A mum’s dream trip to Lapland was shattered when TUI staff said a tiny tear on her passport meant she couldn’t travel. Claire Page was devastated when she learned she couldn’t join her family on the flight to Finland due to the minor damage.
Despite having used the passport numerous times without issue, the beautician and mother of two had booked the festive getaway a year in advance as a special surprise for her husband Justin, 39, a car salesman, and their sons Ashton, 11, and Grayson, 7. The holiday package with TUI promised a magical experience including accommodation at the Snowflake Hotel, a reindeer sleigh ride, a snowmobile adventure with huskies, and a visit to Santa Claus.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News., the 37-year-old from Farnworth, Bolton said: “It was quite simply my dream trip. It’s one you always think about and want to do with your kids in your lifetime. I had been saving for it since Ashton was a baby. My husband always said it was too much but it was something I wanted to do for them all so I paid for it with my own money.”
The family revealed the surprise to their children on Ashton’s birthday, just a day before their scheduled departure on Sunday, December 1, for the 6am flight to Ivalo, leaving them “amazed.” However, their excitement turned to disappointment upon reaching the airport.
As they attempted to check-in, surrounded by staff dressed in elf costumes, a problem arose. Claire’s passport had a tear on the photo page, near the spine, which she claimed occurred at a Spanish airport around five or six years ago. Despite being aware of the damage, she said she had travelled six or seven times since then without any issues being raised by airports in the UK or abroad.
However, on this occasion, the check-in staff questioned it and took it away for further examination by a second staff member, ultimately informing her that she couldn’t travel.
Claire continued: “By this point I was crying, my kids were crying. I fell to the floor. Two other ladies from TUI came over and picked me up and took me to the side. The kids just kept asking ‘are we not going? ‘.
“Then when we got to the other desk, TUI said ‘there’s nothing we can do, there’s no other flights, we can’t change your holiday’.”
In a desperate bid to salvage the situation, Claire pleaded with her husband to take the children through while she made one final attempt to be allowed to travel. She said: “My husband said he couldn’t do it, as he knew it was my dream. But I told him we had to think of the kids. I said ‘you have to get on that plane, or I will never forgive you.’ We’d only told them the night before so there was no way they weren’t going.”
She added: “If they had let me through, I am certain nothing would have been said as it hasn’t any of the other times. The person who flagged it can’t have been a mother, as no mother would do that. They told me I could be turned back or held in immigration and I said that’s fine. I was happy to take the risk.
“I was having to watch all the other families checking-in and doing what I should have been, it was heartbreaking.”
According to the UK Government website, a damaged passport must be replaced, and travellers “may not be able to travel with it”. The passport office considers a passport damaged if it has ‘holes, cuts or rips in the cover’ or ‘any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing. TUI sent a picture of Claire’s passport to Finnish immigration to see if they would accept it, but they declined, the airline claims.
Claire said: “They said to me, someone has gone to tell your husband, I will show you the way out’. And that was that”. Her mum picked her up, and they rushed to Liverpool to see if the passport office could issue a new one immediately.
“You couldn’t write it, but all the streets were closed because of a Santa dash. We had to abandon the car and were literally running across the city”, she said.
Claire was left heartbroken when she missed out on a family holiday due to passport issues. Despite booking an appointment for the following Monday, she was informed it would take a week to issue a new passport, by which time her husband and children would have already returned from their trip.
“I will never get this opportunity again, because my oldest goes to high school next year so it will likely be his last year of believing,” Claire lamented. “So even if we could afford to go again it wouldn’t have that full, magical Christmas feeling. It’s just heartbreaking. I am gutted. It still doesn’t feel real.”
TUI expressed regret over the situation, stating their staff ‘tried their best’ to help Claire travel but were ultimately unable to secure permission from Finnish immigration.
They added that their representative remained with her until she had transportation from the airport. A spokesperson said: “We were very sorry to hear that Mrs Page was not able to travel with the rest of her family earlier this month. Government regulations do not allow passengers to travel with damaged passports, and after our teams spoke with the relevant authorities her passport was unfortunately denied. We encourage all customers to check their documents are valid and not damaged before they travel.”