Passport warning after family forced to miss £3,000 holiday due to confusing rule
A FAMILY was forced to miss their £3,000 holiday to Portugal after making an easy passport mistake.
Mum Nina Gurd was unable to board her flight with her husband John and three sons Jack, Harry and Charlie after being told her passport was not valid, despite being in date.
Her passport, which was issued in May 2012, was due to expire next month.
However, she had an additional nine months on it, which pre-Brexit could be rolled over from previous documents, which meant the expiry date was February 2023.
But new rules no longer allow those months to be used - meaning her passport had just one month left on it.
When she arrived at Bournemouth Airport, she was told by staff that it had to be within 10 years of the issue date, meaning the family had to return home and miss their holiday to the Algarve.
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Nina told the that the "expiry date is apparently meaningless".
She added that airlines and travel companies were "too vague" in their advice and need to flag the new rules when people are booking a holiday.
Sadly she isn't the first person to fall victim to the new rules.
Earlier this month, mum Ana Tiganescu was forced to leave her son at a Ryanair check-in after a confusing passport rule ruined their holiday.
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Last year, a 67-year-old retiree lost her £2,600 dream holiday because of the new passport rules.
And passenger Abi Campbell was stopped from boarding her flight back to Glasgow from Tenerife after thinking her passport was valid.
Despite EU rules allowing Brits to have just three months on their passport to enter the country, some airlines are requiring Brits to have six months, causing further confusion.
It's not the only passport problem to happen in recent weeks, with many families forced to cancel their holidays after waiting more than 10 weeks for their renewals due to a huge demand in applications.
One woman had to cancel her £2,200 holiday to Spain because of the delays while others had to pay to move their holidays to later in the year.
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The government has since urged Brits to renew their passports now if they have a summer holiday abroad booked.
Here's what to do if your passport doesn't arrive in time.
