Devastated family miss out on £7,000 Thailand holiday after Qatar Airways employee refused to allow daughter to check-in because of tiny rip on photo-ID page of her passport
- An Oldham childminder forked out thousands for the flight due to leave August 4
- The family stayed with the daughter, whose boyfriend jetted off without them
- The excited holidaymakers’ Thai getaway was quite literally ripped into pieces
A devastated family spent £7,000 on a luxury family holiday to Thailand but were turned away at the airport after check-in staff discovered a tiny tear in a passport.
Oldham childminder Suzanne Senior had been looking forward to the holiday for a whole 12 months before Qatar Airways staff cut their excitement short.
The airline’s representative noticed a miniscule tear in her daughter’s passport that spanned just one millimetre – before refusing her entry on August 4.
Suzanne and her husband Steve were forced to fork out a further £5,000 in order to have a chance to enjoy the sun, and took a detour to Turkey.
While only Bethany’s passport was rejected, her parents showed their solidarity and ditched the island retreat, while her boyfriend fancied touring the tropical paradise himself.
Circled above is the rip airline staff at Qatar Airways deemed too grave to let the family enjoy their tropical paradise, on August 4
Suzanne claimed the airline that the family of three used to fly to Turkey on the very same day did not have an issue with Bethany’s minor passport damage
Suzanne claimed the airline that the family of three used to fly to Turkey on the very same day did not have an issue with Bethany’s minor passport damage.
‘I’m fortunate that I could go to that desk in Manchester Airport and book another holiday. Not everyone is in that position, they’d have to go home,’ said the 55-year-old childminder.
‘We’re absolutely devastated.
‘We had plans to go and see the elephants, the islands, everything. We’d looked forward to that holiday for 12 months’, she added.
The Oldham family withdrew thousands in Thai currency to keep them afloat while away – which has now all gone to waste.
But Suzanne hopes her travel insurance let her claim the whopping £3,000 back, and remains perplexed as to why Bethany’s passport was turned away.
‘We’re going to try and claim it back on the insurance. It’s a nightmare. Honestly, you couldn’t write it.
The UK Government website goes on to detail several scenarios where a passport is deemed damage – including ‘laminate peeling’ and ‘back or personal details page has been cut’
‘We couldn’t even see [the rip]. Loads of people said there was nothing wrong with it.
‘It’s a tiny millimetre tear. We don’t know why it was turned away,’ Suzanne exclaimed.
The UK Government website states that ‘a damaged passport is one which the customer cannot use as proof of identity because of its condition’.
The website goes on to detail several scenarios where a passport is deemed damage – including ‘laminate peeling’ and ‘back or personal details page has been cut.’.
Already disgruntled, the childminder received a frustrating response from the Arabic airline.
In correspondence seen by the M.E.N, Qatar Airways said it was ‘regrettable’ that the airline was unable to accept Bethany’s passport for travel.
While the airline said it ‘sincerely’ regretted any inconvenience caused, it declined any liability as the ‘primary responsibility to be in possession of the correct documentation prior to travel lies with the passengers’.
The airline added that the passengers themselves ‘have to ensure that they are in possession of the necessary entry clearance documents prior to commencing travel in order to avoid such encumbrances’. It also refused to reimburse the family’s out of pocket expenses.
The airline did not respond when approached for comment by the Manchester Evening News.