This is yet another example of how careful you need to be these days when traveling. Denied boarding a flight to Thailand on Qatar Airways from the UK because of an all but invisible millimeter tear on a passport. They had to go to another airline and purchase tickets to fly to Turkey instead, the other airline didn't have any problems with the passport. So what's going on here then ? In the last year my daughter has initially been refused boarding twice on United Airlines for the slightest of reasons, until she produces a "Do not bump" document from United in which case everything is magically resolved. Her company is a major corporate customer of United Airlines and don't appreciate their employees being bumped from flights as it can cause them major scheduling problems. The simple fact is that airline algorithms overbook flights on purpose to account for "no-shows" etc and they don't always get it right. Lately there are more and more of these stories as airlines are ever more keen to maximize flight capacity That's when the check-in staff look for ANY excuse to deny boarding.  Best advice is to always turn up early and as far as his possible make sure you have left nothing to chance. That and a prayer. 

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/devastated-familys-7000-thailand-holiday-27468870

 

 

 

 

The photo looks damaged

From the article in the link:

 

Quote

Suzanne and Steven decided to stay behind with their daughter while her boyfriend chose to travel to Thailand alone.

I bet he did. Go on my son.

2 minutes ago, redsongthaew said:

I bet he did. Go on my son.

Couldn't believe his luck.

So for example if you flew on a one-way ticket with at least six months remaining on your Thai visa, they would try to bump you for not having a return flight.

Immigration "decline" no matter where we are travelling to has had the fine levied on the airline raised up to a maximum of $10,000 per passenger

Its the airline that gets billed for the landing refusal not the passenger and on top of covering the cost of passenger return

Qatar were bang on the money

1 minute ago, JackGats said:

So for example if you fly on a one-way ticket with at least six months remaining on you Thai visa, they would try to bump you on that ground.

They were not "bumped" lol they were declined travel for a damaged travel document

24 minutes ago, bignok said:

The photo looks damaged

A lot of people travelling with passports in far more questionable condition. Just an excuse to not pay compensation when overbooked just as in the case of missing middle name or similar reasons. The other airline and immigration at either end obviously had no problems with it.

4 minutes ago, JackGats said:

So for example if you flew on a one-way ticket with at least six months remaining on your Thai visa, they would try to bump you for not having a return flight.

Why ? You have a visa, no need for a return ticket.

1 minute ago, roamer said:

A lot of people travelling with passports in far more questionable condition. Just an excuse to not pay compensation when overbooked just as in the case of missing middle name or similar reasons. The other airline and immigration at either end obviously had no problems with it.

My Miles&More account has my middle name missing. I hope if ever I redeem a flight I can correct this in the booking.

7 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Immigration "decline" no matter where we are travelling to has had the fine levied on the airline raised up to a maximum of $10,000 per passenger

Its the airline that gets billed for the landing refusal not the passenger and on top of covering the cost of passenger return

Qatar were bang on the money

Damage ? Planes would fly half empty if you followed the rules as tightly as here. 

2 minutes ago, roamer said:

Why ? You have a visa, no need for a return ticket.

If the expiration date is 6 months away. I've never risked it though.

51 minutes ago, roamer said:

This is yet another example of how careful you need to be these days when traveling. Denied boarding a flight to Thailand on Qatar Airways from the UK because of an all but invisible millimeter tear on a passport. They had to go to another airline and purchase tickets to fly to Turkey instead, the other airline didn't have any problems with the passport. So what's going on here then ? In the last year my daughter has initially been refused boarding twice on United Airlines for the slightest of reasons, until she produces a "Do not bump" document from United in which case everything is magically resolved. Her company is a major corporate customer of United Airlines and don't appreciate their employees being bumped from flights as it can cause them major scheduling problems. The simple fact is that airline algorithms overbook flights on purpose to account for "no-shows" etc and they don't always get it right. Lately there are more and more of these stories as airlines are ever more keen to maximize flight capacity That's when the check-in staff look for ANY excuse to deny boarding.  Best advice is to always turn up early and as far as his possible make sure you have left nothing to chance. That and a prayer. 

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/devastated-familys-7000-thailand-holiday-27468870

 

 

 

 

Had the tear been on any other page it would likely not have been a problem but anything on the data page and you're likely to be up the creek without a poodle.

2 hours ago, PJ71 said:

Had the tear been on any other page it would likely not have been a problem but anything on the data page and you're likely to be up the creek without a poodle.

That maybe why some passports now have the data page made of plastic.

You can look at it how you choose but it's no coincidence that the amount of passengers denied boarding for "irregularities" has increased dramatically in line with the increased amounts of compensation airlines have to pay passengers for not allowing boarding. Overbook a long haul flight by 10 seats, not uncommon, and that's 6000 Euros owed in compensation and there are an ever increasing load of claims companies out there happy to take on your case. Hence airlines increasingly looking for ways to avoid paying out on overbooked flights. Point is that a less than 100% correct ticket/passport/visa is far more readily pounced upon when a flight is overbooked than when it isn't.

Also the "photo" was not the issue here, it's not even a photo, on this issue of passport it's printed onto the page beneath the laminate, can't be substituted and also printed on the facing page as in the image below from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-passport-checks/basic-passport-checks-accessible

Qatar were just trying to avoid paying out for overbooked flights, end of.

 

 

Most airlines at least in USA that are overbooked ask for volunteers to give up their seat in return for often a very nice substantial payment in cash/credits as well as  free flight if they go later. 

