MUM’S 650-MILE TRIP TO RENEW ‘INVALID’ PASSPORT
A MUM-OF-ONE had to make a 650-mile round trip from north Wales to Scotland to get her passport renewed after discovering it was not valid three months after her return date.
Monique Shaw, from Pwllheli, was sent to Glasgow so she would be able to travel from Manchester to Portugal later this week.
The 19-year-old had no choice but to make the journey and then pay £177 for a passport renewal.
She said Jet2 did not make her aware she might be turned away at the airport when they issued the boarding passes.
But the travel company argued there is no way for an airline to check the true validity of a customer’s travel document until it is physically examined at the airport.
The passport was due to expire on July 21, meaning that she only had 10 and a half valid weeks left on the travel document, as opposed to the necessary 12.
The holiday to Albufeira was originally booked in 2020 for Ms Shaw’s 18th birthday, but due to Covid it was pushed back on two
occasions.
Jet2 said it is up to customers to check the validity of their passports.
The mum-of-one 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.
Ms 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 into play?
“I think the airlines need to be making people aware of the issue as it seems so many people don’t know about it.
“Thankfully it’s sorted now and I have my new passport.”
A Jet 2 spokesman said: “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.”