Dad banned from Ryanair flight despite ‘in-date’ passport due to confusing rules
ANOTHER British tourist has fallen victim to confusing passport rules – after being banned from his flight.
Instagrammer Beth Trubutt-Rogers, known as Budgeting Mum Official, was flying with her husband to Spain with Ryanair.
However, after arriving at the airport, she said that they were told he couldn’t fly because of his passport.
The rules were introduced back in 2019 after the UK left the EU.
Passports are now only valid for up to 10 years, with the previous rules allowing up to nine months being rolled over from old passports no longer valid.
This has led to confusion with the expiry date being incorrect.
Beth explained on her social media: “My husband wasn’t allowed to come on holiday with us.”
“We went to the airport to catch our Ryanair flight to Spain yesterday morning, only to be told my husband wouldn’t be allowed to fly.
“We had already checked in online and entered all our passport details with no problem, but when we got to the bag drop we were told my husbands passport has expired and he wouldn’t be allowed to travel.”
She explained that this was because his passport expiry date was March 2025, which looks like it expires eight months from now.
But his start date was June 2014, which means it actually expired in June 2024.
Beth added: “The rules changed when we left the EU so the extension on our passports is now no longer valid, so you have 10 years from ISSUE date, rather than what the expiry date says.”
Despite this, she said they were allowed to board a flight with a different airline the following morning, although added that it was still “the most stressful trip”.
Sadly they are not the only Brits to have fallen victim to the rules, despite them being in place for the last five years.
It is thought as many as 10,000 people a year are being caught out by the passport rules.
Couple Huw and Patricia Gosling were left £3,000 out of pocket after their passports were out of date.
What are the passport rules?
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot has explained exactly what Brits need to know.
“Travellers used to be able to roll over up to nine unused months from their old passport onto a new one.
“But post-Brexit, anyone wanting to travel to the EU can no longer rely on those extra months.
“In order to travel to the EU, all passports must be no more than 10 years old on the day you arrive in your European destination.
“And you’ll need at least three months on your passport on the day you head back to the UK.
“Figures have shown up to 100,000 holidaymakers a year face being turned away at airports if their passport is more than 10 years old.
“The 10-year rule only applies to countries in the European Union but every country may have different rules on what is accepted – some countries like South Africa, for example, insist you have at least six months left on your passport when you travel and a full clear page.”
After arriving at Birmingham Airport for their holiday to Bulgaria, they were told they were unable to board so ended up missing not only their flight, but their entire planned holiday.
Tiktokker Franc Hainingg also had to pay an extra £300 as well as miss out on four days of her holiday due to the passport rules.
She said her passport was technically “two days out of date” so had to get an emergency new passport to be able to make her Greek holiday, as well as pay for new flights.
It’s not just the passport date that could get you in trouble.
Norfolk-based Rosie Viscomi was left stranded in Thailand because of a tiny tear in her passport.
She was forced to pay hundreds of pounds for a new passport as well as new flights.
Here are two other countries where a damaged passport could cause you huge problems.
