Family's £1k hols ruined as Ryanair refuse to let teen board in passport blunder
A teen was left mortified after his passport blunder left his family £1,000 out of pocket by derailing their New Year's holiday plans.
It would've been 19-year-old Jake Burton's first foreign holiday as he was planning to ring in the new year with his parents in Benidorm, Spain. They were at East Midlands Airport, gearing up to board when the lad failed Ryanair's final check.
His parents Rachael, 47, and Chris Burton, 51, claimed the offending tear was just one-centimetre, but was on the opposite page to the one with the main information, meaning nothing was illegible. Jake says it was likely damaged while on a night out.
The couple, who are from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, were still allowed to fly, but they refused outright to board the plane because it was unthinkable to leave their boy at home while they holidayed on the special trip, which was supposed to be his first.
His mum told The Sun: “It was absolutely heartbreaking. It would have been one thing if he had been turned away at the first instance, but to get to the gate you start getting into holiday mode and it’s just awful. The worst part was this woman wouldn’t even look him in the eye when she told us no. We had to be walked back through the airport, even down the runway, to leave. It was just awful.”
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His passport was just months-old (Facebook)
Rachael said the rip was just 1cm long (Facebook)The eight-day trip was set to start on December 28 and continue through the New Year's period, but the family has just been left with a major dent in their bank accounts after losing out on the £1,067.64 they spent on flights. They'd also allocated £167 on taxis and transfers. Luckily, they hadn't prepaid the hotel, which would've cost £392 for each room.
Rachael continued, saying that she thinks it's unlikely the parents will get the money back, but they're pushing to get something back for their crushed son. She said: "He thinks it’s his fault. He’s so sorry. He hasn’t come out of his bedroom. I think this has put him off flying for life.”
Ryanair told The Sun: “This passenger was correctly refused travel from East Midlands to Alicante as his passport was damaged and therefore not valid for travel.”
Airlines are notoriously strict in relation to the condition or mismatched details on passport. In June, a terminally ill woman missed out on what could be her last holiday after a blunder saw her being sent one with the wrong name inside.
Lisa Cutler, 51, has stage four breast cancer and had planned to go to Nessebar in Bulgaria with her best friend to scatter her late mum's ashes. She was left devastated when her new passport turned up - with the surname Guyler. Lisa claims she then spent months speaking to the Passport Office but got nowhere.
And, although a new passport arrived at the eleventh hour, this was too late for her to travel, as she needed to organise it to coincide with her chemotherapy cycles.
Lisa, who used to work in car sales, said: "It's been absolutely shocking and they just don't give a toss - it's unbelievable. I'm dying, and they admitted it's their mistake - but did nothing about it. This was my last chance to feel hot sun on my skin and sand between my toes. And my last chance to scatter mum's ashes."
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