeks before the flight, I had to put all my passport details in again to check in. It didn't flag anything again, and my boarding passes were downloaded," Terry remarked.
Terry said he asked an easyJet staff member at the airport, "How often does this happen?", to which they reportedly replied: "It happens daily with a lot of people."
Terry added: "He said it will be happening all throughout the country."
Left utterly "frazzled" at the airport, Terry had little choice but to urgently arrange an appointment through His Majesty's Passport Office to obtain a replacement passport via the one-day premium service. His wife, whose passport remained valid, opted to stay behind in the UK to offer her support.
As no suitable appointments were available in London over the weekend, Terry managed to secure a 9.10am slot for Monday 15 June in Peterborough.
He and his wife made the journey from Oxford to Peterborough the evening before, checked into a hotel, and on Monday morning attended the passport appointment. Fortunately, after a few hours, Terry was issued with a new passport and promptly rebooked flights to Tenerife, departing on Tuesday 16 June.
Although he remarked, "I'm just laughing the whole thing off", Terry revealed he had lost out on "almost £1,000" in additional costs during his first trip abroad in eight years. He explained this comprised roughly £40 in extra fuel, £50 for the Peterborough hotel, just under £100 for a further night at the airport hotel, around £400 for two people flying one-way to Tenerife, and £239.50 for his replacement passport.
He further noted he had lost around "£400 on the flights" he was unable to board originally, adding: "It's getting close to nearly £1,000, I've been inconvenienced by."
Terry also claimed that the day after his original flight, on Saturday 13 June, he received a generic reminder email from easyJet cautioning passengers: "Please check your travel documents before you fly."
In response, he said, "Well, that's pointless. The day after, you've already lost your flight."
A spokesperson for easyJet told the Mirror: "Unfortunately, Mr Winter was unable to fly as his passport did not meet passport validity rules. We remind customers during booking, check-in and by email before they travel to ensure they are aware of the travel documentation requirements for their trip, and it is customers' responsibility to ensure they have valid documentation for travel."
EasyJet has a dedicated page on its website that warns passengers about passport rules and requirements, including for travel to the EU. As part of these warnings, it explains: "Please check your passport's expiry and issue date before you travel. If you're a UK passport holder travelling to the EU (except Ireland), or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican City or Switzerland, your passport will need to meet the following criteria:
"Visit the UK government’s advice page for more information.
"Citizens of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland may travel within Europe using a valid EU/EEA/Swiss National Identity Card or Passport Card."
To renew or replace your passport, online or at the HM Passport Office, visit the government website.
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