BREAKING NEWS: Brit holidaymakers warned of little-known passport rule that could see you rejected at the airport gate

British holidaymakers have been warned of a little-known passport rule that could see them turned away at the gate as they are about to board their flight. The rule relates to a damaged passport – which could prevent you from flying if authorities are concerned about the validity of your passport.

If they have concerns over its condition, you may even be held at the airport for further questioning, even if you’ve already landed at your destination. While minor scuffs and bent pages on your passport are generally acceptable, you should be extremely careful – always making sure to keep your passport in the best possible condition to avoid being unable to travel.

With this in mind, it is also a good idea to avoid adding novelty stamps or stickers to your passport as they could delay when you to fly.
According to the UK Passport Office’s website, a passport is considered damaged if ‘you cannot read any of your details, any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing, there are holes, cuts or rips in the cover, the cover is coming away or there are stains on the pages, for example ink or water damage’.

One such example occurred when a British holidaymaker was forced to shell out £1,200 for a replacement flight to her dream holiday in Mexico – after being blocked from her original TUI plane over a ‘slight mark’ on her passport. Laila March, 25, a private tutor from Croydon in south London, thought she was getting a ‘cheap deal’ with TUI for less than £1,000 per person when she booked a week’s holiday to Cancun with her sister Kaemarnie, 21, to celebrate her graduating from university.

However, after arriving at Gatwick Airport on June 7, Laila was told she could not board the plane because her passport was damaged – even though she uses it to travel regularly for work and had just flown back from Morocco the day before. They arrived at the North Terminal TUI check-in desk two hours early, expecting to collect their tickets with plenty of time to relax before their flight.

Laila said the check-in assistant scanned their passports and was about to hand over their boarding passes when she spotted a small stain in the top right of her picture page. ‘She was like, ‘What’s happened to your passport? What’s this mark on it?’,’ Laila said. ‘Apparently there was a slight mark on the photo page, but it wasn’t over any of the details and you could still read everything.

‘She called someone who took my passport and disappeared for half an hour, even though I explained, I flew into this airport yesterday and have traveled many times in the past year.’ After waiting 45 minutes, Laila was informed she could not board the plane.