Photo of $398 Australian passport highlights common issue: 'Seriously not right'
The new R series Australian passport is the most expensive in the world, but its quality is seriously lacking.
A photo of an Australian passport has reignited concerns over the quality of the $398 travel document. Posting to social media, one citizen that his passport looked 'possessed' with pages of the book bending in different directions.
Quality issues have been commonly reported since the R series passport replaced the P series last year. Common gripes are that the pages appear to curl up and bend easily — even before they have actually been used to travel.
Many fear the "world's most expensive passport", which jumped 15 per cent in price to $398 on July 1, may not last the full 10 years they are designed to be used for.
"Something is seriously not right with my passport, anyone else’s passport is behaving like this?" the Aussie shared alongside the image of his brand new passport.
Travellers express common gripe with passport
Travellers came out in droves to share similar frustrations of their brand-new passports. "Mine was like this when I got it," said a fellow Aussie, adding they recommend leaving the passport under heavy books."Eventually it settles down."
"Mine does the same, most expensive passport in the world, such a s***show," said another.
"I literally don't understand how this wouldn't have been picked up in [quality assurance] testing. Had to get some plastic sleeves to keep them straight. Amateur hour," said third.
Someone else pointed out that while their new passport started curling up within a day of arriving, their decade-old passport still looks "perfect".
It's not the only country to share this problem, with New Zealanders reporting the same problem with their passports, which cost NZD$206 for their passports — that's roughly A$185.Yahoo AU/australia
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Concerns over travel documents being rejected at airports
For Aussies lucky enough to be planning trips overseas, there are concerns that the 'flimsy' document may be rejected at international airports. Just this week Yahoo reported a Virgin Australia passenger was denied her $2000 trip to Bali over a tiny marking on her passport's ID page.
"My message to everyone is to triple-check your passport and make sure that it is in immaculate condition, because they are getting a lot stricter, and I would never want this to happen to anyone else," she said.
The Australian Passport Office, confirms that serious passport damage can stop you from travelling but "normal wear and tear should not be a problem."
Passport office says 'curling' happens because of humidity
The Australian Passport Office was forced to address the "curling" on its website, stating that this "occasionally occurs due to humidity," it says.
"It's not a manufacturing defect and doesn't affect the validity of your passport," the passport office added. "Keeping your passport tightly secured will help prevent this curling. For example, you can use an envelope or passport holder to store and protect your passport between use."
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