A couple were turned away from their £3,000 dream holiday because of a little known Brexit passport rule.
Allan Wilson, 64, and his wife were ‘made to feel like criminals’ over the mistake which left them unable to board their cruise.
P&O Cruises has turned down Mr Wilson’s demand for a refund.
Mr Wilson has been trying to convince his wife Vivian to go on a cruise trip for 43 years, and she finally agreed to join him on a 10-night cruise for her 72nd birthday.
However, Mrs Wilson was turned away at the terminal on October 26 because her passport was more than ten years old, despite its expiry date being May 2025.
The couple missed out on their cruise around Spain, Portugal and France, but neither P&O Cruises nor Mr Wilson’s insurance company are planning on giving them a refund.
The companies say the situation is the couple’s fault but P&O Cruises has issued refunds in the past for the same situation.
A rule change post-Brexit means that for travel to the EU, even if a passport has more than six months left until expiry, it cannot be older than 10 years.
Vivian Wilson was turned away at the terminal on October 26 because her passport was more than ten years old, despite its expiry date being May 2025. PIctured: Mrs Wilson ad Allan Wilson
P&O Cruises has turned down Mr Wilson’s demand for a refund
A rule change post-Brexit means that for travel to the EU, even if a passport has more than six months left until expiry, it cannot be older than 10 years
Mr Wilson said: ‘We were made to feel like criminals, I’ve never experienced the likes of it.
‘We had no idea about the rule but I just don’t understand why P&O wouldn’t make that rule clear.
‘Even the guy at the parking place we used said he’d never heard of anyone being turned away for that.’
Mr Wilson said that he had spent £2,598 on the cruise, £200 on a balcony upgrade fee, £162 on insurance, £100 parking and £200 on fuel to drive down to Southampton from Hull.
‘That’s not even thinking about how much we spent on clothes for the trip,’ he said.
Mr Wilson added that P&O Cruises make customers input their passport information when booking, and was confused as to why the company did not immediately flag up that his wife’s passport would be ineligible.
‘If they’d have told us, we would’ve gone out and got another one, there was enough time to get a new one,’ he said.
‘It’s now taken them one month for their customer service team to give me an answer, and it’s not the answer we want, they won’t refund us.
‘I would’ve thought P&O are surely a company who are supposed to care about their customers.’
P&O Cruises told Mr Wilson via email that it is ‘ultimately the responsibility of the guest to ensure that their travel documents are current’
P&O Cruises told Mr Wilson via email that it is ‘ultimately the responsibility of the guest to ensure that their travel documents are current’.
It argued that this is made clear in their terms and conditions on its website and on the websites of the locations he was set to travel to.
The email said that P&O Cruises will not be issuing any compensation.
A spokesperson for P&O Cruises said: ‘We are so sorry that Mr & Mrs Wilson missed their holiday due to an expired passport.
‘The requirement for a valid passport (and any other necessary travel documents) are clearly laid out in our booking terms and conditions and it is the guest’s responsibility to check they are adhering to the external legislation set by the countries they are visiting.’
The ’10-YEAR PASSPORT RULE’
DON’T GET CAUGHT OUT BY EU RULES
When travelling to the EU, British holidaymakers should be aware of the ’10-year rule’, and pay close attention to their passport’s issue date and expiry date
When travelling to the EU, a 10-year British passport is only valid for entry for exactly 10 years after the date of issue, regardless of the date of expiry.
Before September 2018, passport holders could have up to nine months added to their passport expiry date if they renewed their 10-year passport early.
Post-Brexit, however, although the official validity of your passport may be beyond 10 years, the EU does not recognise these extra months if your passport is older than 10 years on the date that you enter the EU.
On top of this, you must also have at least three months’ validity on your passport beyond the date you intend to leave the EU’s free-movement Schengen territory.
This means visitors must pay careful attention to the issue date and the expiry date.
For example, if you enter the EU from the UK on April 1, 2024, and return on April 5, 2024, you must have a passport issued less than 10 years before April 1, and that’s valid for at least three months after April 5.
To make sure you aren’t caught out, and for further details on EU passport rules, search for ‘documents you need for travel in Europe’ at home-affairs.ec.europa.eu or visit www.abta.com.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
Some holidaymakers have been unable to board their flights and trains due to confusion over EU passport rules
Always check the specific entry requirements for the country you are visiting on the gov.uk website before travelling – the rules around passport validity vary from country to country.
For instance, while most countries such as Australia, Canada and the USA just need your passport to be valid for the length of your stay, other countries such as China, Thailand, Egypt and Turkey need at least six months. As previously mentioned, you will need at least three months’ validity on your passport from the intended day of departure from the EU.
