A pair has been left a whole lot of kilos out of pocket after being refused entry to their flight to Benidorm - attributable to having lower than a 12 months left on their passports.

Penny and Dug Priestly travelled to East Midlands Airport prepared for a 10-day vacation in Spain after spending £1,800 on a TUI package deal lodge.

Upon arrival on the airport, nevertheless, they have been advised attributable to them not having a 12 months left on their passports that TUI was unable to fly them to their vacation spot. 

Speaking to NottinghamshireLive, Penny mentioned:  "We just turned up and were waiting an hour in the queue, I think we were about fourth from last and the girl on the checkout said to the other girl, can you check those dates.

"She checked and mentioned no they cannot fly. Then a bloke came to visit, a supervisor or one thing, and he mentioned our solely various is to go to Jet2 and ask them if we will fly."

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The couple’s passports are both due to expire in February 2024, nine months after their planned flight in May.  

Penny says the pair have flown with TUI before and had never come across the airline's policy that passengers must have a minimum of a year left on their passports. 

The 59-year-old also said they were still able to fly with other airlines.

After being refused by TUI they went to Jet2, who it was suggested that they could fly out with, but then return on their initial flights with TUI, but they claim TUI wouldn't allow this.

They claim TUI staff at the airport told them if they had gone days earlier they would have been OK, saying: "They mentioned if we had gone on Saturday we might have been alright." 

The Saturday would have been May 13, and the ten-year mark from when the couple's passports were issued.

Penny said: "We paid one other £860 and Jet2 regarded into it and mentioned we may return with them and simply fly a method with them, however then a supervisor came to visit. He additionally mentioned we might lose the lodge if my husband did not ring up, so we needed to ring the lodge up and inform them we have been coming a day later."

Jet2 couldn’t fly the couple until the next day and they returned home to wait.  Penny said Dug had visited the TUI store and explained the situation - and was told they would have ‘been alright’ if they had travelled on Saturday. 

The couple say they "did not know" about TUI's policy and that they were not informed about it and it was not made clear to them at any stage, as most other airlines will let passengers fly as long as they have at least six months on their passports.

Penny said they would "by no means ever" fly with TUI again. She added: "We will at all times use Jet 2 now or Ryanair, and even straightforwardJet - they may fly us as effectively."

The couple eventually managed to go on holiday at a later date with Jet2 for £860 and they were not able to be refunded the TUI flights or transfers as it was a package flight.

A TUI spokesperson said:  "We’re sorry that Mr Priestly was unable to fly with TUI as deliberate as his passport didn't meet the required authorities passport pointers.

"Government rules state that for customers travelling to certain EU countries, passports must be issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country and must also be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave. We strongly advise that our customers check their passports are up to date before booking any flights.

"Details of passport validity pointers will be discovered right here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice"