A dad was left out of pocket and missed half his holiday in Portugal after a mistake by Ryanair staff.
Jon Compson was due to fly with his girlfriend and two kids to the sunny European country on March 31.
However, he was forced to pay out for a new flight two days later after being blocked from travelling with his loved ones.
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The issue is down to a passport rule affecting UK holidaymakers since Brexit, with many prevented from travelling abroad despite having months left before their passports expire.
Jon was forced to wave goodbye to his twins, 6, and partner when he was not allowed to board the plane at Stansted Airport in March.
Prior to heading for the airport, he was careful to check with the Portuguese consulate and UK Consular Services Department that his passport - which expires in October 2022 - would be okay to fly on, as the Mirror UK reports.
Despite being assured that it was, staff at the Ryanair check-in desk refused to let him board.
However, after two days of frantic research, Jon realised for definite that the airline had made a mistake when he was allowed on a different Portugal-bound flight.
"The financial expense is bad enough, but because of this error, my family and I spent two days under extreme stress and anxiety," Jon told The Mirror.
"I haven’t yet received a response back from Ryanair, however I am not very hopeful that they will pay out, so will most likely have to continue my claim through the financial ombudsman service.
"It caused all of us a huge amount of stress, my girlfriend had to travel with all of our luggage including two big suitcases and two car seats.
"My twins were very upset and couldn’t understand why I was not with them. It’s the first time we’ve been apart since they were born."
Three days before he was due to get the new passport, he rang immigration services and consulate offices only to be told that his passport should in fact be valid.
Since Brexit, a number of European countries in the Schengen Area have required passports to be no more than 10 years old from the point of issue.
However, most countries also require passports to be valid for at least three (sometimes six) months after the dates of travel.
Believing that his travel document was indeed invalid, Jon booked a £177(€207) emergency passport appointment along with a £262(€307) easyJet flight.
At this point Jon decided to have another go at getting through Ryanair check-in and so booked himself onto a £282(€330) flight the following day.
He made it on board with no problems or questions about his passport.
Once all of the last minute bookings, non-refundable appointments and more expensive car hire are taken into account, Jon is more than £1,200(€1,405) out of pocket.
"I haven’t yet received a response back from Ryanair, however I am not very hopeful that they will pay out," Jon said.
A Ryanair spokesperson told the Irish Mirror: "This passenger was correctly refused travel at Stansted Airport on 31 March last as his passport did not meet the entry requirements for travel to the EU (Portugal) which are:
"Passports must be issued within 10 years of the date of departure into the EU.
"The passport must be valid for at least three months from the return date of travel from the EU.
"Mr Compson’s passport was issued on 17 April 2012 and is therefore no longer valid for travel to/from the EU after 17 January 2022 (which is 3 months before the 10 year anniversary of issue on 17 April 2022). Therefore, he did not have the required 3 months validity remaining on his passport before his flight on 31 Mar 2022.
"However, as Mr Compson obtained authority to travel from the Portuguese Immigration Department, he was subsequently accepted to travel from Stansted Airport to Lisbon on 2 April 2022. Ryanair requires each passenger to ensure that their passport is valid for travel (as set out in 1 & 2 above) on both the date of their outbound and return flight dates."
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