A schoolboy was denied boarding a Qatar Airways flight for his family's £3,000 Thailand holiday - due to a faint 'sticker mark' on his passport.
Meghan Law was due to fly to Phuket, Thailand, for a two-week holiday with her two children on October 8.
However, when the family arrived at Edinburgh Airport, the 33-year-old said she was told by Qatar Airways check-in staff that there was an issue with her son's passport and he would be unable to board the flight.
Shocked, the mum-of-two was told there was a 'luggage sticker mark' on her 13-year-old son Alix Dawson's passport that prevented them from boarding.
The NHS nurse challenged the decision, claiming the family had travelled more than a dozen times with the same passport, but was directed to Glasgow Airport for a new emergency document.
Panicked, Meghan feared the family would lose out on their £3,000 holiday and contacted TUI, who she had booked the trip with, for their advice.
After sending photos of the reported 'damage', Meghan said the tour operator found no issues with the passport and put them on the next available flight to Thailand.
Luckily, the family were able to embark on their holiday with no further obstacles, but the experience has left Meghan deterred from ever flying with Qatar Airways again.
The mum believes her family were denied boarding due to the airline 'overbooking the flight' and had therefore looked for 'issues' with the passport.
Meghan, who lives in Aberdeen, Scotland, said: "We got to the airport and were checking in my bags when the [check-in staff member] looked at my passport then just walked away from the desk. She didn't say anything.
"We were standing there for 20 minutes before I asked what's going on. She came back and said that my passport was damaged.
"I said I've used this umpteen times. No one's ever mentioned any damage on it before.
"There were no rips or stains, I don't know what she was trying to imply. I was really shocked.
"She told me that I need to get an emergency passport from Glasgow Airport.
"Then she said actually it's not your passport that's the problem, it's your child's, Alix.
"What they were trying to say was that the luggage check-in stickers that had been stuck on one of the pages [and] had damaged the page. But it wasn't even on the photo page.
"There were no rips, it was just where the sticker marks had been. They said we couldn't travel with it.
"I knew there were no issues with their passports. We'd probably travelled over a dozen times with those passports.
"We were just left in the airport with no help and no advice.”
Unable to board, Meghan contacted her tour operator TUI and sent them photo evidence of the 'damaged' passport.
The mum said the company confirmed there were 'no issues' and put them on the next available Emirates flight from Glasgow to Thailand.
Meghan said: "If I hadn't booked through TUI and booked it myself, we just wouldn't have been able to go on holiday. One way from Glasgow on the same day of travel would've been £2,800.
"There's no way I would've been able to pay that. We had no issue with Emirates, no one mentioned anything.
"We used it six times over the two-week holiday and no one said anything which confirms there were no issues with the passports.
"I think Qatar Airways had actually overbooked the flight. It was quite obvious standing in the airport that the flight was overbooked, given there were people standing about and not checking in."
Meghan said being denied boarding 'ruined the start of the trip' and believes Qatar Airways should pay compensation for their 'stressful' experience.
Meghan said: "I'd never had an experience like that at any other airport. There was no justification for it. I'll never fly with Qatar again.
"It ruined the start of the trip - it was so stressful.
"I think compensation is justified. It's really put my anxieties up for flying in the future. They just weren't kind or compassionate whatsoever.
"I was a single parent with two children, which really added to the stress. I don't think this was anything to do with the passport, considering every other airline had no issue with it."
Qatar Airways have been contacted for a comment.