 

Some of the best trips ever are the ones where they were overbooked and i collected a very nice windfall for delaying til next flight...not for everyone but almost every time i have seen them ask for volunteers to take the compensation they have more people wanting to take it then they need...if not the offer keeps going up til they have what they need....so instead of having angry people on tight inflexible schedules they take care of them and the volunteers love it...please bump me more often.

8 hours ago, JackGats said:

So for example if you flew on a one-way ticket with at least six months remaining on your Thai visa, they would try to bump you for not having a return flight.

Depends on what type of visa... 

8 hours ago, roamer said:

Why ? You have a visa, no need for a return ticket.

Depends on what type of visa...

It's a damaged passport.

get a new one. end of.

5 hours ago, roamer said:

You can look at it how you choose but it's no coincidence that the amount of passengers denied boarding for "irregularities" has increased dramatically in line with the increased amounts of compensation airlines have to pay passengers for not allowing boarding. Overbook a long haul flight by 10 seats, not uncommon, and that's 6000 Euros owed in compensation and there are an ever increasing load of claims companies out there happy to take on your case. Hence airlines increasingly looking for ways to avoid paying out on overbooked flights. Point is that a less than 100% correct ticket/passport/visa is far more readily pounced upon when a flight is overbooked than when it isn't.

Also the "photo" was not the issue here, it's not even a photo, on this issue of passport it's printed onto the page beneath the laminate, can't be substituted and also printed on the facing page as in the image below from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-passport-checks/basic-passport-checks-accessible

Qatar were just trying to avoid paying out for overbooked flights, end of.

 

 

 

Whether or not boarding was denied due to overbooking maybe this could be a teachable moment for the girl to take better care of her passport... it does not belong to her... it is an official document under the control of the government... she is merely the holder of the document.

13 hours ago, roamer said:

Damage ? Planes would fly half empty if you followed the rules as tightly as here. 

What on earth are you babbling about

Passports needs to be in a perfect undamaged condition. Thats the same the world over

4 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Whether or not boarding was denied due to overbooking maybe this could be a teachable moment for the girl to take better care of her passport... it does not belong to her... it is an official document under the control of the government... she is merely the holder of the document.

Indeed.....

 

@roamer take note

On 8/9/2023 at 3:15 AM, PJ71 said:

Had the tear been on any other page it would likely not have been a problem but anything on the data page and you're likely to be up the creek without a poodle.

Had a small tear on Page 18 of my Passport caused by a hole from a previous staple.

January 2023, Thai Vietjet wouldn't allow me to board my flight from Da Nang to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.

Had to buy a new ticket and depart a few hours later on an Air Asia flight to Don Mueang.

Travel insurance wouldn't cover this cost (Policy - Loss or Damage requiring replacement and associated costs). 

Qatar the airline which made people remove masks at the departure gate for a passport inspection, but just waved covered up Arab women through. The carrier that cancels paid for reserved seats with no refund, where they leave passengers waiting on the boarding ramp for 35 minutes  and where the food is worse in Q class than economy, not surprised at all they are at the centre of this, never going with that shower again.

"Millimeter tear". The tear is half a centimeter long and the picture has a discolored streak across it.

On 8/9/2023 at 1:54 AM, roamer said:

You can look at it how you choose but it's no coincidence that the amount of passengers denied boarding for "irregularities" has increased dramatically in line with the increased amounts of compensation airlines have to pay passengers for not allowing boarding. Overbook a long haul flight by 10 seats, not uncommon, and that's 6000 Euros owed in compensation and there are an ever increasing load of claims companies out there happy to take on your case. Hence airlines increasingly looking for ways to avoid paying out on overbooked flights. Point is that a less than 100% correct ticket/passport/visa is far more readily pounced upon when a flight is overbooked than when it isn't.

Also the "photo" was not the issue here, it's not even a photo, on this issue of passport it's printed onto the page beneath the laminate, can't be substituted and also printed on the facing page as in the image below from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-passport-checks/basic-passport-checks-accessible

Qatar were just trying to avoid paying out for overbooked flights, end of.

 

 

Somebody who knows what he's talking about!

22 minutes ago, Paul Catton said:

Had a small tear on Page 18 of my Passport caused by a hole from a previous staple.

January 2023, Thai Vietjet wouldn't allow me to board my flight from Da Nang to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.

Had to buy a new ticket and depart a few hours later on an Air Asia flight to Don Mueang.

Travel insurance wouldn't cover this cost (Policy - Loss or Damage requiring replacement and associated costs). 

So it seems different airlines have different standards as to what is a 'damaged' passport?

I can understand if the picture/data page is damaged it would be problem, but if its just a small tear or hole on an ordinary page, why is it a problem?

56 minutes ago, Paul Catton said:

Had a small tear on Page 18 of my Passport caused by a hole from a previous staple.

January 2023, Thai Vietjet wouldn't allow me to board my flight from Da Nang to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.

Had to buy a new ticket and depart a few hours later on an Air Asia flight to Don Mueang.

Travel insurance wouldn't cover this cost (Policy - Loss or Damage requiring replacement and associated costs). 

Wow - that's rough.

 

Especially considering that the TM7 ( arrival card ) used to get stapled in every passport until very recently.

Immi stapled my new TM30 in my passport yesterday, after tearing out the old one.

 

The counter staff of Qatar either in Thailand or in many european cities are know to be trouble makers. Have had minor issues with them before, where as never any issues with Turkish or Emirates or Ethiad.