A couple have vowed never to fly with TUI again after being refused on board a plane.
Penny Priestly, 59, and her husband Dug had forked out £1,800 for a 10-day package to Benidorm with the travel operator. But when they arrived at East Midlands Airport on Tuesday, May 16, they were told they couldn't check in for the flight out.
Penny told Nottinghamshire Live: "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?'
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"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 [with them]."
Penny said she and Dug have flown with TUI before but had never been made aware of the government policy that passengers' passports must be issued less than 10 years before the date you enter any European country.
While each of the couple's passports expires in February 2024, which is nine months after the holiday they had planned, they were issued over 10 years ago. After being refused by TUI they went to Jet2, who it was suggested they could fly out with.
But they claim TUI also wouldn't allow them to return with them on their initial booked flights.
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 they lost all of their airport transfers to the hotel. The couple said they "didn't know" about the policy and that they were not informed about it and it was not made clear to them at any stage.
Penny said they would "never ever" fly with TUI again. Adding: "We will always use Jet2 now or Ryanair, or even easyJet - they could fly us as well."
The couple were also told they could not be refunded for the TUI flights or transfers as it was a package deal.
A spokesperson for TUI said: "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. 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."
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