A ‘disappointed’ family of three lamented they lost out on a £2,500 holiday after a father was stopped from boarding the plane due to a ‘near invisible’ ink stain on his passport.
What Happened?
Charlotte Estlick had hoped to jet off from Manchester Airport for a package holiday to Dalaman in Turkey with her husband Myk, 28, and their six-year-old daughter Nyla.
But after arriving at Terminal 2 to check-in on May 3, the mother-of-one claims her partner was refused travel due to his passport being lightly marked with blue ink after appearing to have got wet.
The 28-year-old says she was shocked when Mr Estlick was told he could not fly despite having used the same passport for eight years with the marking on it with no trouble – including getting into Dalaman last May.
When they tried to get an emergency passport, she claims the passport office did not have any availability for several days, which would mean her partner would miss the majority of their trip.
They Were Forced to go Home
She says the family was left with no choice but to abandon their holiday for which they had already paid £2,500.
The stay-at-home mother shared her ordeal with on Facebook where holiday firm TUI was inundated with comments from social media users who insisted they could not even see the ink stain which was possibly caused by the passport getting wet.
‘I didn’t understand why and I told her we had gone to the same place last year and the year before using the same passport. In the passport you can see all the visa stamps.
‘The TUI reps weren’t helpful at all. One said to me if we can get the ink off, you’ll be able to go. I asked her how and she just shrugged her shoulders at me.
She continued, ‘I knew I needed a deodorant or something with alcohol in it to get it off and I started asking people and looking for somewhere to find something.
‘After I tried to get the ink stain off the passport I accidentally put a little rip in the passport and after this I knew they definitely weren’t going to accept it.
‘My husband had worked hard all year to go on holiday and I didn’t want to go away with just Nyla without him as I wouldn’t feel comfortable.
‘For me now it’s not even about the money or the holiday – it’s the way the staff treated us in the airport.
‘My little girl was standing there crying in the airport because she couldn’t go on holiday.’
