Hi everyone - My husband was denied boarding by Aer Lingus (travelling to US) some weeks ago, because the check-in desk deemed his passport faulty (lamination was slighltly seperated from the paper) and corners a little dog-eared (passport 9 years old). The agent at the Ticket Desk (when we tried to re-organise flights) didnt see enough of a problem with the passport, but could not overide the decision of Check-in Desk. Aer Lingus explained they were not willing to risk recieving a 20k fine from US immigration should we be turned back, and i do understand this.
The upsetting part is this was actually our honeymoon, which we had saved hard for and were looking foward to after all the wedding stress. As we could not organise a new passport in time to meet our Cruise (which was departing the day after), we lost it.
Would we have any comeback on this at all? I know some people might say it was our own fault, but we have travelled on the same passport (in the same state) and nothing has ever been mentioned before of its state.
The insurance said they wouldnt cover it either.
Has anyone been in a similar situation and had a happy ending?
Thanks,
M.Sunny
Only if the passport was issued after 26th October 2005.Does one not need a biometric passport to trave to the US?
Hi OP here again.
RE Credit Card insurance - It is not something we avail of on the credit card, as we don't use the Credit Card that often.
Purchases are sometimes automatically covered if purchased by credit card. I don't think you will be covered but no harm trying. It's horrible but I don't think there much you can do after the fact. I don't understand why Aer Lingus wouldn't let you at least try and clear US immigration in Dublin with the passport. I didn't think the fines were that strict but I suppose we operate in new times with regard to travelling to the US
. I don't understand why Aer Lingus wouldn't let you at least try and clear US immigration in Dublin with the passport.
The supervisor did indeed say we could 'chance it'
Brendan, some credit card holders (MBNA GoldCard holders are one example) are automatically insured for certain travel mishaps provided that they have paid for their travel using their card. I'm not sure of the ins & outs of exactly what's actually covered, but if there was an 'unforeseen circumstances' clause or something like that, a cardholder might be able to claim against missing a cruise because of not being able to get to the departure point. The odds of this being the case for the OP are slim, & is grasping at straws, but I suppose there would be no harm in them looking into it, just in case.It is not the fault of the Cruise Company. The Credit Card company should not have to compensate you for not turning up.
Brendan
In effect, you did not have a valid passport.
I don't really understand why anyone is suggesting that you contact anyone other than the Passport Office to get a new passport?
It does not matter that it was your honeymoon.
As you say yourself, it was your own fault. It is not the fault of the Cruise Company. The Credit Card company should not have to compensate you for not turning up.
Brendan
Failing that, an earlier poster suggested contacting Joe Duffy. This is a really good idea. From a media standpoint, it is a great story: airline bureaucracy that infuriates travellers, a missed honeymoon, a bride in tears, an uncaring airline that refuses to compensate, an excuse for the media to lay into Aer Lingus....
This is a nine year old passport.Aer Lingus arbitrarily decided that the passport was faulty (is it the competent authority to decide?), but because OP had travelled on the same passport recently with no other troubles, other airlines arbitrarily decided it wasn't faulty. Which airline is right and which is wrong? Maybe it really wasn't sufficiently faulty to be deemed invalid?
But that is the whole point. Why on earth should the rest of us have to pay for someone's carelessness? Because he let his new bride down?
We are not talking mindless bureaucracy here. We are talking about airline security. This is not a topic for Joe Duffy.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?