Aussie man rejected on Bali flight over tiny detail: 'Absolutely ridiculous'
Travelling can be stressful at the best of times, but it certainly doesn't help when airlines throw up unexpected obstacles.
West Australian man Mike* was heading to Bali on Tuesday last week when staff at the Batik Air check-in desk at Perth Airport decided his passport wasn't up to scratch and he wouldn't be able to board the plane.
“The woman who I checked in with, she immediately took my passport straight to the manager… and they basically straight up said ‘You’re not flying’," Mike recalled to Yahoo News Australia.
Perplexed, he asked what the problem was, only to be told it was due to damage on his passport. A small tear near the spine, and visible on the photograph page, was the apparent problem. Despite explaining he recently had travelled to Bali on their airline and mentioning he had also travelled to the US for work in recent weeks, the airline "flat out" refused to let him travel on it.
“I said ‘Have a look at my passport — it was stamped last week,” he said. “It was just outrageous ... I kicked up a bit of a stink, saying it was absolutely ridiculous.”
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Passenger forced to buy ticket with different airline
Batik Air told Mike he would need a new passport to travel with the airline, which he did not want to do since his Indonesian visa is linked to his current passport, which is due to expire next year anyway.
Instead the disgruntled passenger said he walked "about 60 or 70 metres" down the Perth terminal to the AirAsia desk. When he showed them his passport and they confirmed he could travel with them, he purchased another ticket on the spot.
“I had to wait five hours, got on the AirAsia flight … and (on the other end) went straight through at immigration," he said.
As a result he is now $600 out of pocket for the original cost of the ticket and Batik Air have refused to refund.
“It was pretty expensive because it’s school holidays … I’ve since taken that a bit further but I’m not going to get bugger all money back.”
Mike contacted Yahoo New after reading about a woman who claimed she was forced to pay $1500 when travelling to Bali due to damage on her passport, with many travellers in dedicated groups online expressing concern over small defects on their passport impacting their ability to travel.
“Sounds like it was a bit of a set-up to me,” said Mike, who has worked in Indonesia for 30 years and speaks the language.
“I understand the rules and stuff, but what isn’t right is the inconsistency … if they’re going to really nail people on passport defect — tell them!”
Yahoo News Australia reached out to Batik Air for comment, however received no response at time of publication.
Rules around damaged passports and travelling
Serious damage such as pages being removed or marks across the identification photo can cause passengers to be denied travel by airlines according to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"It is important that there are no tears or cuts in the pages, especially the photo page," the Australian Government website on damaged and faulty passports reads.
However, since the tear in question is on the spine of the passport this rule is ambiguous when it comes to Mike's scenario, yet another Aussie traveller flying with Jetstar was denied travel to Bali last month due to a similar tear.
*Mike is a pseudonym used to protect the passenger's identity.
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