An Australian woman is warning other travelers to make sure their passport is in good condition after a watermark prevented her from boarding her overseas flight.
Renee Reader, 30, posted a video on TikTok to express her distress after Virgin Australia did not allow her to fly to Bali on Monday.
The founder of the home organization company. Elegant guidetold Daily Mail Australia that the flight had a stopover in Melbourne, where he passed security checks for his international flight.
“But when I was boarding, the girl said, ‘I don’t know anything about this one,'” he said.
After the staff member showed the document to other Virgin employees, he proceeded to take photographs of Ms Reader’s passport.
When the Gold Coast resident questioned what was happening, the staff member said he needed to send it to security “for approval”.
After waiting at the door, Mrs. Reader’s fears finally came true.
“She (the staff member) said, ‘I’ll just let you know that you’re not going to Bali today.’ You’re not getting on this flight,” he recalled.
Renee Reader, 30 (pictured), said she was “heartbroken” that she was not allowed to board her flight to Bali on Monday due to a watermark and pen on her passport.
Ms. Reader said her passport never appeared damaged and that she had made three separate trips abroad with the marks.
“I started crying, I was devastated, very heartbroken.”
Mrs Reader said the woman pointed out the stain but also asked her about “a pen mark”.
It is understood there were also some black marks on the bottom of the 30-year-old’s passport, in the machine readable zone (MRZ).
Ms Reader was escorted from the gate by security before Virgin Australia provided her with a return flight to the Gold Coast, telling her she should have been prevented from boarding her initial flight from Queensland.
“I felt like I was a criminal,” he said.
The business owner now must pay $2,000 out of pocket to cover the costs of her vacation.
‘I was excited about this trip to go and stay at a retreat in Bali. “This was the moment for me,” said Mrs. Reader.
‘I have had that passport with that stain since 2022 and I have been in Europe since then. I have flown to Bali twice.
‘This would have been my fourth holiday abroad with that passport and that exact stain.
“If I thought it would have been a problem, I obviously would have gotten a new passport.”
The company’s founder (pictured) said she wants people to be aware of the issue and that there needs to be a way for a traveler to check whether their passport meets an airline’s standards.
Ms Reader said her ordeal highlighted an important issue for travelers that needs to be addressed and she wants there to be more “awareness”.
“There has to be some kind of process because what they consider damaged is not what we would consider damaged,” he said.
‘Where can people go and figure this out before they fly?
“This is not what I would consider a damaged passport, but for Virgin it was the worst they have ever seen.”
A Virgin Australia spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that staff check that all travel documents are in “adequate condition.”
“We assess travel documentation in accordance with guidance provided by the Australian Government and various immigration departments,” they said.
The businesswoman now has an outlay of $2,000
“To assist our guests with travel preparation, we provide general guidance on damaged passports on the Virgin Australia website, in our conditions of carriage and in pre-flight communication.”
Indonesia may impose strict rules when there is a damaged passport and passengers may be denied entry.
An airline can be fined $5,000 and is responsible for flying the passenger back to Australia.’
Virgin Australia is understood to have informed Ms Reader that once her passport is renewed she will be able to change her flight free of charge.
But Ms Reader told Daily Mail Australia she had not been told this and was denied this request via email.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Virgin Australia for further comment.
