Got stung by a rookie mistake [passport < 6 months to expiry]

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Andz

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Booked and planned family trip in November 2017.

Arrived at the airport yesterday at 6am to fly Perth to Bail. Stood in the queue and when we got to the check-in desk we were refused boarding as my 5 yr old duaghter’s passport was 5 months and 2 weeks from expiring.

Stupidly my wife and I decided to split and she and my second daughter would fly ahead and I would join later that day or the next day.

Rushed to Perth passport office, first in line at 7.30am. Called the help line to make an appointment and the lovely lady told me that my wife was needed to sign the application form. Called her and and luckily the check-in systems had crashed and she hadn't check in. She joined me in the queue 30 min later.

Called the travel agent and no economy seats that night and business class at $3500 extra, ouch, temped. We would make a decision once we got the passport. Googled priority passport application and time frame varied between 5 hours to 2 days. We hoped for 5 hours.

Waited until 10.30 for an apportionment, had to produce original birth certificate. rushed home and got the certificate. Application submitted at 11am. Priority application takes up to 3 days. Paid for priority. "Can't guarantee when it would be ready". Decide to wait in the passport office. Waited until 4pm when they locked up and kicked us out and we went home realising that we had lost our outbound flight and holiday.

Called travel agent and we were able to save the inbound date and didn't lose the ticket (Lovely lady at BYOJET). Checked the internet for Friday departures and a one way, for 4 people, was $3500 (business class) ouch (school holiday)!!!!!.

The most stressful situation of my life, and I have been in many more dangerous ones. The family looking at you at the airport for superman to fly in with a replacement passport and save the day. Daughter looking at you with big open eyes that were saying...” What now DAD!!!!!!”.

Trying to make a bad situation worst by not accepting the situation and not cutting your loses is manic.

Decided that night to cut our loses, rescheduled out trip for 1 week, reschedule our leave, re booked vocational care and day care for next week and went to bed.

Got a call from the passport office this morning and collected the passport at 9am. Hotel changed our booking at no cost, booked new flights, cheaper than last night.

Cancelled inbound flight and got back taxes.leaving next Friday for 9 days....
 
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Booked and planned family trip in November 2017.

Arrived at the airport yesterday at 6am to fly Perth to Bail. Stood in the queue and when we got to the check-in desk we were refused boarding as my 5 yr old duaghter’s passport was 5 months and 2 weeks from expiring.

Stupidly my wife and I decided to split and she and my second daughter would fly ahead and I would join later that day or the next day.

Rushed to Perth passport office, first in line at 7.30am. Called the help line to make an appointment and the lovely lady told me that my wife was needed to sign the application form. Called her and and luckily the check-in systems had crashed and she hadn't check in. She joined me in the queue 30 min later.

Called the travel agent and no economy seats that night and business class at $3500 extra, ouch, temped. We would make a decision once we got the passport. Googled priority passport application and time frame varied between 5 hours to 2 days. We hoped for 5 hours.

Waited until 10.30 for an apportionment, had to produce original birth certificate. rushed home and got the certificate. Application submitted at 11am. Priority application takes up to 3 days. Paid for priority. "Can't guarantee when it would be ready". Decide to wait in the passport office. Waited until 4pm when they locked up and kicked us out and we went home realising that we had lost our outbound flight and holiday.

Called travel agent and we were able to save the inbound date and didn't lose the ticket (Lovely lady at BYOJET). Checked the internet for Friday departures and a one way, for 4 people, was $3500 (business class) ouch (school holiday)!!!!!.

The most stressful situation of my life, and I have been in many more dangerous ones. The family looking at you at the airport for superman to fly in with a replacement passport and save the day. Daughter looking at you with big open eyes that were saying...” What now DAD!!!!!!”.

Trying to make a bad situation worst by not accepting the situation and not cutting your loses is manic.

Decided that night to cut our loses, rescheduled out trip for 1 week, reschedule our leave, re booked vocational care and day care for next week and went to bed.

Got a call from the passport office this morning and collected the passport at 9am. Hotel changed our booking at no cost, booked new flights, cheaper than last night.

Cancelled inbound flight and got back taxes.leaving next Friday for 9 days....

A nightmare indeed. There was a fire alarm at our hotel last night and first thing I did was go to the safe and get our passports. Those and a credit card. Anything else is just fluff.

A hard lesson learned. Good you could rebook etc.
 
Yep, the 6 month rule is HARD and FAST.
This is another reason to book directly with the airline - they may have had some compassion (especially if you hold some status).
 
Sorry to hear. Sometimes better to accept and not to try and recover a bad situation.

Good luck. Hope things work out.
 
Yep, the 6 month rule is HARD and FAST.
This is another reason to book directly with the airline - they may have had some compassion (especially if you hold some status).
Some countries don’t require the 6 month thing.
 
