I’ve debated with myself long and hard about whether to write about a recent travel nightmare. I finally decided that I should not hide behind the pain and frustration and put finger to keyboard and type away. After talking to friends and family there is a clear need to hear our story concerning a passport technicality!
This incident just goes to prove that life isn’t always a bed of roses; that the life portrayed on social media of constant happy times is just a myth. It seems to me like social media only shows the good times. It doesn’t show the pain, trails and tribulations of life. The pain and frustration will become apparent shortly.
Best laid plans for Lyon
For those who don’t know this trip was meant to be a treat for my wife. It was to be her Christmas present. We much prefer treating each other to memories rather than buying things that are not needed. I had planned the trip thoroughly. Following our trip to Paris this was a chance to explore another city in France. I wanted this to be a memorable occasion in Lyon to explore its colourful old town on the conflux of two rivers, climbing the ‘hill that prays’ known as Fourvière, staying in a former convent, and eating our way through the ‘Gastronomic capital of France’.
I was hoping to bring you glorious tales as I delved through the traboules in Vieux Lyon, admiring the murals displayed on the buildings Mur des Canuts and Fresque des Lyonnais, appreciating the architecture of Pierre-Marie Bossan, enjoying a drink at the ‘world’s best hotel bar’ in the heart of Hôtel-Dieu or reliving our numerous dining experiences of Lyon’s Bouchon’s.
All my great planning and preparation came underdone by a small technicality on a passport. I was travelling with my wife who was using her maiden name for the last time on a “red” covered passport. We had decided to maximise the life of her passport. This was to be the final trip on the passport before we changed it over – 7 months prior to its expiry date Aug 2026, i.e., well within the 6 months they say to leave on a passport. I should explain at this stage that I have the newer blue covered passport for these past 4 years or so.
Arriving at the airport
On Friday morning we arrived at Heathrow terminal 3, after checking in online the previous evening. (Passport details had been entered at this stage and no problems flagged). We collected our boarding passes from the machine along with our bag labels. Even to this day we’re still not sure how to secure these.
So, we headed to the ‘bag drop’ to seek assistance where a lady was to assist us. For whatever reason she decided to reprint our labels. This meant another check of our passports and reissuing our boarding passes. After sending my bags through, the lady working for BA was about to send my wife’s through when she had some sort of message appear on her screen ‘check passport’.
“I need to check your passport”
Her intervention saved BA a £15,000 fine and saved us bring treated as criminals at the border. If we had known what we were doing with the labels we may well have had a different story to tell.
You can imagine the sheer panic and stress that overtook us as she said, somewhat sternly, my wife’s passport had expired. In a state of shock and disbelief I managed to blurt out, “What do you mean?” She explained that the expiry date shown on the passport isn’t the passport expiry date. Really? Can you believe that? A red covered passport now runs for 10 years from the date of issue when traveling to Europe.
You can imagine our shock and disbelief. This quickly changed from shock to confusion and then upset and anger. Firstly, confusion – how could I have made such an error, for in my head I had kept all the rules? Secondly, how could the British government issue such a confusing legal document?
After coming round from the knockout statement she summoned over her manager, who made some calls whilst she chatted to us. Our trip now seemed worthy of being featured on an episode of ‘When Holidays Go Horribly Wrong & Other Travel Nightmares’.
Passport Technicality
She explained that prior to Brexit there was a good grace period where you could still use your passport whilst the new one arrived. She also told tales of how you could previously travel to Spain, for example, with an out-of-date passport. Apparently, Brexit has changed the game. These comments were not helping our mood. I guess the EU were still unhappy at us leaving and were forcing the rules now more than they previously did. This all seems rather petty and must impact a lot of people looking for fun and adventure.
The manager returned to explain that we couldn’t fly on that passport. We would have to contact the Home Office and try to get an ‘Emergency Travel’ document or try to get an emergency appointment for a 1-2-1 for a new passport and try and get on the later flight. We would have to wait an hour for them to retrieve the one bag that had made it onto through check-in.
We dragged ourselves away from the pain and nerve shattering experience and headed to a coffee shop where we could sit down. The phone then got exhausted as we rang different departments of Passport, Border force, British Airways, travel insurance, hotel companies etc.
