James Adams, 22 from Suffolk, was denied his holiday due to the state of his passport. Photo / Supplied
James Adams, 22 from Suffolk, was denied his holiday due to the state of his passport. Photo / Supplied
A UK tourist claims he was turned away at the gate on his way to a once-in-a-lifetime holiday due to a small tear in his passport.
James Adams, a 22-year-old welder from Suffolk, was getting ready to board a plane to Aruba with his parents and his two siblings when the issue was spotted by ground staff.
It was supposed to be a last family holiday together before the kids left home.
However, when a member of the Tui flight crew checked James' passport they said the 22-year-old would have to stay behind.
The family had spent NZ$11,000 on the holiday with accommodation at the five-star Hotel Riu Palace.
She told The Sun that she had researched the problem on the government guidelines, which said that as long as the photo page was intact it should be fine to travel on the passport.
James said he had previously travelled on the passport to Cyprus, Ibiza and Amsterdam, without issue.
However the ground staff boarding the plane to the Caribbean took issue to the damaged ID.
Trip of a lifetime: The family were planning on staying at the five-star Hotel Riu Palace, Aruba. Photo / Supplied
"The most obnoxious woman came over, she was shouting from across the airport, 'He's not travelling, he won't get in Aruba. He's not going'," Claire Adams told The Sun.
"It was awful. My husband went into shock, he can't remember much about it. My daughter was crying and James was getting agitated.
"I was trying to calm him down because I didn't want him to get arrested."
With the plane boarding at the gate, Claire claims the family were rushed by the ground staff into making a decision and were not given the option of speaking to someone more senior.
The Adams family say they took the agonising decision of splitting up the family, so parents Richard and Claire boarded the flight with their daughter Georgia, while James and his younger brother Lewis were left behind.
The Adams claim they had the added indignity of finding another family in their reserved seats, who refused to move until cabin crew got involved.
"Not one member of the cabin crew asked us on that nine-hour flight if we were OK, even though we were all obviously very distressed," said Claire.
Following the separation of the Adams from their sons the trip of a lifetime turned into the family holiday from hell.
"We couldn't sleep, we were having to take sleeping tablets," said Claire.
"We couldn't enjoy the holiday at all, knowing that Lewis and James were stuck at home and should have been out there with us. It was just awful."
On return Claire and Richard said they could not get compensation or so much as an apology for the 'ruined' family holiday.
Check-in teams have the responsibility to check for signs of damage on travel IDs. Photo / Supplied
The correspondence with the holiday reps said that the boarding procedure was a matter for the airport authorities and that "Tui is unable to have much influence over it."
When asked for comment a Tui spokesman said: "We're sorry to hear Mr Adams was refused travel on this occasion, however this is due to the fact that a page in his passport had been severely torn.
"Our check-in teams have a responsibility to ensure customers have the correct documentation for travel and that there are no signs of damage.
"To prevent any issues occurring we would advise all customers to check their documentation is in good condition before travel."