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Yep, the 6 month rule is HARD and FAST.
This is another reason to book directly with the airline - they may have had some compassion (especially if you hold some status).

Actually the 6 month rule isn’t hard and fast, it is country specific.
 
Friend had something similar this week - looked at kids’ passports in the morning of departure and expiry was less than 6 months. Frantically started the process to renew and thankfully found out that the country they were heading to only required 3 month to expiry so off they went.
 
We recently had similar crisis with #3 son.
Our whole family renewed passports in December 2013, so good for 10 years, eh? Except number #3 son was 17 years 11.5 months (ie 2 weeks before 18th birthday) at time of passport renewals so only got 5 years on his passport.
All our passports bar one thus have same expiry date - xx December 2023. As he prepared for his first solo trip with a couple of mates, we went through a checklist amongst which was - "our passports all ok till Dec 2023" - so didn't check. Our TA, God bless her soul, rings us less than three business days (and prior to Queens birthday weekend) to advise that #3 son's passport expires in 5 months and three weeks. Similar mad scramble ensued to get new photos, photos signed and application into the Passport Office - the new passport was issued on the morning he picked it up on his way to the airport for his non-cancellable holiday.

Whew! Very stressful.
 
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Unfortunately Bali is 6 months hard and fast.

I've known a person get turned around in Bali after being allowed to leave Perth.

I think you and Dr Ralph have misinterpreted my comment. Any country that has the 6 month validity requirement will apply it consistently, however it isn’t something that is universal. I’m not sure why it elicited a funny response considering there are similar responses to mine.
 
I think you and Dr Ralph have misinterpreted my comment. Any country that has the 6 month validity requirement will apply it consistently, however it isn’t something that is universal. I’m not sure why it elicited a funny response considering there are similar responses to mine.

Nothing funny about my response at all.

You stated the rule is country specific, I actually agreed with you but added that Bali is one of the places where the time frame is 6 months.
 
Yep, the 6 month rule is HARD and FAST....
Some countries don’t require the 6 month thing.
Actually the 6 month rule isn’t hard and fast, it is country specific.
It's always good to qualify statements where possible in this online 140 character world so when one sees a snippet they can work out applicability. This is better:
Unfortunately Bali is 6 months hard and fast.
...

Interestingly, for many check-in personnel, in their mind six months is indeed hard and fast - and in their mind this is world wide.

I am aware of at least two separate cases where passengers were refused check-in due to having less than six months passport validity when that was not a requirement.

Both were to the USA where there is no set minimum validity for an Oz passport for travel to the USA - the passport simply needs to be valid for the period of intended stay.
 
It's always good to qualify statements where possible in this online 140 character world so when one sees a snippet they can work out applicability. This is better:


Interestingly, for many check-in personnel, in their mind six months is indeed hard and fast - and in their mind this is world wide.

I am aware of at least two separate cases where passengers were refused check-in due to having less than six months passport validity when that was not a requirement.

Both were to the USA where there is no set minimum validity for an Oz passport for travel to the USA - the passport simply needs to be valid for the period of intended stay.

By being specific you might exclude countries you shouldn’t. A one liner gives a clue that people need to do their own research.
 
By being specific you might exclude countries you shouldn’t. A one liner gives a clue that people need to do their own research.
I do not understand what you mean by "shouldn't" in relation to this thread. There was a post re "hard and fast" without qualification (other than perhaps a default one if you considered the thread related to Bali). Your post was better with the use of the word "some".

I guess when it comes to visas/passports etc, people should always do their own research for their own travel.
 
I do not understand what you mean by "shouldn't" in relation to this thread. There was a post re "hard and fast" without qualification (other than perhaps a default one if you considered the thread related to Bali). Your post was better with the use of the word "some".

I guess when it comes to visas/passports etc, people should always do their own research for their own travel.

As soon as you are specific (and this relates to pretty much everything in life) then it excludes something that isn’t mentioned. If you make a general comment then it alerts someone that further checking is needed about their specific issue.
 
All of which is yet another reason to nurture, support and use a good TA; our TA keeps track of expiry dates for passports, all our FF numbers for airlines we use, ESTAs, ETAs, etc and makes sure we don't suffer these "surprises".
 
Interestingly, for many check-in personnel, in their mind six months is indeed hard and fast - and in their mind this is world wide.

I am aware of at least two separate cases where passengers were refused check-in due to having less than six months passport validity when that was not a requirement.

Both were to the USA where there is no set minimum validity for an Oz passport for travel to the USA - the passport simply needs to be valid for the period of intended stay.

Were these instances at the actual port of embarkation for the USA or were the pax checking in for a domestic flight first?

If the airline wasn't sure they could've always called the US CBP number and asked them however don't know why the CSA's didn't just go off the info in Timatic.

Was there ever a time pre-ESTA when you needed 6 months on a B1/B2 visa?
 
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