Woman claims she missed holiday after check-in staff ripped her passport

A disappointed holidaymaker claims that she was forced to miss her trip because a check-in agent ripped her passport. She was furious to lose out because of something out of her control.

Jennifer McKenchnie posted on TikTok claiming that her passport was damaged while she was checking in for her flight. Sitting in her car, she said: "When your passport rips at check-in so the flight leaves without you and now you're waiting for two hours for the passport office to open."

She added that the mistake meant she had to stay in Belfast rather than head off to her boarding gate. Plus, she says the Passport Office was no help to her.

READ MORE: Woman 'rejected' from Thailand flight with mum due to tiny mistake on passport

It’s always best to check your documents before you head to the airport. As any rips or watermarks may mean you are not allowed to fly and your passport is declared invalid.

Jennifer explained in the comments: "The check in girl ripped it when she scanned it and her supervisor said it was too damaged for me to fly… Waiting to hear if they will refund it."

She added: "Passport ripped at check in…. Can I get a new one? Flight already left, but there's another flight tonight."

But, the holidaymaker claims that the Passport Office will only replace the documents as an emergency if it is lost or stolen rather than damaged. Instead she had to wait a month for a new passport.

She showed a closed Passport Office and noted: "Passport office said no!"

In the comments one person asked how bad the rip was and she replied: "It was on the barcode, it was small but meant it wouldn’t scan. I did see someone else on here have a rip a long the seem and get refused."

Jennifer added: "You can only get an emergency one if your passport is expired or lost. I said I'll go throw it in [the river] Lagan but they just said no."

A while later, she wrote: "Have a passport coming and will try again….hopefully will get a refund for the holiday since [she] ripped it not me."

The gov.uk website states: "You must replace your passport if it has more than reasonable wear and tear because you may not be allowed to travel with it."

The issue has hit others before too. TikTok creator Arabella Leat, @arabellaelizabethleat, went viral after she was turned away at the check-in desk on her way to Thailand. Beginning her video, which racked up over 85,000 likes, Arabella said: "Come with me to the airport to get rejected and told I’m not allowed on my flight to Thailand.

"As you can see, I’m all excited here packing the suitcase for clothes that I won’t even be wearing. Then I picked up my mum.

"Little does my mum know I will be the world’s most disappointing daughter later on in the day."

She added: "Boom, you’re not allowed on your flight, your passports damaged. This was a sad moment, we realise that I actually wasn’t flying and I told [mum] to go without me. Look how sad she is she hates flying on her own."

Source: Read Full Article