Woman banned from flight due to 'tiny tear' on her passport – only for airport staff to say she COULD have got on plane | The Sun

A WOMAN was banned from ther flight due to a small tear in her passport – only for airport staff to say she should have been allowed on.

Mum Tina Spanos was travelling with her daughter Zoe Prather from the US to Greece for a holiday.


While Tina was travelling from St Louis, she said her daughter was to meet her in Chicago to fly to Athens.

However, she said her daughter rang her in hysterics when she was told she couldn't get on her American Airlines flight at 6am.

Due to a small tear on the information page of her passport she said she wasn't able to board.

Zoe told local media: "When the guy pointed it to me he was like ‘cause that’s a tear [which is] what’s wrong with that.'

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"Obviously, if a guy through security said it was okay, I don’t know why he felt that way.”

Tina said she ended up taking her daughter to Miami for an emergency passport – only to be told she didn't need a new one.

Zoe said: “Every time someone saw it they said it wasn’t damaged."

Not only that, but Transport Security Administration (TSA) let her through airport security.

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The pair were forced to miss out on three days of their trip, as well as been left $2,100 (£1,740) out of pocket, and have since contacted American Airlines for compensation and an apology.

Sun Online Travel has contacted American Airlines for comment.

Another woman was recently banned from her flight because the airline said her passport was too damaged.

Lindsey Gray was relocating from Sydney to New Zealand, but when immigration officials spotted minor damage to a couple of pages on her passport, was told she wasn't able to board.

One of the strictest countries for passport damage is Bali due to rules which can fine airlines up to £3,200 and has seen a number of holidaymakers turned away from their flights.

Bronte Gossling, who was attempting to travel from Sydney in Australia to Bali for a holiday, was stopped from boarding.

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In 2019, Australian football player Sam Kerr was prevented from boarding her Jetstar flight after the airline deemed it was too damaged to fly with despite having minimal wear and tear.

And a couple lost £7,500 after their dream holiday was "ruined" because their passport was deemed too damaged for travel.

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