A young mum had to make a 650-mile-round trip just to have her passport renewed after not being aware she needed to check if her passport would be accepted by the country she was going to.
Teenager Monique Shaw had to make the journey from her home in Pwllheli, Wales to Glasgow, Scotland to ensure that she was able to travel from Manchester to Portugal on April 30.
Miss Shaw blamed the travel company she booked her break with for not telling her her passport was not valid - but Jet2 insist it is up to individuals to check their own travel documents.
She claimed Jet2 didn't make her aware that she could be turned away due to the expiration date on the passport - as she needed at least three months left on her passport if travelling in the Schengen Area of Europe.
The 19-year-old told North Wales Live the airline had been given the passport details for the group she was travelling with and had even released the boarding passes.
Miss Shaw was left with no choice but to travel to Scotland and pay £177 for a passport renewal so she could fly out for the holiday.
Her passport was due to expire on July 21, meaning that she only had 10 and a half valid weeks left on the travel document when she was due to return to the UK.
The holiday to Albufeira was originally booked in 2020 for Miss Shaw's 18th birthday but due to Covid it was pushed back on two occasions.
Miss Shaw says she spent days desperately trying to get an appointment in Liverpool to urgently renew her passport, but there were no appointments available.
The only available appointment for a fast-track passport was in Glasgow, which left her almost £400 out of pocket in total.
Miss Shaw said: "It was all just a massive pain, to be honest. We had already given Jet2 the passport details and they accepted them and released our boarding passes.
"If we hadn't seen an article online about a woman being turned away from the airport, we wouldn't have known there was an issue.
"They didn't make us aware at all and I, nor my family, had any idea that we had to have three months left after returning.
"It was frustrating because had we been able to travel when we initially planned, my passport would have been well in-date. Obviously, no one could have predicted the Covid outbreak but surely there should be some leeway if the holiday was booked before the new rules even came in to play?
"What's worse is that my passport was valid for the flight out and the flight back, but because it expired ten and a half weeks after our return journey I had to have it renewed or I couldn't go.
"I have a 10-month-old baby and I didn't want to risk chancing it at the airport to just be turned away.
"I think the airlines need to be making people aware of the issue as it seems so many people don't know about it. It was impossible to get an appointment any closer to home.
"Thankfully it's sorted now and I have my new passport, but it cost me £177 to get the passport, plus the cost of fuel to travel to Glasgow and back was in excess of £150, and £63 for a hotel.
"My appointment was at 9:30am so we didn't have much of a choice but to travel up the night before."
Portugal is one of 26 European countries within the Schengen Area of free movement and asks those travelling from non-EU countries to have three months left on their passports after they travel.
Passports also need to be less than 10 years old from the date of issue, regardless of their expiry date.
A Jet2 spokeswoman said: “When a customer checks-in online, there is no way for an airline to be able to check the true validity of a customer’s travel document until it is physically examined at the airport.
"As part of our pre-departure communications, we always remind customers to check the validity of their passport, in line with Government advice.
"We also point them to our travel requirements page on our website, where they can find more information on how to ensure that their passport is valid for travel and in line with Government advice.”
