A Nottingham couple has been left frustrated and hundreds of pounds out of pocket after being refused entry on to their flights. Penny Priestly, 59, and her husband Dug went to East Midlands Airport on Tuesday, May 16 ready for a 10-day holiday in Benidorm, Spain, after spending £1,800 on a TUI package hotel.
However, when they arrived at the airport they were shocked to be told by the airline that due a passport being 10 years old they, TUI was not able to fly them to Benidorm. Penny stated: "We just turned up and were waiting an hour in the queue, I think we were about fourth from last and the girl on the checkout said to the other girl, can you check those dates.
"She checked and said no they can't fly. Then a bloke came over, a supervisor or something, and he said our only alternative is to go to Jet2 and ask them if we can fly."
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Penny explained that the pair have flown with TUI before but had never come across the government policy and she also said they were still able to fly with other airlines.
Each of the couple's passports expire in February 2024, which is nine months after the holiday they had planned. After being refused by TUI they went to Jet2, who it was suggested that they could fly out with, but then return on their initial flights with TUI, but they claim TUI wouldn't allow this.
The couple went on to claim that TUI staff at the airport told them if they had gone days earlier they would have been OK, saying: "They said if we had gone on Saturday we would have been alright." The Saturday would have been May 13, and the ten-year mark from when the couple's passports were issued.
Penny added: "We paid another £860 and Jet2 looked into it and said we could go back with them and just fly one way with them, but then a supervisor came over. He also said we would lose the hotel if my husband didn't ring up, so we had to ring the hotel up and tell them we were coming a day later."
Flying the following day also meant the duo lost all of their airport transfers to the hotel. The couple returned home as "we had to come back because Jet2 couldn't fly us until the next day" and during this time Penny's husband went into their TUI store and told them about the situation.
"They said if we had gone on Saturday we would have been alright,"
The couple say they "didn't know" about TUI's policy and that they were not informed about it and it was not made clear to them at any stage, as most other airlines will let passengers fly as long as they have at least six months on their passports.
Penny said they would "never ever" fly with TUI again. Adding: "We will always use Jet 2 now or Ryanair, or even easyJet - they could fly us as well."
The couple eventually managed to go on holiday at a later date with Jet2 for £860 and they were not able to be refunded the Tui flights or transfers as it was a package flight.
A spokesperson for TUI has stated: "We’re sorry that Mr Priestly was unable to fly with TUI as planned as his passport did not meet the required government passport guidelines.
Government rules state that for customers travelling to certain EU countries, passports must be issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country and must also be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave. We strongly advise that our customers check their passports are up to date before booking any flights.
Details of passport validity guidelines can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
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