Check your passport before you go on holiday
Here is a little story and a warning for you to check your passport dates if you are going on holiday this year. A change in passport regulations due to Brexit may mean that you get stopped from boarding the plane, train or boat to Europe.
When we book our holidays we expect to be able to enjoy them, as planned! It was no exception for my cousin and her husband (the Newburys). They were looking forward to going on their P and O Cruise on the Arvia on 23 December 2022. They were all packed, their dog was in the kennels and ready to go. But they hit a problem and discovered there was a complication with the passports which meant that they could not go and would not get a refund.
On arrival at check in they were informed that their passports were “out of date”, according to the rules. Their expiry date was not till 26 July 2023. They didn’t know that the rules had changed following Brexit. Their issue date was 26 October 2012. They assumed that, when asked if their passports were in date, it was the expiry date that mattered. They were well in with the 3 months of the expiry date.
They had put in their passport details in the P and O “My Personaliser” at least twice and they had been accepted by the system. While in the ship terminal they spoke to two check-in staff members who said that one had turned away six families the week before and the other had turned away twelve during the prior week. Therefore, P and O are clearly aware of this problem.
As the Newburys received several emails from P and O in the weeks/days before departure, the issue with the passports could have easily been highlighted.
They paid £5,278 for the cruise and £106.16 for additional excursions, plus £600 to board their dog and all the costs they incurred being at home on their own for a very depressing Christmas. P and O were even refusing to reimburse the cost of the excursions.
The Newburys were travelling with friends and 3 of the 4 of them had been seriously ill all year. Two with cancer and Tricia with acute kidney failure and associated problems. They had saved up for two years to be able to go away. Both Tricia and her husband are pensioners and to lose that amount of money would have been disastrous.
The legal position
This story was highlighted in this article in the Daily Mirror Woman blocked from £5,000 holiday urges people to check their passports.
“Under the new rules you must have at least three months of validity left on your passport after the day you plan to leave, and your passport must also have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country.”
EU countries – passport rules
According to the UK Government travel website your passport must be:
“Issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country (check the ‘date of issue’)
valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)
Whilst the onus is on customers to check passport requirements, it seemed pretty harsh to me that P and O didn’t do more to inform its customers of any discrepancies.
Complaining to P and O
Tricia said
It is highly unlikely that a travel firm would want passengers not to take their holidays. But for them then to not refund monies, where it has not lost any, seemed wrong to us. It also seems that it had not invested in preventing the problem we experienced.
So, I set about drafting a response for Tricia to the P and O CEO which included the following:
- I advised Tricia that she should point out that she believed that P and O had a Duty of Care and it was in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 because it should make sure everyone is aware of this rule having a duty of care to inform customers of everything they need to know. The fact that passport information is put into the system should flag up the issue and alert passengers to the potential problem.
- The Newburys are loyal P and O cruisers and had not expected to be treated like this and were devastated.
- It was disgusting that not only were P and O not refunding the money, they were refusing a reimbursement for the trips and food. Whilst it could be argued that the company could not sell on the holidays (albeit I would argue that they could and should have notified customers of the issue), P and O is NOT out of pocket on food etc.
- Cynically, I recommended saying that it would appear that P and O is profiteering from this little known post-Brexit anomaly. It could and should be on the home page. P and O is not using food, the cabins, linen washing, staff time etc. and to not even give a partial refund is appalling. Although it is highly unlikely that travel firms would want passengers not to take their holidays, for them to not refund monies, where it has not lost any, seems wrong to me. As well, of course, not investing in preventing the problem.
Finally, I advised that a threat to take P and O to the Small Claims Court be added to the email, for good measure. After all, what would happen if the judge saw in the Newburys favour and it opened the flood gates for everyone who had lost money to make the same claim?
We won against P and O!
The email to the P and O CEO worked.
P and O gave the Newburys all of the cost of the cruise in the form of a credit towards a new cruise! They are going to the Canaries in Sept 2024 for two weeks and any difference in cost can be spent on board. After the disappointment of the cancellation, they were absolutely delighted with the outcome!
Tricia said ”
We were delighted (and very grateful to Helen!) when P&O offered us the full cost of the cruise in the form of a voucher towards a new cruise, with any difference in costs as a credit that could be spent on board!”
It just goes to show that it is always worth complaining if you feel something is unfair.
P and O response
I asked the P and O press office why the system could not alert customers to issues with passports. All it said was:
“We are looking to see if we can make the information more visible in our communications however we do ask all guests to look at all the travel requirements relating to their holiday and this includes passports, insurance and vaccinations.”
We made P and O change!
Passport rules are now mentioned in three places when you check in online on the P&O website.
Story in That’s Life
I was commissioned to write this article for That’s Life
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Further help with complaining effectively about holidays and more
How to book and complain about holidays/flights/travel links to posts on various topics relating to travel problems, saving money and more tips.
To ensure that you know your rights and how to use them take a look at How to Complain: The Essential Consumer Guide to Getting Refunds, Redress and Results, as one reviewer says you’ll get more than your money back the first time you use it!
101 Habits of an Effective complainer designed to improve the way you look at and make complaints. Each page gives you a complaining habit to consider and an example of how and why it empowers you to become more effective in getting the results you want.
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