A woman was left mortified after her husband was turned away from a flight, despite the fact that there seemed to be eight months left on the passport – but the rules have changed
Flying to another country can be stressful, but one woman’s worst nightmare came true as she tried to check in at the airport.
Beth Turbutt-Rogers – AKA The Budgeting Mum – took to TikTok to explain that she’d had the “most stressful trip”. It all started when she turned up at the airport with her husband and two kids, only to find out, completely randomly, that her husband wasn’t allowed to fly.
She explained they were flying return with Ryanair, and it did not go to plan. “His passport was checked, and they told us that his passport had expired” – but confusingly, his passport doesn’t actually expire until March 2025, meaning they thought there were eight months left on it.
She said she’d checked in online, and “nothing flagged” until they “actually got to the airport”. “This is all apparently due to us leaving the EU. We used to get an extension on our passports which made them last slightly longer than the 10 years. Since then, this extension is no longer valid”, she explained.
She then said that her husband’s passport was issued in June 2014, so it “technically expired in June 2024, meaning that Ryanair refused to let him travel”.
Despite that, Jet2 allows passengers to travel with the extension, so her husband had to “get a Jet2 flight the next day”, meaning that she had to make the journey with her two kids alone.
“Just remember that you have ten years after the date of issue on your passport, rather than the expiry date”, she reminded people at the end of the video.
In the TikTok caption, she penned: “I can not say Ryanair were the most accommodating either. I was clearly anxious about travelling with them and they wouldn’t even check in an extra cabin bag for us to save me from having to drag extra bags around whilst watching two kids on my own. Sharing this to hopefully save someone else from getting caught out! Check your passports guys.”
In the comments, some wondered how people “still don’t know about this” – but people defended the woman, saying if you don’t “travel often” it might not be obvious.
“It’s weird how expiry date doesn’t mean expiry”, someone pointed out, and another asked: “Wait does that mean people aren’t actually getting the full 10 years of the passport they paid for?”
“Confused if he could fly with another company it must still be valid! Sounds like an airline issue”, a TikToker fumed.
Ryanair has been contacted for comment.
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