Lyon will have to wait for another time
In the end it became apparent that we would not be flying. Our excitement had turned to despair. Rather than bring you exciting tales of our chance to explore somewhere new. We had to forlornly leave in search of comfort but not until I had retrieved the bag that made it on the plane! A thorough examination through high level security got me access to the carousels, where my bag had been put in with an arriving flight from Dubai!
Those Lyon tales I will hopefully be able to bring to you another day. Once the dust has settled and, fingers crossed, reimbursement has taken place we can reschedule a visit. In the meantime, some retail therapy, a little local exploring and catching up with friends helped to offset the massive disappointment.
Please check your passport!
I will leave this word of warning to you all. Those still holding a ‘red’ UK passport please check the dates of issue not the date of expiry. From our conversations with family and friends there are still several red passports left in circulation. I implore you to check! Another word of warning, check your travel insurance and the small print. Insurance companies have a canny knack of having the right wording to ensure that they don’t have to pay out any compensation.
A lot of discussion took place over retail therapy, and one conversation was with a member of staff behind a shop counter that may have saved his skiing trip next weekend as he blissfully thought the same as us. He thought he could he travel with 3 months left on his expiry date on a red passport! He left the counter quickly to check; one hopes that he has enough time to get a new passport by the weekend (hopefully I will hear if his passport was okay).
I know that I always portray a blissful and pain free experience to travelling which, until this trip, has been the case. It just goes to show that sometimes you must take the good with the bad. Our next international trip is booked to California in July, by which time a new passport will have been acquired, and the pain of this trip will have been forgotten although I’m sure there will be some PTSD left over until we are seated on the plane.
Tell everyone about the 'Red' passport
Please share this story far and wide. Our pain has already been someone else’s gain. It has saved them being yet another person who could have featured in holiday nightmares. Let me know if you have a red passport and are now frantically checking or if you have ever experienced any travel nightmares? Leave them in the comments – I would love to hear them.
To my way of thinking this sort of experience is not a good look for government (again, let me know if you agree in the comments).
Sorry to hear and read all about this. I hope that your trauma soon passes. Loads of lessons in this blog for our household as we both have red passports
I turned up for a flight about 24 hours after it had left on one occasion. Looking back that was fun but it wasn’t so at the time. I had people picking me up at Gatwick and I had to get a message to them ot someone else to go to Luton. They turned up there and my plane was diverted to Stansted!! The problem – fog. It was the middle of June 1980!! There was no internet back then. I also shared an airport with football fans who had been in Turin – Turin was a gas. I’ll leave people to look that up. I also remember doing the conga with what seemed about 100 others around Stansted all orchestrated by some rather enthusiastic football fans. I didn’t like to say to say no. Still talking to the people involved in the pickup fiasco btw!!
Not really a passport issue but I arrived at work to find out that a parcel that should have been in Germany had not been despatched from our factory. The powers that were knew that I was the person who lived the closest to home and I had to get to that home to get my passport and be transported to Heathrow for a flight to Nuremberg that had been hastily arranged. Don’t ask what speeds were achieved on that journey but all was a waste of time as, coming off the slip road for the airport, we came to grinding halt and sat there for ages. A car had caught fire in the tunnel under the airport and it was deadlock. In effect, I waved goodbye to my plane as it took off for Nuremberg. Parked up and then, after a few calls to Germany, I was given a flight to Frankfurt where I was to deliver a box no bigger than 6” cubed – my only luggage.,My colleagues were driving from Nuremberg to Frankfurt to meet me. Box handed over after I met them coming up the escalator and I was straight to check in where the lady said, “Haven’t you just come in on the flight from London?” “Yup. Just call me an international postman.” Back to London on the same plane on which I had arrived in Germany. Mrs W had to read handwritten notes that had been written hastily and left on the kitchen table to find out what was happening. Customer was relatively happy as their production line did not come to halt but I’m sure that there was a far more efficient way of doing business.
On the passport matter- since when has the word ‘expiry’ meant other than the end of the period during which something is valid?
Maybe it will be second time lucky………x
P.s check your passport
What an absolute nightmare! Devastated for you both! Just goes to show you can’t trust anything when it comes to the British Government and Insurance companies! Better luck next time.