Damaged passport gets Australian banned from Bali flight

One woman's Bali trip was derailed due to passport damage. Photo / Pexels

A trip to Bali turned into a warning for fellow travellers after Australian Bronte Gossling was denied boarding.

After spending AU$4000 on Covid tests, flights and all-inclusive hotels, Gossling showed up at Sydney airport and was told she could not board her Jetstar flight.

The reason? Her passport was too mouldy.

According to Gossling, the Jetstar desk said she could not board her flight to Bali due to passport damage.

"I handed over my passport and the clerk at the Jetstar desk said 'I can't let you onto the flight' and he pointed to my photo identification page and there was a bit of mould there," Gossling told radio show 2GB.

"He told me that customs in Bali wouldn't let me through with this photo page being water damaged and I was shocked."

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In previous years, this may not have been an issue. But in 2019, Bali introduced far stricter regulations around passport conditions.

Indonesian authorities can now fine airlines up to £3,292 if their passengers have damaged passports. In severe circumstances, passengers can be detained at Bali airport and put on a flight home.

Gossling said her passport was damaged due to a combination of floods in Australia, which resulted in heavy rain and high humidity and leaving her passport in a draw at home for two years due to travel restrictions.

Despite the lost holiday and money, she said things could have been "much worse" if she'd been stranded in Bali.

Other travellers have made similar mistakes since Bali tightened its laws.

Australian football player Sam Kerr was not allowed to board her Jetstar flight in 2019 after her passport was considered too damaged. The same year, on Christmas Day, a man with a nine-year-old passport described as "slightly damaged" was barred from a Batik Air flight from Perth.

Also that year, an English couple had their dream holiday "ruined" and lost £7,500 due to damaged passports.

Three weeks of Richard and Ann Lane's three-month holiday was missed after a small hole in one of their passports prevented them from entering Bali and Malaysia.