With travelling season upon us, swarms of people across the world are dying to book their flights and embark on their holidays.
Unfortunately, for an Australian woman, a minor problem prevented her from living out her holiday dreams.
Madeline had booked her flight with Jetstar to take a trip to Bali, Indonesia. However, there was a slight tear in her passport.
As a result, the airline deemed her passport too damaged for flying, preventing her from checking in at the airport.
On 7 June, an Australian woman called Madeline was about to leave for her trip to Bali, Indonesia with Jetstar.
However, as she was checking in at the airport, the airline staff noticed a small tear in Madeline’s passport.
Based on the picture from her Facebook post, one of the pages in the passport had come loose from the binding.
Source: Madelaine Cownie on Facebook
As a result, the staff deemed the passport too damaged to be used for flying.
Thus, they had to turn Madeline away, preventing her from checking in or boarding the plane to Bali.
Madeline was furious, calling the staff “absolute jerks”, noting that they offered “no assistance” to her.
As a result, she lost AU$2,000 (S$1,800) for her Bali trip.
Thankfully for Madeline, the tear was spotted at the airport before she could get on the plane. This was not the case for Matt Vanderburg, another Australian who was also travelling to Bali.
While the staff at the Sydney airport did not flag his passport, the immigration officers in Indonesia noticed the tear in his passport.
Source: @M1D3V on Twitter
As such, he was not allowed into the country, and had to be deported back to Australia.
It appears Indonesia authorities are extremely strict with regard to the condition of one’s passport.
Furthermore, Yahoo News Australia reported that airlines may even receive fines for carrying passengers with damaged passports to Indonesia.
If you plan to take a trip down to Indonesia this June holidays, do ensure that your passports are in pristine condition.
Or else, it might cost you a much-needed getaway.
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Featured image adapted from Yandex and Madelaine Cownie on Facebook. Image on left for illustration purposes only.
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