A father alleges that a passport glitch forced his family to embark on their £4,000 TUI holiday without him. Jimmy Gould was eager to fly with his girlfriend Zowie Buckley, 35, his three children and extended family to Lanzarote, Spain, for a week-long stay from East Midlands airport on Monday, July 28.
However, the 48-year-old claims that check-in staff deemed his passport ‘damaged’ due to a 10mm tear on the data page where a sticker had been affixed during a previous flight. They stated the document was too ‘damaged’ for him to board, resulting in the father-of-three having to bid farewell to his distraught children and girlfriend as they flew off without him. A photograph reveals a small white tear obscuring part of Jimmy’s face in his passport duplicate photo, where the boarding sticker was removed.
Jimmy insists it was a member of the boarding staff who had peeled off the sticker, not him. TUI confirmed that passports with stickers would not be permitted to travel, but asserted that their agents at East Midlands are trained not to remove any stickers from passports themselves, reported Birmingham Live.
Jimmy, a resident of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, expressed his frustration: “It’s a total nightmare and I’m absolutely fuming. I’m sitting home alone while they’re in Lanzarote gutted and they all want to come home because of the situation.
“One year, the passport officials put a sticker on the duplicate photo page. I’ve been away for six or seven years with no problem at all. I got to the airport and passed all the passports over, and a staff member pulled the sticker straight off, and she ripped the page. It’s a tiny little tear.
“She literally ripped my passport in front of us all and said ‘you can’t go’. I can’t believe she just sat there and ripped my passport instead of giving me the option to tear it off properly so she wouldn’t have marked it.
“She looked at me and said ‘this one’s damaged and you can’t use this passport now’. It’s a tiny mark and the other page is fine. My kids started crying once they realised their dad couldn’t go. They want their dad there. It’s just terrible and I’m absolutely devastated.
“I was so excited to make memories with my family this summer. My daughter is seven and I should be playing in the pool with her but instead I’m stuck at home on my own. They’re miserable wanting their dad there. We have one holiday a year and you get excited.”
Following failed attempts to secure an emergency passport, the father now finds himself stranded at home and compelled to forfeit the trip.
Partner Zowie confessed her getaway has been ‘ruined’ without her boyfriend present. Zowie explained: “The holiday has been ruined. The experience has been awful as we never go anywhere unless we’re together.
“I’m anxious and worried about being in a foreign country on my own with three children and it has totally changed the atmosphere. All that money wasted and all the months saving to go away together to end up apart.”
TUI verified that passports bearing stickers would not be permitted for travel but insisted their staff at East Midlands are instructed not to peel any stickers from passports themselves.